Federal government makes case to refute argument that Fitzgerald e-mails should be released

If it is determined that it was illegal for Fitzgerald to serve on the FirstNet board at the same time he was Story County sheriff, the FirstNet-related e-mails that he sent and received should still be protected as federal records, according to the federal-government filing.

“Even if removal [from the FirstNet board] were appropriate in a given case, [Story County] points to nothing in this statutory scheme to suggest that the duties that were undertaken by employees during their time of federal service are ipso facto rendered void or are somehow deprived of their federal purpose or character,” according to the federal-government filing.

Furthermore, if the court were to allow the e-mails to be released, doing so “would harm the public interest,” according to the filing. 

“There is no question that the public interest, as specifically contemplated by Congress when it created the FirstNet, would be harmed if this court were to strip these e-mails of their federal character,” the federal-government filing states. “As previously established, Congress exempted the FirstNet from operation of the federal Freedom of Information Act specifically to protect the confidentiality of records such as are at issue in this litigation. Clearly, this purpose would be frustrated, and the public interest thereby harmed, were the court to reach the result asked for by [Story County].”