Published: July 19, 2007 10:58 am      

Counselor: Clark County prosecutor did not violate open records law

Few new details available on 2003 absentee ballot investigation

Clark County Prosecutor Steven Stewart did not violate state law last week when his office failed to respond to a request for public records, according to a state official.

The Indiana Public Access Counselor issued that opinion Wednesday on a formal complaint made by The Evening News and The Tribune last month. Newspaper staff submitted a written request for access to public records in June.

Around that time, Indiana Secretary of State officials had 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 information, identical requests were submitted to both Stewart’s office and the Secretary of State’s office essentially asking for any public documents pertaining to that case.

The Secretary of State’s office responded immediately, releasing an itemization of the files handed over to the prosecutor. The list basically explained what files were given to the prosecutor, though it did not contain the actual files.

However, five days after the request was submitted a response had not been received from the prosecutor’s office and the formal complaint was filed. According to state statute, because the request was hand-delivered, Stewart’s office had 24 hours to respond.

Public Access Counselor Heather Neal wrote in her opinion on the case Wednesday that the prosecutor indicated that he completed a response to the request within an hour after it was received and that he left it in his office for pick-up.

Public access law does not dictate how a denial must be delivered, Neal wrote.

“Since you appeared in person to make the request and asked for a response within 24 hours, I find it reasonable for the prosecutor to assume you would appear again in the office to collect the response.”

Few details are available on the state and local investigation into Clark County’s 2003 election.

The Secretary’s office began looking into the 2003 absentee ballots after a complaint was filed in October. It investigated the matter for a short time before handing it over to local prosecutors in November.

Among the documents handed over to the prosecutor was the name of a primary suspect, a referral of charges, a list of witnesses and sworn statements taken by a court reporter.

There is a five year statute of limitations on election fraud, meaning that the prosecutor’s office would have to file charges by 2008 if there is a case to be made.