A new lawsuit accuses St. Louis City Police of ignoring Missouri's open records law.
Property owner John Thomas asked for the police reports behind an anonymous complaint that brought officers to his short-term rental this spring. State law gave police 30 days to hand the reports over or to ask a judge for permission to hold some back, and the suit says police did neither.
Dave Roland is director of allied litigation for the Goldwater Institute.
"Some government officials might say well, we didn't know what the Sunshine Law requires. Here's the thing. The custodian of records for the St. Louis Metro Police Department has held that position for more than 35 years," Roland tells KMOX.
Roland says he warned the department in writing back in August, and it still hasn’t finished turning the records over.
"I can't imagine why this problem continues, but if they're not going to fix it we're going to make them feel the heat."
The suit asks a judge to order all the records released, refund a fee of nearly $184 that Thomas says the department had no right to charge, and impose civil penalties.
The city police department tells KMOX they do not comment on pending litigation.
