Brown v. Guard Publishing Co.

This case involves a public records request by defendant Guard Publishing Company (dba Register-Guard), who sought disclosure of an energy purchase contract between respondents, the Commissioners of the Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) and Seneca Sustainable Energy, LLC (Seneca). EWEB denied the records request and eventually initiated this action for injunctive and declaratory relief to establish that the contract, in its entirety, is exempt from disclosure under the Oregon’s public records law, ORS 192.410 to 192.505. Among other exemptions, EWEB relied on ORS 192.502(26), which exempts…