R3D4

The subject matter determines whether the email qualifies as a public record, regardless of whether it is on a public or private email account. Burton v. Mann, 74 Va. Cir. 471, 474 (2008).

There is no statutory or case law addressing this issue.

Although the term “public matter” is not defined in OPRA, OPRA defines a government record broadly, regardless of where such record is made, stored or maintained, as any paper, written or printed book, document, drawing, map, plan, photograph, microfilm, data processed or image processed document, information stored or maintained electronically or by sound-recording or in a similar device, or any copy thereof, that has been made, maintained or kept on file in the course of his or its official business by any officer, commission, agency or authority of the

In O’Neill v. Shoreline, 170 Wn.2d 138, 240 P.3d 1149 (2010), the Washington Supreme Court held that the home computer used by a city official to send an email is subject to inspection by the city to determine whether a requested record still existed.

There is no specific statutory provision covering e-mail, and there are no reported cases.

If the public matter is contained in a computer database and relates to public business, the matter constitutes a public record.  See §14-2-6(F), NMSA 2011, §§14-3-15.1 and 14-3-18(C), NMSA 1978.

There have been no court decisions indicating how public records contained in private e-mail archives should be treated. It is possible, however, that the West Virginia Court may require disclosure upon a finding that private e-mail was used as a ruse to conduct public business while avoiding FOIA disclosure requirements.

There is no statutory or case law addressing this issue.

(This section is blank. See the point above.)

(This section is blank. See the point above.)