International Longshore & Warehouse Union v. Port of Portland

396 P.3d 235, 285 Or. App. 222, 2017 Ore. App. LEXIS 570
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedMay 3, 2017
Docket130710780; A157602
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 396 P.3d 235 (International Longshore & Warehouse Union v. Port of Portland) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
International Longshore & Warehouse Union v. Port of Portland, 396 P.3d 235, 285 Or. App. 222, 2017 Ore. App. LEXIS 570 (Or. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

ARMSTRONG, P. J.

This is an action for declaratory and injunctive relief arising out of requests for public records under the Oregon Public Records Law, ORS 192.410 to 192.505. Plaintiff, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), appeals a judgment dismissing its complaint against defendant, the Port of Portland. In its complaint, the ILWU sought to have the circuit court compel the port to produce the requested records and to waive or substantially reduce the fees that the port was requiring the ILWU to pay before the port produced the records. The court dismissed part of the ILWU’s complaint because there had been no “denial” of the ILWU’s records request, which the court concluded was necessary for it to have jurisdiction over claims seeking to compel the port to produce records. The court also dismissed the ILWU’s claims relating to the port’s fees to produce the records, with leave to replead those claims. The ILWU declined to replead its remaining claims and filed this appeal from the judgment dismissing its claims. We conclude that the circuit court erred in dismissing the ILWU’s complaint. Accordingly, we reverse and remand.

Because it assists in understanding the facts of this case, we begin with an overview of the relevant provisions of the Public Records Law. Under ORS 192.420(1), “[e]very person has a right to inspect any public record of a public body in this state, except as otherwise expressly provided by ORS 192.501 to 192.505 [listing exemptions from disclosure] .” “Under the statutory scheme, disclosure is the rule,” and exemptions are narrowly construed. Guard Publishing Co. v. Lane County School Dist., 310 Or 32, 37, 791 P2d 854 (1990). As such,

“[a] public body must adhere strictly to the requirements of the relevant statutes. A public body may not exempt itself from its responsibilities under the Inspection of Public Records law by adopting a policy that seeks to deprive citizens of their right under the law to inspect public records. Disclosure is the norm; exclusion is the exception that must be justified by the public body.”

Id. at 39.

[224]*224The custodian of a public record is required to provide a person who asks to inspect a record the reasonable opportunity to inspect or copy the record. ORS 192.440(1). If the request is in writing, the public body is required to “respond as soon as practicable and without unreasonable delay” and may request clarification or additional information “for the purpose of expediting the public body’s response to the request.” ORS 192.440(2); see also ORS 192.440(2)(a) - (f) (setting out statements the public body’s response must include).

Any person who is “denied the right to inspect or to receive a copy of any public record of a state agency” may petition the Attorney General “to review the public record to determine if it may be withheld from public inspection.” ORS 192.450(1). If the person is “denied the right to inspect or to receive a copy of any public record of a public body other than a state agency,” then the person may petition the district attorney of the county in which the public body is located in the same manner as provided for a petition to the Attorney General. ORS 192.460(1). The burden is on the public body “to sustain its action.” ORS 192.450(1). Under those review statutes, the Attorney General or district attorney has the authority to order the public body to disclose the public record. ORS 192.450(2); ORS 192.460. If the Attorney General or district attorney denies the person’s petition, the person may institute proceedings for injunctive or declaratory relief in the circuit court. ORS 192.450(2); ORS 192.460. The failure of the Attorney General or district attorney to issue an order granting or denying a petition within seven days of receipt “shall be treated as an order denying the petition for the purpose of determining whether a person may institute proceedings for injunctive or declaratory relief.” ORS 192.465(1).

With regard to the circuit court proceedings, ORS 192.490(1) provides that, “ [i] n any suit filed under ORS 192.450 [or] 192.460 * * *, the court has jurisdiction to enjoin the public body from withholding records and to order the production of any records improperly withheld from the person seeking disclosure.” As at the Attorney General or district attorney review level, “the burden is on the public body to sustain its action.” ORS 192.490(1).

[225]*225The Public Records Law also includes provisions related to a public body’s authority to establish fees “that the requester must pay * * * as a condition of receiving the public records.” ORS 192.440(2)(c). ORS 192.440(4)(a) provides, in part, that “[t]he public body may establish fees reasonably calculated to reimburse the public body for the public body’s actual cost of making public records available.” Under ORS 192.440(5), the public body “may furnish copies without charge or at a substantially reduced fee if the custodian determines that the waiver or reduction of fees is in the public interest because making the record available primarily benefits the general public.” Finally, under ORS 192.440

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Related

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504 P.3d 654 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2021)
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496 P.3d 1085 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2021)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
396 P.3d 235, 285 Or. App. 222, 2017 Ore. App. LEXIS 570, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/international-longshore-warehouse-union-v-port-of-portland-orctapp-2017.