Published: June 21, 2007 03:38 pm      

Clark County prosecutor being investigated for open records violation

State officials have opened a formal investigation into whether Clark County Prosecutor Steven Stewart violated state law last week when his office failed to respond to a request for public records.

The Indiana Public Access Counselor investigation is tied to a formal complaint made by The Evening News and The Tribune.

Earlier this month, Indiana Secretary of State officials informed the newspaper that documents pertaining to the 2003 Clark County election had been handed over to Stewart’s office for a possible criminal investigation.

Following up on that story, newspaper staff made identical requests for public records to both the Secretary of State and the Clark County prosecutor.

The request sent to the Secretary of State’s office was made via e-mail. An attorney for the office responded the next day, confirming that the request had been received and saying it was looking for available records.

The request made to the prosecutor’s office was hand-delivered on June 13. State law stipulates that officials have 24 hours to respond to an open-records request that was hand-delivered. By Monday, a response had not been received and the formal complaint was filed.

Following up on the complaint Tuesday, Public Access Counselor Karen Davis told newspaper staff that an investigation had been opened to look into the alleged violation.

On Wednesday, a fax was sent to Stewart from Davis’ office, informing him of the investigation. The newspaper was sent a carbon copy of that fax.

Less than an hour after receiving the copy of Davis’ fax, the newspaper received a formal denial of records from the prosecutor. It was predated June 13 with the words “for pickup” written on it.

Despite the response, the investigation remains open. The Public Access Counselor’s advisory opinion on the case is due by July 18.