American Civil Liberties Union v. Arizona Department of Child Safety

OPINION

NORRIS, Judge:

¶ 1 This appeal arises out of three requests for public records submitted by plaintiff/appellant, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona (“ACLU”), to defendant/appellee, the Arizona Department of Child Safety (“DCS”), and its predecessor agency. We hold that when, as here, a state agency maintains public records in an electronic database, Arizona’s public records law requires the *145agency to take appropriate steps to query and search its database to identify, retrieve, and produce responsive records for inspection. Thus, we reverse the superior court’s ruling to the…