The Indiana Publisher

Lance Gideon Reporter-Times (Martinsville) MARTINSVILLE — Martins- ville Clerk-Treasurer Becky Tumey failed to follow state code when she denied public documents to the Reporter-Times in July, according to Indiana Public Access Counselor Luke Britt. "(I)t is the opinion of this office that the Clerk-Treasurer for the City of Martinsville should have cited the specific exemption or exception authorizing the withhold- ing of all or part of the requested public records as required by APRA," Britt wrote in his opinion. "I trust this will not happen going forward," he concluded. In July, the newspaper submitted an Indiana Access to Public Records Act (APRA) request to the city of Martinsville requesting electronic correspondence, including text messages and emails, between Tumey and city attorney Dale Coffey about a claim from former parks superintendent Brad Bales. Tumey did not supply the Reporter-Times with all of the emails, nor did she furnish a copy of the text messages between herself and Coffey. Instead, Tumey said, "Text messages do not exist." The newspaper, however, had evidence that there were more emails, one of which alluded to at least one text message between Tumey and Coffey. With this evidence in hand, the Reporter-Times filed a complaint with the Indiana Office of Public Access Counselor on July 27, a Publisher The Indiana Volume 85, Issue 11 • November 2020 Published on second Thursday monthly • With so many newspapers making changes throughout our state, we are having a tough time staying on top of your current information. • Make sure you update your newspaper information by visiting https://www.hspa. com/2021-advertising-information/. Fill out the form and hit send at the bottom of the page. • This will allow us to add all of your newspaper changes to our database. We need current contact information, publishing days and advertising rates. • Please take 5 minutes to fill out this form. Too busy? Print out the form and have another staff member fill it in and scan it back to us. HSPA launches Member Quarter Page Partnership initiative To maintain Hoosier State Press Association services without imposing burdensome dues increases for members, the HSPA Board of Directors has instituted a Member Quarter Page Partnership as a new obligation for members. The crux of the program is that member newspapers would donate 30 inches of space that HSPA could sell to a client for a color ad. HSPA would use the funds to maintain current services to its 150-member newspapers. Those services include representation of the Indiana newspaper industry before the state legislature and other government units, free legal advice to member newspapers, and an advertising placement service that has placed more than $8.5 million in advertising since 2010 in newspapers. "The work of the Hoosier State Press Association has been a vital resource for Indiana newspapers since its creation in 1933," said Bev Joyce, president of the HSPA Board of Directors and publisher of several Indiana newspapers of CNHI. "This program allows HSPA to continue its support of our local mission without incurring a large dues increase." Official failed to follow state code in denying documents to paper See Complaint, page 9 "This program allows HSPA to continue its support of our local mission without incurring a large dues increase." — Bev Joyce, president, HSPA Board of Directors See Partnership, page 8 Don't be on Santa's naughty list this year!

• Cover