SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Gov. Susana Martinez says her administration is settling a lawsuit with the Albuquerque Journal over a public records request the newspaper made in 2010 when former Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson was in office.
The Republican governor announced Friday the state will reimburse the newspaper for about $18,000 in legal costs in bringing a lawsuit to try to force disclosure of records showing the names and titles of 59 appointed government workers the Richardson administration laid off in 2009 to cope with a budget shortfall.
Martinez said in a statement that the Richardson administration governor's office appears to have violated the Inspection of Public Records Act by failing to forward the newspaper's request to the Department of Finance and Administration, which could have supplied the necessary records.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.