Sprague sued over public records

SPRAGUE—A Langley man is suing the city of Sprague over a public records request.

Court records show Eric Hood filed a civil lawsuit against the city Thursday, March 16, claiming the city didn’t respond to an email request for records regarding a previous lawsuit Hood filed.

According to court filings, Hood emailed the city Wednesday, Sept. 14, asking for records of “all costs, including attorney invoices related to the lawsuit Eric Hood v. City of Sprague.”

After not repeating the response, he repeated his request Friday, Sept. 23, according to documents.

Hood alleged he received no response within five business days and didn’t receive a “bounceback” or “error” message in response to his inquiries, according to records.

He also claimed he communicated with the city using City Hall’s email address without issue in the past, records show.

Hood is asking the court to order the city to produce all documents requested, and to award costs associated with legal action and a monetary penalty for “each day (he) was denied the right to inspect and copy each record requested,” according to records.

The city didn’t return a request for comment by press time.