Downey v. Carcieri

Summary

The Rhode Island Supreme Court affirmed a Superior Court judgment involving requests for state-agency privatization records under the Access to Public Records Act and the Government Oversight and Fiscal Accountability Review Act. The court held that plaintiffs were not required to exhaust administrative remedies before seeking judicial relief, interpreted “services heretofore provided” to include services performed by agency employees at any reasonable time in the past, and upheld an award of attorneys’ fees.

Holdings

1. Section 38-2-8 establishes permissive administrative remedies and does not require a requester to pursue those remedies before bringing an action for declaratory or injunctive relief in Superior Court.
2. Under the 2006 version of R.I. Gen. Laws § 37-2.3-3(5), the phrase "services heretofore provided" encompasses services performed at any time in the past by regular employees of a state agency, subject to an element of reasonableness.
3. A prevailing plaintiff in an APRA action is entitled to reasonable attorneys' fees and costs without proving that the public body or official knowingly and willfully violated the statute.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Access to Public Records Act required plaintiffs to exhaust the statute's administrative remedies before filing an action for declaratory or injunctive relief in Superior Court.
2. Whether GOFARA's definition of a privatization contract, including services "heretofore provided" by agency employees, applied to services performed by agency employees at any time in the past.
3. Whether plaintiffs were entitled to attorneys' fees under the Access to Public Records Act despite the absence of a knowing and willful violation.

Disposition

affirmed