Opinion ID: 1280889
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Is the Check Distribution List a Public Record?

Text: Phoenix Newspapers asserts that because the state treasurer possessed the check distribution list, it qualifies as a public record. The relevant case law emphasizes that the mere fact that a writing is in the possession of a public officer or public agency does not make it a public record. See, e.g., People v. Olson, 232 Cal. App.2d 480, 486, 42 Cal. Rptr. 760, 764 (1965); City Council of Santa Monica v. Superior Court, 204 Cal. App.2d 68, 73, 21 Cal. Rptr. 896, 899 (1962). As the Iowa Supreme Court noted in Linder v. Eckard: Not every document which comes into the possession or custody of a public official is a public record. It is the nature and purpose of the document, not the place where it is kept, which determines its status. 261 Iowa 216, 152 N.W.2d 833, 835 (1967). This is also the rule under the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The federal courts have uniformly held that mere possession of a document by an agency does not make it an agency record for purposes of public access under the FOIA. See, e.g., Kissinger v. Reporters Comm. for Freedom of the Press, 445 U.S. 136, 157, 100 S.Ct. 960, 972, 63 L.Ed.2d 267 (1980); Warth v. Department of Justice, 595 F.2d 521, 522 (9th Cir.1979); Goland v. CIA, 607 F.2d 339, 345-47 (D.C. Cir.1978). Thus, as the term has come to be defined, a public record must also have some relation to the official duties of the public officer that holds the record  in this case, the state treasurer. The term public record comprehends three alternative definitions in American case law, all of which this court set forth in Mathews v. Pyle, 75 Ariz. 76, 78, 251 P.2d 893, 895 (1952). The term first refers to a record made by a public officer in pursuance of a duty, the immediate purpose of which is to disseminate information to the public, or to serve as a memorial of official transactions for public reference. Id. (citation omitted). The check distribution list does not qualify under this definition because it was not made by a public officer in the pursuance of a duty. The list was made by Security, the escrow agent of the United States, in the pursuance of its private, contractual undertaking to pay the escrow funds to the allottees. A public record is also one that is required to be kept, or necessary to be kept in the discharge of a duty imposed by law or directed by law to serve as a memorial and evidence of something written, said or done. Id.; see also Smith v. Paul, 174 Cal. App.2d 744, 345 P.2d 546, 551 (1959); Olson, 232 Cal. App.2d at 486-87, 42 Cal. Rptr. at 764-65. The treasurer's duties are set forth at A.R.S. § 41-172, which provides in relevant part: A. The state treasurer shall:       6. Keep an account of all monies received and disbursed, and keep separate accounts of the different funds and appropriations of money. The funds in question here were paid out of the Security escrow account and not out of the state treasury. The check distribution list is thus an accounting of federal escrow funds, not state funds. As our February 22 order sets forth, payments by the state treasurer as part of the right-of-way transaction are part of the public record, as are all supporting documents. However, so far as this record shows, the treasurer did not have a statutory duty to keep the check distribution list, did not compile the list, did not use the list, and did not even consult it in performing his duties. Finally, the term public record comprehends any written record of transactions of a public officer in his office, which is a convenient and appropriate method of discharging his duties, and is kept by him as such, whether required by ... law or not.... Mathews, 75 Ariz. at 78, 251 P.2d at 895; People v. Purcell, 22 Cal. App.2d 126, 70 P.2d 706, 708 (1937); MacEwan v. Holm, 226 Or. 27, 359 P.2d 413, 419 (1961). Again, the check distribution list records a transaction between the United States, as trustee, and individual Indian allottees, as beneficiaries. The Secretary had the duty to pay the appropriate compensation to the allottees. Phoenix Newspapers does not assert that the treasurer had any duty to the allottees; thus, the list was neither relevant, convenient, nor appropriate to any discharge of the treasurer's duties. The list, we emphasize, is a record of a transaction between a private party, Security, and an Indian community that, as a separate sovereign entity, is largely outside the jurisdiction of Arizona's laws and court system. See Tracy, 168 Ariz. at 35-36, 810 P.2d at 1042-43. We conclude that the check distribution list does not qualify as a public record held in the treasurer's official capacity. Therefore, we turn to a determination of whether the list is an other matter within the meaning of the statute.