Citizens Action Coalition, Common Cause of Indiana and the Energy and Policy Institute filed a lawsuit in Marion County circuit/superior court against the Indiana House Republican Caucus and State Representative Eric Koch for violating the Indiana Access to Public Records Act. The groups are asking the court to declare that Koch and the caucus are subject to the APRA, which the GOP legislators have denied, and to order disclosure of correspondence between Koch and utility companies regarding solar energy issues.

The EPI submitted public records requests on Jan. 16 and Feb. 2, to obtain copies of correspondence between Koch, Koch’s staff, and the investor owned utility companies operating in Indiana, along with other additional companies and organizations, including the Edison Electric Institute. The public records requests were specifically regarding the now dead HB1320, or the “rooftop solar” bill, sponsored by Koch.

“The Edison Electric Institute and the monopoly electric utilities they represent have declared war on rooftop solar in Statehouses across the country,” stated Matt Kasper, fellow with EPI. “We believe the people of Indiana have a right to know if these special interests were involved in any way with the legislative process or the drafting of H.B. 1320.”

On both occasions, Chief Counsel for the House Republican Caucus Jill Carnell, denied the requests, citing the case of Masariu v. The Marion Superior Court No. 1.

Carnell wrote: “The Indiana Supreme Court determined that it would not intervene in the internal affairs of the legislative branch of government and that it is up to the legislative branch of government to decide its own internal procedural rules related to the release of records…because Masariu permits it and because our House tradition supports it, I am denying your request for the correspondence you requested.”

Following these two refusals to produce the requested records, a complaint was filed with the Indiana Public Access Counselor against Rep. Koch and the Caucus claiming violations of APRA. The PAC issued an opinion March 6, that concluded “…it is the Opinion of the Public Access Counselor that the Indiana General Assembly is subject to the Access to Public Records Act.” The PAC stated that if the APRA requests were “resubmitted with reasonable specificity, the Caucus would need to identify the non-disclosable records containing work product and produce the information which does not contain work product.”

As a result of the PAC opinion, EPI along with CAC submitted a third records request on March 9, seeking similar records, and this time with more specificity as recommended by the PAC. The Caucus again denied this request on March 16, stating the same exemption from APRA claimed in the earlier denials. The Caucus also opined that the request was “was lacking in specificity and sought ‘work product’ of the Indiana General Assembly.” The Caucus failed to identify the non-disclosable records as recommended by the PAC.

On March 23, EPI and CAC filed a second complaint with the PAC who, on April 1, issued a second advisory opinion in which he found that “you have seemingly satisfied the elements of specificity considered to be reasonably particular. Your request appears to meet the standard set forth by the APRA.”

The PAC continued and stated: “The intent of the APRA is to foster trust and good faith between the public and the government. It is a safeguard for accountability and stewardship for civil servants. I am confident the General Assembly strives to espouse those virtues. As Indiana Public Access Counselor, I humbly and respectfully request the Caucus reconsider its position on the blanket inapplicability of the Access to Public Records Act and treat public records requests in a manner consistent with the spirit of transparency and openness.”

Policy Director with Common Cause Indiana, Julia Vaughn, states “After reviewing the opinions of the PAC, Common Cause Indiana decided to engage because we believe the Caucus has violated the Indiana APRA for unilaterally rejecting these attempts to obtain the public records on the basis that the law does not apply to the Indiana General Assembly. Providing the public with information regarding the affairs of government is an essential function of a representative government.”