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Jefferson County v. Montana Standard11/6/2003
Submitted on Briefs: June 13, 2002
Appellant Donna Sevalstad pled guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol and driving with an expired license in the Fifth Judicial District Court, Jefferson County. At the time Sevalstad was arrested for the above charges, she was a County Commissioner in Beaverhead County. Respondent Montana Standard is a newspaper with its principal office in Butte, Montana. As a result of Sevalstad's status as a public official, Montana Standard requested that Respondent Jefferson County release information regarding Sevalstad's arrest. The District Court ordered that the requested information be released to Montana Standard, and Sevalstad appeals. We affirm the judgment of the District Court.
We restate the sole issue on appeal as follows:
Did the District Court err when it ordered that information regarding Sevalstad's arrest be released to Montana Standard?
BACKGROUND
On February 26, 2001, Donna Sevalstad was arrested in Jefferson County for driving under the influence of alcohol, in violation of § 61-8-401, MCA (1999), and driving with an expired license, in violation of § 61-5-102, MCA (1999). At the time of her arrest, Sevalstad was a County Commissioner in Beaverhead County. Sevalstad pled guilty to the charges on April 3, 2001.
Montana Standard is a newspaper with its principal office in Butte, Montana. On April 5, 2001, Montana Standard requested that Jefferson County provide it with information regarding Sevalstad's arrest. Specifically, Montana Standard requested that Jefferson County provide: (1) the initial investigation report; and (2) any video tapes taken at the time of Sevalstad's arrest. Jefferson County responded on April 9, 2001, by providing Montana Standard with the initial investigation report. Jefferson County then declined to provide further information without a court order.
On April 11, 2001, Montana Standard asked Jefferson County to petition the District Court for an order to release the additional information pertaining to Sevalstad's arrest. Jefferson County filed a complaint for declaratory judgment on April 16, 2001, joining Montana Standard as a party, and requesting that the District Court adjudicate the rights and duties of the parties with regard to Sevalstad's arrest information. On July 9, 2001, Montana Standard filed a motion for summary judgment, in which it asserted that it was entitled to the information relating to Sevalstad's arrest. The District Court conducted a hearing on Montana Standard's motion on November 7, 2001. On November 28, 2001, the District Court issued an order, instructing Jefferson County to submit Sevalstad's arrest information to the District Court for an in camera inspection.
The information submitted to the District Court consisted of a police officer's report and two video tapes. Following an in camera inspection, the District Court issued an order on January 10, 2002, requiring Jefferson County to release the arrest information, including the video tapes, to Montana Standard. However, the order stated that while Montana Standard could report on the contents of the information, it could not copy or publish the video tapes.
Subsequent to the District Court's January 10, 2002, order, Jefferson County provided the District Court with additional written documents regarding Sevalstad's arrest. The District Court examined the documents and issued a supplemental order on January 25, 2002.
The supplemental order stated that while the additional documents would be released to Montana Standard, it was prohibited from copying or publishing the documents. The supplemental order fur
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