The World filed the lawsuit in Oklahoma County District Court in 2001, seeking computerized and paper records on the department's use of force, stops, searches and agency procedures. The World sought the records to review the agency's treatment of minorities who were stopped and searched, among other issues.

Joe Worley, executive editor of the World, said the newspaper filed the suit on behalf of itself and the public.

"The public has an important interest in understanding the operations of state agencies such as the Department of Public Safety," he said. "We are glad that the court's decision has upheld that interest."

Oklahoma County District Judge Vicki Robertson had granted a motion for summary judgment in 2005, ruling that five types of records sought by the World were open records and three were not.

Robertson ruled that computerized traffic citation data, warning data and the department's policies and procedures manual were not open records.

The World and DPS both appealed Robertson's order, and a three-judge panel of the Court of Civil Appeals issued its ruling in the case Monday.

The judges ruled that Robertson's order granting summary judgment was in error because many facts in the case are in dispute.

The ruling states

It notes that not all records possessed by a law enforcement agency fall under a limited list of law enforcement records that must be made public. In ruling that the entire operations manual is not an open record, Robertson erred, the court said.

The court returned the case to Robertson for further proceedings.

The court ruled that Robertson's findings regarding computerized data were flawed and reversed her ruling, sending the matter back for trial.

When it denied the World's request for the records, the Department of Public Safety said the data did not exist in the form requested, that it was a burden to produce, and that federal law prohibited the production of the data if it existed.

The court said the department's excuses for not providing the data were invalid.

The World's attorney, Schaad Titus, said the opinion clarified three points in the Open Records Act.

"Open records inside a computer data file are open records," he said. "It also clarifies that an agency has a duty to segregate and provide open information in computer files containing open and nonopen records."

The ruling also clarifies the law regarding law enforcement agency records. One section of the law contains eight categories of records that law enforcement agencies shall make available if kept.

Titus said the ruling notes that such agencies possess many other records that are not related directly to law enforcement.

"Not every piece of paper or document that a law enforcement agency has is a law enforcement record," he said. "There are all kinds of nonoperational, administrative, clerical and personnel information that are open records within a law enforcement agency."

Ziva Branstetter 581-8378
ziva.branstetter@tulsaworld.com