Court Opinion

ID: 9853367
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 05:47:20.276561+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:22:46.283671
License: Public Domain

VANDE WALLE, Chief Justice,
concurring in the result.
Notwithstanding that the issues in this appeal were presented to us as pure questions of law without any factual disputes, Rule 35, N.D.R.App.P., authorizes this Court to order the result reached by the majority opinion. Although I do not agree with all the majority opinion, I concur in the result.
Whether or not GNDA makes a profit or loss on Horizon magazine is not determinative of whether or not the records of GNDA are open to the public under the applicable constitutional and statutory provisions. If, on the other hand, the funds paid for publication of Horizon are simply a subterfuge to give a donation to GNDA, a fact not evident from this record, in violation of Art. X, § 18, N.D. Const., more than the open records provision is at issue. It appears to me from the face of this record that there was a valid quid pro quo contract between the State and GNDA, i.e., the continued publication of Horizons. If the situation has changed since that original agreement, that should be explored in a fact-finding hearing before the trial court. GNDA may be required to submit its records concerning only the publication of Horizon and the funds received from the State for this purpose.
Although I am skeptical that the payment of dues by the State agencies which are not greater in amount than those paid by nonpublic agencies is sufficient to bring the records of GNDA within Article XI, § 6, N.D. Const., I agree it should be considered and that information limited to the organization and structure should be made available through discovery. That limited information does not include a wholesale examination of GNDA’s records.