Judge rules in favor of media outlets in public records lawsuit against Columbus Co. Sheriff’s Office

COLUMBUS COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — A judge has sided with four media outlets, including WWAY, who filed a lawsuit against the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office over the release of public records.

The Columbus County Sheriff’s Office used to email daily incident and arrest reports to the media. In early September, the sheriff’s office stopped sending incident reports to the media, citing a policy change.

On September 11, The New Reporter asked Sheriff Jody Greene about the reports. The sheriff told Sherrill that he objected to releasing information about reported crime, arguing that publication in the newspaper deters the reporting of legitimate criminal complaints.

Chief Deputy Aaron Herring also told the paper they were not obligated to release any information about any case still under investigation and the “office would not release anything about cases until an arrest is made or the case has been closed.”

Wake County attorney Amanda Martin, with Stevens Martin Vaughn & Tadych, PLLC, filed a lawsuit on behalf of WWAY, The News Reporter, WECT and Tabor-Loris Tribune.

On Monday, Judge John Smith ruled that the records we seek are public records and become public records from the time they get created, not once they are approved. The records must be provided in a timely fashion, which the judge defined as according to the schedule that existed before September 2020.

As for the policy the sheriff’s office created in September, the judge didn’t believe any lawyer would have ever approved of it.