Missouri State University Denies 'Springfield News-Leader' Records Request

By: Missouri State University has denied a newspaper's request to obtain the university's contingency budget plans, saying the documents are not public under the state's open records law.

The university formally denied the request by the Springfield News-Leader on Monday.

The budget plans sought by the newspaper were prepared before Thanksgiving by several university administrative offices at the request of Michael Nietzel, university president.

Nietzel asked the offices to draft contingency budget plans, assuming state appropriations should fall by 5 percent, or roughly $4 million. He has said the plans do not translate into actual budget cuts because it was unclear if state funding would drop.

In her response to the request, June McHaney, the university's custodian of records, cited state law that says public records "shall not include any internal memorandum or letter received or prepared by or on behalf of a member of a public governmental body consisting of advice, opinions and recommendations in connection with the deliberate decision-making process of said body, unless such records are retained by the public governmental body or presented at a public meeting."

But Jean Maneke, a lawyer for the Missouri Press Association, said the public should know about possible budget cuts.

"I clearly disagree with them," Maneke said. "We're not talking about the staff. We're talking about the president."

Maneke also said the university president, created by the bylaws of the university, is a public governmental body.

The News-Leader made the initial verbal request on Dec. 19. Paul Kincaid, the university's chief of staff, declined to provide the documents, saying those plans, yet to be presented to the board of governors, were not public.

The News-Leader then filed a formal Sunshine Law request, saying the documents became open records once the president's office collected them. Nietzel wrote the newspaper a letter, printed Dec. 24, in which he argued the internal budget recommendations he requested from various unit heads are not public records under state law.

"In this case, the opportunity for a staff to discuss, document and debate various budgetary options with some degree of deliberateness and confidentiality prior to a final decision being made public is exactly what the legislature wanted to protect."

Don Wyatt, executive editor, said the News-Leader was considering legal action. "We disagree with MSU's interpretation of the law and are weighing our options, he said.