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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

County declines to identify jail visitors

Identities of people who visit inmates in the Spokane County Jail will remain secret for now, after a deputy county prosecutor refused this week to honor an attorney general’s office request to disclose them.

The issue arose Thursday after The Spokesman-Review asked for a list of people who had visited or requested interviews with Jonathan Lytle, a Spokane man charged with homicide by abuse in connection with the death of his 4-year-old daughter, Summer Phelps.

Kay Donder, jail supervisor and records custodian, declined to supply the list, saying it was confidential information under a state law that prohibits disclosure of an inmate’s private file.

That interpretation is too narrow, said Tim Ford, an assistant state attorney general. The statute in question notes that operators of a jail shall maintain a public registry, Ford said. It also requires that some inmate records remain private, but it does not define either those records or the registry.

Ford said the public has a right to know who visits inmates in a public jail.

“Coming in the front door is a public act,” Ford said. “I would err on the side of saying they should be disclosed.”

In phone calls Thursday, Ford urged the prosecutor’s office to release the information.

But Steve Kinn, a deputy prosecutor, refused, saying he was protecting the privacy of people who have been charged, but not convicted, of crimes. The state statute requires that inmate records be held in confidence, and the county could be legally liable for the release of information, Kinn added. He noted that Ford’s interpretation wasn’t binding.

“They’re lawyers and we’re lawyers and we disagree,” Kinn said.

The discussion had been informal, but the newspaper on Friday filed a request for a list of Lytle’s jail visitors under the state’s open records act. It triggers a process that could result in Ford sending a letter urging release of the records, although county officials are under no obligation to do so. The paper could seek a court order to obtain the information.