THEODORE R. KULONGOSKI
ATIORNEY GENERAL
Schon T. Tell
2605 State Street
Salem, OR 97310
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
1162 Court Street NE
Justice Building
Salem, Oregon 97310
Telephone: (503) 378-4400
TDD: (503) 378-5938
April 30, 1996
Re: Petition for Public Records Disclosure Order:
Lane County Trial Court Records
Dear Mr. Tell:
THOMAS A. BALMER
DEPUTY AITORNEY 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 24, 1996, asks the Attorney General to direct
Lane County Circuit Judge Kip Leonard to produce a copy of a rape laboratory report
in case no. 10-90-00910.11
For the reasons that follow, we respectfully deny your petition. We have been
informed by Bradd Swank of the State Court Administrator's office that the trial court
does not have in its custody the laboratory report you requested because it was not
introduced into evidence at your stipulated facts trial. The trial court cannot make
11 Your petition also requested that the Attorney General order the District Attorney to
make a copy of the record available to you. The Attorney General has no jurisdiction over
records in the hands of the District Attorney. See ORS 192.450(1). If you wish to inspect
or receive a copy of a record in the custody of the District Attorney, you will need to make
your request directly to the District Attorney; if the District Attorney has denied your request
for a record, your recourse is then to file a lawsuit in the Circuit Court. See ORS 192.460,
192.480.
Schon T. Tell
April 29, 1996
Page 2
available a record that it does not have, and the Attorney General cannot order its
disclosure.21 See ORS 192.450(1). Accordingly, your petition is denied.
LRR:AV:lrr/JGGOD9E8
c: Bradd Swank
Management/Legal Analyst
State Court Administrator's office
Supreme Court Building
Salem, OR 97310
Honorable Kip W. Leonard
Circuit Court Judge
Lane County Courthouse
125 E 8th
Eugene, OR 97401
Sincerely,
A~-4'#~~
ELIZABETH S. HARCHENKO
Special Counsel to the
Attorney General
21 We understand that Judge Leonard's office will be contacting you directly to explain
that the trial court does not have the record you seek. Because the record you seek is not in
the custody of the trial court, there has been no denial of a right to inspect or receive a copy
of a public record by the court or its judges, and thus we need not examine whether there
has been a claim of right to withhold disclosure by an elected official. See ORS 192.480.
