HARDY MYERS
William Joseph Birhanzl
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
1162 Court St:"eet NE
Justice Building
Salem, Oregon 97301-4096
Telephoneo (503) 378-4400
TIYo (503) 378-5938
May4, 2004
c/o Douglas Bray, Trial Court Administrator
Multnomah County Courthouse
1021 SW Fourth Avenue
Portland, OR 97204
Re: Petition for Public Records Disclosure Order:
Multnomah County Trial Court Administrator Records
Dear Mr. Birhanzl:
PETER D. SHEPHERD
DEPUTY ATIDR.c"JEY GENERAL
This letter is the Attorney General's order on your petition for disclosure of records under
the Oregon Public Records Law, ORS 192.410 to 192.505. Your petition, which we received on
April 27, 2004, asks the Attorney General to order Douglas Bray, the Trial Court Administrator
for Multnomah County, and his employees to "provide access to and furnish proper and
reasonable facilities for inspection of the category of case files requested for inspection on April
9, 2004". For the reasons that follow, we respectfully deny your petition.
The Public Records Law confers a right to inspect any public record of a public body in
Oregon, subject to certain exemptions and limitations. See ORS 192.420. Any person denied
the right to inspect or to receive a copy of a public record of a state agency may petition the
Attorney General to review the record and determine ifit may be withheld. ORS 192.450. The
Attorney General does not have authority to order disclosure of public records unless the agency
has denied a request for those records.
You requested the identified records on April 9, 2004. We spoke with Mr. Bray about
your petition. He told us that the records you requested are in Forcible Entry and Detainer (FED)
case files and that he told you that FED case files will be available for your inspection within two
weeks of filing of the original document in the case, and that you may request the files for review
as they become available under this schedule.
Under ORS 192.430, the custodian of public records is required "to furnish proper and
reasonable opportunities for inspection and examination of the records in the office of the
William Birhanzl
May 4, 2004
Page 2
custodian" during regular business hours. We have concluded that the public's "reasonable"
opportunity to inspect records permits a public body a "reasonable" time to respond to a records
request. AG'S PUBLIC RECORDS AND MEETINGS MANUAL (2004) 9. "It is not a denial entitling
the requestor to petition for release of the records if the custodian does not provide access to the
nonexempt records within the time frames set by the requestor." Id. citing Morse Bros. Inc. v.
ODED, 103 Or App 619, 798 P3d 719 (1990).
Mr. Bray has not denied your request. He has agreed to make the requested case files
available to you. Therefore, we deny your petition as premature.
Deputy Attorney General
PDS/13936
c: Douglas Bray, Multnomah County Trial Court Administrator
Bradd Swank, Office of the State Court Administrator
