Lawsuit may test public records law

A public records lawsuit filed against the City of High Springs about two weeks ago has raised questions about a city employee with a controversial past and about what constitutes a public record.

This is not the first time Clinton Knowles has come under public scrutiny. Before joining the High Springs Police Department as a reserve officer, he was fired from the Sarasota County Sherriff’s Department in 2008 for an alcohol related incident.

The city is now being sued by High Springs resident Robyn Rush, who seeks to obtain documentation of a pre-employment polygraph test that Knowles took when he applied for a part-time position in the police department earlier this year.    

Rush made multiple requests for the record, several pages of which the city eventually gave her, though portions of the text were redacted, or blacked out.

Rush maintains that under Florida public records law, additional portions of the documents should be made available.

Police Chief Jim Troiano expressed a concern that the city’s refusal to release the documents in their entirety could be misconstrued as an attempt to cover something up.

He said the city is just trying to abide by the law as best it can.

And the Florida Attorney General’s Office, he pointed out, notified both parties that “it appears that the City of High Springs is complying with the requirements of the Public Records law and that it has taken steps to satisfy your [Rush’s] public records request.”

Initially, Rush contacted the Attorney General about her concern that the city was not in compliance with public records law. The Attorney General subsequently corresponded with both Rush and the city, advising them of the office’s determination, but no formal mediation was every held among the three entities.

“The bottom line is we’re not trying to hide anything,” Troiano said. If city officials could release the documents, according to their understanding of the law, he said he’d be the first to hand them over. 

As Rush stated in an e-mail to the Attorney General’s Office, she doesn’t think the statute the city is citing as reason to withhold parts of the record should apply to the specific material in question.

Florida law exempts materials containing employment examination questions and answer sheets from public record. The rational is that releasing such materials as public record could provide an opportunity for potential applicants to cheat.

“In the case of a polygraph, it is an evaluation of ‘truthfulness’ and no amount of study can cause an advantage in the ‘test,’” Rush argued.

Because of the controversy surrounding Knowles, one might assume the worst of what could be written beneath the blacked-out sections of his polygraph record.

Rush is suing the city to release those redacted sections so she can see for herself.

Troiano said there’s nothing in the redactions that would disqualify him as a candidate for the department’s open part-time position.

The official result of the polygraph, which was determined by the Alachua County Sherriff’s Office detective who administered the test, was “inconclusive.”

Troiano went on to say he considers Knowles to be fully qualified for the position, and he, as well as all three of the department’s sergeants, made formal recommendations ranking him as the number one candidate.

The chief said his recommendation was based on Knowles’ training and experience and how he has performed in his current position as a reserve officer thus far.

“He’s far exceeding the expectations of some and certainly living up to the expectations I had of him.”

But despite the avid support from his commanding officers, Knowles was not selected to fill the part-time position.

The position has remained open, Troiano said, for lack of a qualified candidate. And though Troiano and his sergeants consider him to be qualified, city manager Jim Drumm would not approve the appointment of Knowles as a part-time officer.

Drumm said he made that decision based on concerns about Knowles’ record and about putting him on “permanent status.”

The candidate ranked second for the position, Ryan Lee Scott, is undergoing the hiring process now, according to Drumm.

As for the pending lawsuit, Rush’s attorney, Joseph Little, submitted a request for an accelerated hearing on the grounds of enforcing Florida public records law, which is designed to maximize government transparency.

How the judge rules on this case could set a precedent for future public records disputes.

Troiano said he is confident the city will prevail.