Gillette resident suing county commission after being denied records request

GILLETTE (WNE)— A Gillette resident has sued the Campbell County Commission to get an opinion that he believes the board received from the Wyoming Attorney General.
Bruce Williams has submitted a petition in District Court for information in a public records request.
 
Williams said he’d heard that the commissioners had asked for an opinion from the Wyoming Attorney General, and that in late February they’d received it.
 
On Feb. 27, he made a public records request with the county for the opinion.
 
“I was informed that the Attorney General has given the county an opinion on Attorney Client privilege and/or what is available as to the communications between county officials and others,” he wrote in the request.
 
The next day, Williams got a response that said he would not be receiving the records he was requesting. The reason given was the records were exempt from disclosure because they fell under attorney-client communication.
 
On March 1, he filed the petition in District Court.
 
“The public has as much right to know what the Attorney General of Wyoming thinks is public records as the County Commissioners do,” Williams wrote.
 
Williams said opinions are not exempt from public records requests, and he’s worried the county is withholding information that should be accessible by the public.
 
He wondered why the county wouldn’t want “the people to know what the Attorney General thinks is information they have a right to and information they do not have a right to.”
Williams wants the court to order the county commission to release the requested attorney general’s opinion.
 
This is not the first time Williams has sued local governments. He’s sued the city of Gillette on a few occasions.
 
Commission Chair Colleen Faber did not respond to a message left for comment.
 
This story was published on Mar. 28, 2023.