Jan 8, 2022 2 min read

Washington County has denied an open records request by the Observer-Reporter for surveillance video of the Nov. 24 incident between the clerk of courts and sheriff’s deputies, citing an ongoing investigation into the matter and security concerns.

The county rejected the request late Thursday for all surveillance video showing the interactions between Brenda Davis and the deputies inside the courthouse after she refused to follow a court order and was subsequently handcuffed, but later released.

The county cited three provisions for denying the request, including that the matter is under active investigation.

Without elaborating, county officials said the video surveillance is part of the materials currently being reviewed in criminal and non-criminal investigations. District Attorney Jason Walsh said in late November that he had referred “the whole situation” to the state Attorney General’s office, which declined to say whether it was investigating the matter. It was not clear if the non-criminal aspect involved an internal investigation by the county or a potential lawsuit by people involved in the incident.

The final reason for the rejection was that the release of all surveillance videos could create a security issue inside the courthouse if it was publicly known where every camera was located.

The newspaper had asked in its original open records request on Nov. 30 for “any video inside the Washington County Courthouse” of the incident between Davis and the deputies.

In response to the final reason citing security concerns, the newspaper filed a second open records application with a more narrow request asking for only one security camera’s viewpoint during a single moment of the encounter. The county requested a 30-day extension and must respond no later than Feb. 4.

However, if the investigations are continuing past that date, the county will likely deny the request again.