When Josephine County Commissioner Andreas Blech announced that the Board of County Commissioners would assume control of all public records requests, the move was framed as a step toward greater efficiency and effectiveness. Months later, the reality tells a very different story. What was presented as an administrative improvement has, in practice, become a near-total blackout on access to public information—one that affects newspapers, private citizens, and watchdog groups alike.
Under Oregon law, counties must acknowledge a public records request within five business days and either provide the records or a reasonable estimated completion date within fifteen. Instead, requesters are receiving perfunctory responses on the final day of the acknowledgment period, often stating that the county is “still determining custody” of the records. What follows is an extended silence that can stretch for weeks or months, with no resolution and no fulfillment.
This newspaper has experienced the pattern repeatedly. The Grants Pass Daily Courier has as well. Even private citizens, asked to submit their own requests to test the system, report identical treatment. Whether the request concerns financial records, correspondence, or investigations into the commissioners themselves, the outcome is the same: delays, deferrals, and ultimately, nothing.
The legal framework is clear. Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 192 establishes strict timelines for government bodies to respond. Repeated failure to acknowledge or fulfill requests violates those provisions and undermines the public’s right to know. Beyond the state requirements, the pattern raises serious questions about whether the commissioners are deliberately using procedural control to obstruct scrutiny of their actions.
Commissioner Blech’s assumption of oversight has not increased transparency; it has effectively buried it. This mirrors the behavior of his predecessor, former Commissioner John West, whose tenure was marked by similar stonewalling tactics. The public records law provides remedies through district attorney petitions and court actions, including financial penalties, but enforcement has so far been absent. State and federal oversight bodies have not intervened, leaving a vacuum in which local officials can ignore their legal duties without consequence.
What many Josephine County residents may not realize is that they have concrete legal options to hold the county accountable. In Oregon, including Josephine County, private citizens have the legal right to sue a public body if it fails to comply with the Oregon Public Records Law (ORS 192.311–192.478). The law sets clear response deadlines: five business days to acknowledge a request and fifteen business days total to complete it or lawfully extend the timeline. If those deadlines are missed or the county provides vague, repetitive responses without resolution, that can be treated as a constructive denial under the law.
Before filing suit, residents can petition the Josephine County District Attorney to review the denial or failure to respond. If the DA denies the petition or fails to act within seven days, or if the county ignores a DA order to release the records, citizens can then file suit in Josephine County Circuit Court under ORS 192.431. The law favors disclosure—the burden is on the county to prove why it withheld the records. If the citizen prevails, the court can compel immediate disclosure, award attorney fees and litigation costs, and even impose civil penalties for willful violations.
Practically speaking, citizens and journalists have standing to sue when the county ignores statutory deadlines, repeatedly delays without lawful justification, or fails to comply with a DA order. Lawsuits are not only a viable legal remedy—they may be the only language the county understands. If enough citizens challenge the county’s practices in court, it may finally force a cultural shift toward compliance with transparency laws.
Transparency is not optional in government; it is a legal obligation. By transforming public records access into a bureaucratic abyss, Josephine County’s leadership has eroded one of the fundamental checks on its power. The tools to fight back exist. It is now up to residents to use them, because without accountability, the cycle of obstruction will continue unchecked.