Oklahoma education agency settles public records dispute with Oklahoma Watch

The Oklahoma State Department of Education has reached an agreement with Oklahoma Watch to turn over records related to the resignation of a senior official at the agency, acknowledging in a court filing that its refusal to do so last year violated the state’s public records law. 

The settlement comes months after the nonprofit news outlet sued the state for access to the information with free legal support from Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press attorney Leslie Briggs. It follows a change in leadership at the Department of Education.

Under the terms of the agreement, the state said it would disclose the resignation letter of Kourtney Heard, the OSDE’s former chief compliance officer. As Oklahoma Watch reported, its reporter Jennifer Palmer requested the letter last year as part of an investigation into the agency’s hiring practices.

The OSDE initially denied Palmer’s request, claiming that the document fell under an exemption in the state Open Records Act that allows public bodies to keep certain records related to internal personnel investigations confidential. 

In the settlement, however, the state acknowledged that “no ‘internal personnel investigation’ … occurred relating to” Heard’s resignation letter. It also acknowledged that making the resignation letter public “does not cause an ‘unwarranted invasion of privacy.’”

“This agreement is an important step by the Department of Education toward transparency in its operations to the benefit of the communities that it serves,” Briggs said. “Oklahomans have a right to know about the hiring practices of the state agency that is responsible for educating their children and we are pleased to have resolved this in a way that provides more information to the public.”