RALEIGH—Chairman Linda Daves, North Carolina Republican Party, sent a letter to North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper today urging him to conduct an investigation into the possible destruction of public records by the Governor’s office and their agents.  Debbie Crane, formerly the chief spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services before being fired by Governor Easley last week, has alleged that the Governor’s press office directed her and others to delete e-mail messages to the Governor’s office.  E-mail messages qualify as public records under state law.  In addition, Governor Easley himself has acknowledged disposing of correspondence between himself and former DHHS Secretary Carmen Hooker Odom regarding the media investigation into the 2001 mental health reform plan. 

Under state law, it is a misdemeanor for someone to “destroy, sell, loan or otherwise dispose of any public records . . . without the consent of the Department of Cultural Resources.”  Governor Easley and his attorneys have to this point cited a records retention policy for the Governor's press office dated Nov. 12, 2001, and signed by Easley and Department of Cultural Resources Secretary Lisbeth C. Evans, along with other administration officials. That policy acknowledges that e-mail is public record.  Under the policy, e-mail messages may be deleted when their "reference or administrative value" ends.  The policy also provides that “e-mail of ephemeral or rapidly diminishing value may be erased or destroyed when the user has determined that its reference value has ended.”  In other words, Governor Easley and his staff are allowed to make their own judgments about when their value is at an end.   

Chairman Daves made the following statement:

“I urge the Attorney General to conduct an investigation into this matter.  Government bureaucrats should not be able to insulate themselves from possible scrutiny by destroying damaging records and asserting their own judgment that the records are no longer of use.  The public records laws are in place to protect the citizens of North Carolina from potential corruption in government and to ensure that we always have the mechanisms in place to hold our elected officials accountable.  The Governor cannot be allowed to skirt public records laws to thwart further investigation of his dismal record on mental health reform.  We should strive for honesty and transparency in state government.  If Governor Easley will not take responsibility for his actions and those of his staff, the Attorney General should conduct an independent investigation into the matter.”

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