Friday, December 11, 2009

APS' continuing disregard for the law.

I have filed a request for public records with the APS, under the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act.

The request was filed at 8:51 on Wednesday December 2, 2009. The receipt of the request was acknowledged at 9:33 that morning.

According to the law,

"A custodian ... shall permit the inspection immediately or as soon as is practicable under the circumstances, but not later than fifteen days after receiving a written request. If the inspection is not permitted within three business days, the custodian shall explain in writing when the records will be available for inspection or when the public body will respond to the request."
Well over three business days have passed, and I have not been allowed to inspect the records, nor have I received any notification when the inspection will be allowed.
APS is in apparent violation of the law.

My recourse is to take on APS and Modrall, one of the largest and most powerful law firms in the state, in court; their home field.

One should not have to sue in order to inspect public records.

To: Custodian of Public Records, Albuquerque Public Schools

From: Charles MacQuigg, xxx, xxx

This constitutes a request for public records.

I am requesting the opportunity to inspect the reports of two of the three investigations into the scandal in the APSPD during late 2006 early 2007.

1. I request the opportunity to inspect the report following the internal investigation done by APS.

2. I request the opportunity to inspect the independent investigation done by Access Investigations.

I understand that a third investigation is underway by the APSPD. I have asked APS Police Chief Bill Reed if releasing the Access Investigation will interfere with his ongoing investigation. He responded by saying that, the release of the Access Investigation "... would not interfere with what we are doing."

The NNIPRA Compliance Guide states the following;

1. This exception does not protect all records held by a law enforcement agency. A request to inspect law enforcement records can be denied only if the records requested reveal confidential sources, information or individuals accused but not charged with a crime. Otherwise inspection must be allowed.

2. Further, the guide states, The Act requires the applicable records custodian to separate out the exempt information in a file or document before making the record available for inspection. The fact that a file may contain some information that may not be disclosed does nt protect all the information from public disclosure.


The records will reflect the involvement of senior APS administrators in criminal misconduct.

The leadership of the APS has kept the records secret for three years; long enough for statutes of limitation to expire on felony criminal misconduct.

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