Online paper wins $111,000 in attorney fees, court costs over sheriff's stinginess with public records

The Lake County News of Northern California won a lawsuit against the county, after a judge determined that Sheriff Frank Rivero (Sacramento Bee photo by Randall Benton) discriminated against the online-only newspaper by refusing to provide public information, reporter Patrick Boylan writes. The county will have to pay $110,990 in attorney fees and court costs.

The News's attorney said Rivero didn't like what it was printing about him and decided to cut it off, requiring it to use the California Public Records Act to obtain documents that had already been released to other news media, Boylan writes. The News also had to go to the sheriff's office and pay for copies that were free to other local news outlets. The daily newspaper in the county is the Lake County Record-Bee, owned by MediaNews Group.

Some of the stories at issue were allegations that Rivero lied about a 2008 shooting, and his creation of a "Brady List" for officers with credibility issues, reports Boylan. Elizabeth Larson, co-owner of the paper with her husband, John Jensen, said, “Our coverage has been truthful and accurate; he just doesn't like it. We tried everything to avoid going to court. The sheriff persisted in his retaliation against us for coverage that he didn't like, leaving us no alternative but to sue him.” (Read more)

In an email to the Press Democrat in Santa Rosa, Rivero said, “To the extent that the judge used his discretion to award attorney’s fees to a non-prevailing party, I believe that exceeded his authority." Rivero said he plans to appeal. Meanwhile, citizens in Lake County have begun a recall campaign against him, needing 7,026 signatures by Aug. 15. (Read more) The group circulating petitions reported June 20 "it had more than 90 percent of the signatures needed to get a recall election on the ballot," Jeremy Walsh of the Record-Bee reports.