State District Court Judge Thomas Rumpke has partially ruled in favor of the Glenrock newspaper, which filed suit against the Town of Glenrock in an effort to obtain a report compiled on the town’s former police chief.

“... the court concludes that the petitioner request for public records should be granted in part, and denied in part,” Rumpke wrote on Friday.

Glenrock Independent Publisher Matt Adelman praised the judge’s decision upholding the state’s public records laws and the public’s right to accessing public documents. The newspaper sued in June for access to a report written by attorney Alaina Stedillie, who was hired by the town to investigate former Glenrock Police Chief David Theel. The chief was terminated immediately following a town council pre-termination hearing Oct. 4. 

“There are few positions as important to the community as the chief of police,” said attorney Bruce Moats, who represented the Independent. “We are gratified that the Court recognized the right and the necessity of public access to information surrounding this controversy, as it relates not only to investigation into the conduct of the police chief, but provides context in which the public may judge the actions of its elected representatives and other public servants.

“We appreciate the Court’s effort to balance any privacy interests by redacting certain medical information and information regarding minors, while releasing the rest of the Stedillie report,” he added.

In the court arguments, Moats maintained the report is public information about a public figure and the town council and how it conducts business. The town’s attorneys contended the report was not a public document but subject to attorney-client privilege or, alternatively, should not be released because it contains sensitive and confidential personnel information. 

Judge Rumpke agreed that the report overall was public but that some limited content was confidential employee information which should be redacted. The town has 30 days to appeal Rumpke’s ruling or to provide a redacted report to the Independent. 

Glenrock Mayor Bruce Roumell placed Theel on paid administrative leave Feb. 16 and refused to provide the reasons publicly. Later, the town hired Stedillie to investigate Theel; the investigation was apparently expanded around the time numerous police department employees signed a letter of complaint against Theel and gave it to the town council. 

Essentially, the court determined the Stedillie investigation is not protected by attorney-client privilege and that Stedillie acted only as an independent investigator, not a lawyer.

Rumpke added that, “nearly all of this portion of the Stedillie Report must be produced since the town has failed to demonstrate that any person involved has maintained a clearly recognized privacy interest in the information contained in the report.”

He made an exception for information that referred to a personnel investigation into an officer who did not appear to have waived his privacy interest in his own personnel records; according to the judge, the allegations made against that officer involved potentially criminal acts, with no indication that they had been substantiated.

“Therefore, this court concludes that the third party officer has a clear privacy interest in not having unsubstantiated allegations disclosed to the public. Therefore, the town may redact this portion of the Stedillie report,” Rumpke wrote. 

The court also will not allow a section of the report which refers to sensitive mental health information about an alleged victim, saying it would be “unwarranted publicizing of one’s private affairs.” 

As to the human resources complaints contained in a letter of no confidence submitted by 13 members of the Glenrock Police Department, the only disciplinary action included in the report related to a sergeant who signed the letter of no confidence.

“... any recognized privacy interest in the personnel file disciplinary matters has been abandoned by placing these matters squarely in the public domain through the no confidence letter,” the order states. 

Copies of the Stedillie Report with redactions to that information will be provided to the Independent’s and the town’s attorneys Nov. 29. Prior to that date, the report is subject to a protective order and may not be disclosed.