Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott is suing the Missouri state auditor for documents related toallegations that the county misused public resources to advocate for a 1/2-cent sales tax.
Arnott is taking issue with Auditor Nicole Galloway's unwillingness to hand over some records, including written complaints. Galloway has cited a legal obligation to keep whistleblower identities confidential.
The lawsuitfiled Friday byArnott's attorney, Pat Keck, arguesthe Sunshine Law requires Galloway to provide the complaints — either withidentifying information redactedor through a description ofwhat the withheld documents contain.
"I have no problem with them taking out all identifying information — names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers," Keck told the News-Leader on Tuesday. "If it's identifying information in any way, take it out and send us the rest of the complaint. But they're not sending us anything and that makes you wonder why."
In an emailed statement, auditor'soffice spokeswoman Steph Deidrick said, "This lawsuit appears to be an effort to discover the identities of whistleblowers in Greene County, which we have a duty to protect."
Keck said the intent of Arnott's suit is not to learn who made the complaints, but rather what they say.
Thelawsuit is the most recent development in asaga that continues to play out weeks after whistleblower allegations surfaced in early December. County officials have so far postponed responding to Galloway's repeated requests for permission to investigate what she has described as "serious" and "credible" allegations. Meanwhile, a group of county residents have started a petition in hopes of launching an audit.
On Dec. 15, Kecksubmitted a Sunshine request on behalf of Arnott for"all complaints, emails, investigation reports into complaints, or other documents of any kind or nature containing information concerning the Greene County, Missouri Sheriff's Office or Sheriff Jim Arnott from January 1, 2016 to present."
The Sunshine request also asked the auditor's office to redact the names of anyone who submitted complaints,as well as identify any exempt materials, Kecksaid.
Keck told the News-Leader that Arnott wantedthose records so they can be reviewed and dealt with publicly.
"He thinks that all of these complaints should be made public and allow the citizens to know what the complaints are and what the resolution should be," Keck said.
On Dec. 20, the auditor's office provided some materials to Keck, which included, among other things, screenshots of social media posts and a copy of a brochure about the tax measure.
A letter from the auditor's office to Keck said that there are other materialsbeing kept confidential and cited exemptions under state law.
On Dec. 21, Arnottpresented the obtained documents to themedia during a press conference. Arnott used a PowerPoint presentation to go through each allegation piece by piece to refute them.
Afterward, Arnott accused Galloway of seeking publicity and not doing her job.
According to the suit, Keck sent multiple requests to the auditor's office asking for redacted copies of complaints or identification of any materialsbeing withheld.
Keck cited a state statute that requires the auditor to separate exempt and nonexempt material, then publicly release nonexempt documents. If separation is "not readily apparent," then the auditor must "generally describe the material exempted unless that description would reveal the contents of the exempt information and thus defeat the purpose of the exemption," the law says.
Arnott's suitasksa judge to review the complaints being withheld by the auditor,to redact whistleblower identities, then toorder Galloway to provide the remaining information to him.
Arnott is also requesting the judge to levy civil penalties against Galloway and for her to pay his attorney's fees.
For weeks, the Greene County Commission has delayed making a decision on whether to comply with Galloway's request. They have hired a private law firm to advise them on next steps.
Their options include asking for Galloway to investigate or hiring a private firm to do so. Galloway has said she'd investigate at no charge to the county. Recently the county-hired law firm questioned whether the auditor has the authority to investigate without billing the county.
The initial whistlebloweralleged county employees were asked to advocate for the 1/2-cent sales tax —passed by voters on Nov. 7 — including accepting donations in county offices on behalf of a political action committee.
Since the firstcomplaint, the auditor's office said, there have been 11 more whistleblowers who have come forward against Greene County. The auditor's office has declined to provide more details on those complaints beyond saying they are about "fiscal concerns" and "operations concerns."
Read more:
Greene County whistleblower allegations: What we know and what we don't
‘This email was not a good idea ’: Lawyers weigh in on 'inappropriate' Greene County email
Other emails to Greene County employees show more care to heed rules, attorney says
