State employee disciplinary records are confidential, Alaska Supreme Court rules

State employee disciplinary reports qualify as confidential personnel records exempt from disclosure under the Alaska Public Records Act, the state supreme court recently ruled.

Facts

After being convicted of federal crimes, Kaleb Lee Basey filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court against several individual Alaska state troopers who had been involved in the investigation and his arrest. He submitted a request under the Alaska Public Records Act for production of two troopers’ disciplinary records.

The Alaska Department of Public Safety denied Basey’s request because it was related to ongoing civil litigation involving the agency. He then filed a state lawsuit seeking injunctive relief to compel production. The state requested dismissal, arguing the records could be withheld because they were related to a pending civil lawsuit and a pending criminal prosecution. The Alaska Superior Court agreed and denied production of the records.

On appeal, the Alaska Supreme Court reversed, holding the “pending civil litigation” exception didn’t apply because Basey had filed his federal lawsuit against individuals, not any state agency. Similarly, the court found no evidence existed to support the argument that producing the records would somehow interfere with a “pending criminal prosecution.” The court remanded (or sent the case back) for further proceedings.