In Re: Public Records Request of John Summers
Case Number: C-1051008
Court: Eighteenth Judicial District Court
Client: John Summers
Background: The West Baton Rouge Independent is a small news outlet in Louisiana. John Summers is the publisher, editor, and sole reporter for the outlet, which he started in May 2025.
In March 2026, Summers submitted a request to West Baton Rouge’s fire district for public records related to its response to a recent warehouse fire. After a parish official told him there would be a $121.50 fee for hard copies of the requested records, Summers asked to instead inspect the electronic versions of the records in person.
Later that month, Summers filed another request for records related to a meeting about the fire. But before he received a response to that request and was able to inspect the records related to the first request, the parish sued him. According to court filings, an attorney for the government told Summers that the parish wouldn’t respond to his second March request or any future public records requests until the court issued a ruling in the case.
The government’s lawsuit seeks, among other things, a court ruling that allows the government to withhold public records from Summers and other requesters unless they pay potentially hefty fees. It also asks the court to order Summers to pay the government’s attorney’s fees.
On behalf of Summers, Virginia Hamrick, the Reporters Committee’s Louisiana-based attorney, countersued the parish and fire district, arguing that the government’s lawsuit is a transparent effort to shirk its obligations under the Louisiana Public Records Law. The countersuit asks the court to reject the government’s claims, order the government to respond to Summers’s public records requests, and award Summers attorney’s fees and civil penalties.
Quote: “Louisiana’s Constitution and public records law explicitly protect the public’s right to access government records, so it’s particularly shocking for the government to have preemptively sued a local journalist for seeking to exercise that right,” Hamrick said. “This is a meritless attempt to deter reporting on the parish and fire district, and to make it more difficult for anyone else seeking government transparency to request information in the future.”
Filings:
2026-04-21: Defendant John Summers’ answer and reconventional demand
2026-04-21: Exhibits to defendant’s opposition