From the Raleigh News and Observer (5/4/09): A bill that would make it easier for people to collect attorneys' fees if they won public records lawsuits has cleared a key House committee intact.
Versions of the same bill have sailed through the Senate in previous sessions only to stall in the House. Speaker Joe Hackney didn’t like previous versions because they stripped all discretion from judges hearing public records lawsuits.
The current bill, modeled on a Texas law, requires a judge to award attorney’s fees in cases that are won substantially. Fees need not be awarded in close calls. Hackney supports the current version.
The bill also establishes a unit within the Attorney General’s Office to mediate public records and open meetings disputes.
“We prefer that people don’t go to court in the first place,” said Rep. Deborah Ross, a Raleigh Democrat and co-sponsor of the bill.
The N.C. Press Association supports the bill. The Association of County Commissioners and League of Municipalities do not.
The bill must clear one more committee before the full House can vote on it.
News & Observer Staff Report