Clark County settles records suit for $4,825

Under state law, agencies have five days to respond to a public records request. The agency can provide the documents, explain why the documents are exempted from public disclosure or give an estimated wait time for fulfilling the request.

Agencies can be fined between $5 and $100 a day for each day a request goes ignored.

Ruttledge received $4,825, according to a copy of a settlement agreement dated Dec. 20.

Horne said Tuesday he thought that was a reasonable amount. Ruttledge’s lawsuit had sought the maximum penalty of $100 a day. The county was several months late in providing the documents.

The settlement agreement, signed by Clark County Risk Manager Mark Wilson, said the agreement shouldn’t be construed as an admission of liability and that the county “intends merely to avoid litigation and buy its peace.”

The documents not received by Ruttledge, Horne said, included confirmation of the county’s professional errors and omissions insurance. Ruttledge had inquired whether the county has that type of liability insurance, Horne said. Horne said staff members in the commissioners’ office who responded to Ruttledge’s request didn’t include the document. By the time Ruttledge’s request made it to Horne’s office, it was well past the deadline.

Ruttledge’s settlement ends one of two legal actions prompted by the Benton hiring, which was characterized by Commissioner Steve Stuart, a Democrat, as “political cronyism” and by then-Administrator Bill Barron as going against standard hiring protocol.

Benton didn’t meet many requirements listed in the job description on the county’s website, and Ruttledge’s request centered around whether relevant changes had been made to the county’s human resources policy manual prior to Benton’s appointment.

Ruttledge said Monday he didn’t receive any documents showing that was the case.

Ruttledge was represented by Vancouver attorney Greg Ferguson, who also represents Anita Largent. Largent, the former interim director of environmental services, filed a lawsuit in Clark County Superior Court on Dec. 18, alleging the Benton appointment violated county policy promising equal employment opportunity, nondiscrimination and fairness in hiring.