The Oregon Department of Transportation did not properly respond with the documents in a public records request, so The Oregonian reported last week.

We want to draw attention to it because it’s an example of how public agencies do not comply with the public records law. We don’t know how often it happens. But it does.

Oregon does have strong public records laws. The problem for most people is when public agencies don’t comply Oregonians must seek redress in the courts. And that is not cheap.

What happened in this case is … “Portland lawyer Alan Kessler took the Oregon Department of Transportation to trial, alleging that the agency altered public records that he requested regarding a proposed expansion of Interstate 5 in Portland,” The Oregonian wrote. “In a trial Monday, Marion County Circuit Court Judge Tracy Prall ruled that the transportation agency had failed to comply with the public records request and ruled that it must move more quickly in the future to preserve requested records that might otherwise be deleted or altered.”

ODOT initially had denied Kessler’s request. When it did eventually fulfill it, it omitted some of the records.

Kessler actually found on an ODOT server a more complete response to his request including records that ODOT did not send to him. We don’t know why that was. Maybe it was a mistake. Everybody makes mistakes. Maybe it was something else.

Do state agencies really believe in transparency and in Oregon’s public records laws?