Nevada Supreme Court deems CCDC inmate call records public

Records of calls made by Clark County Detention Center inmates are public, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

The ruling stems from a public records request made in 2012 by Blackjack Bonding Inc. to the Metropolitan Police Department, which runs the jail.

In the request, the Las Vegas company sought all call records from telephones used by inmates for 2011 and 2012.

The company later narrowed the scope of the requested information to “all telephone numbers listed on the various bail bond agent jail lists posted in CCDC in 2011 and 2012” and expressed an understanding “that the inmate names and identification numbers may need to be redacted.”

Metro denied Blackjack’s request, claiming the agency did not possess the records. Inmate phone services at the jail are provided by CenturyLink.

Blackjack then took the matter to Clark County District Court.

District Judge Jerry Wiese granted the bail bond company’s request for the records and ruled that Metro had a duty to produce them after making redactions. He also ordered Blackjack to pay the costs associated with producing the records.

Wiese then determined that Blackjack was not a prevailing party in the case, and, therefore, the judge refused to make Metro pay for the company’s attorney fees and costs. Both sides appealed.

According to Thursday’s opinion, authored by Justice Nancy Saitta, “The district court abused its discretion by relying on the clearly erroneous finding that Blackjack was not a prevailing party.”

The high court then sent the matter back to District Court “to enter an award for reasonable attorney fees and costs consistent with this opinion.” Justices Ron Parraguirre and Kristina Pickering concurred in the opinion.

Metro’s attorney, Thomas Dillard Jr., could not be reached for comment. The agency had argued in its appeal that Blackjack was attempting to use the Nevada Public Records Act for “marketing purposes.”

But the company’s attorney, Tracy DiFillippo, said Blackjack was trying to determine whether inmates were being permitted “to make calls to the bail bond companies of their choice.”

“The government should be transparent,” she said.

DiFillippo said Blackjack requested and received similar records from the city of Las Vegas without going to court and costing taxpayers money. She said Blackjack has not yet received the county jail’s records.

Although the company did not request similar records from Henderson, that city filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of Metro. The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of Blackjack.

Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710. Find her on Twitter: @CarriGeer.