No Bargain for Public Records in Alaska

Alaska is flush with cash, but there are no bargains for reporters and citizens asking for records of the taxpayers' money at work.

On the contrary, the state is setting prices for copies of government documents that could bring Gov. Sarah Palin's administration millions of dollars if anyone agrees to pay them.

Alaska officials said they have been swamped with requests for copies of state records ever since Palin was selected to be Republican John McCain's running mate. For requests of less than 200 pages, the state sometimes waives fees. Agencies also offer news organizations the opportunity to fine-tune their requests to avoid high fees.

The state is charging $960.31 per account to search through e-mails of state employees, which the state said would take 13 hours per e-mail account. Officials say the charges reflect their actual costs of paying state technology workers $74 per hour, not any profit.

In an e-mail to The Associated Press this week, Alaska's senior assistant attorney general said the state will not waive its high fees because of the current budget climate and the public's interest in spending taxpayer money wisely. AP requested that Alaska waive the fees because the information to be disclosed was in the public interest, and Alaska rejected the request.

"State agencies cannot foresee every exceptional circumstance that might make a waiver in the public interest," Ruth Hamilton Heese wrote. "In the current budget climate, however, cost is a very important element of the decision."

SARAH PALIN'S 'TROOPERGATE' PROBLEM: THE BACKSTORY

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has denied claims that she and several of her senior staffers illegally accessed the personnel file of her ex-brother-in-law, Trooper Mike Wooten, and disseminated confidential information about the law enforcement official to his superiors.Palin, Sen. John McCain’s running mate, her private attorney Thomas Van Flein, and McCain campaign officials, said the confidential medical and employment records became part of the public record during divorce proceedings between Wooten and Palin’s sister, Molly McCann. Palin is under investigation by an independent counsel appointed by Alaska’s Legislative Council. The probe centers on whether Palin abused her power when she fired Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan in July because he allegedly refused to fire Wooten. The investigation also centers on claims that the governor’s office peeked at Wooten’s personnel records illegally. The McCain campaign said Monday Palin is "unlikely" to cooperate with the investigation.Palin's husband, Todd Palin, and 12 other people were subpoenaed Friday by a committee made up of three Republicans and two Democrats.
The court clerk at the Alaska courthouse in Anchorage explained that the contents of Wooten and McCann’s divorce records do not contain any of Wooten’s personnel, medical, or financial records, other than statements made by witnesses during the trial.
“Under Alaska state law when you reopen a custody and divorce case you have to do initial disclosure,” Erwin said. “That means we are entitled to three different releases: his employment, medical, and financial documents. [Wooten] signed the releases in open court and the releases were exercised.”