Wyo. Jet Ctr., LLC v. Jackson Hole Airport Bd.
Decision Date | 15 January 2019 |
Docket Number | S-18-0154 |
Citation | 432 P.3d 910 |
Parties | WYOMING JET CENTER, LLC, Appellant (Petitioner), v. JACKSON HOLE AIRPORT BOARD and Jim Elwood, Airport Executive Director, as Custodians of the Records, Appellees (Respondents). |
Court | Wyoming Supreme Court |
Representing Appellant: Bruce T. Moats, Law Office of Bruce T. Moats, P.C., Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Representing Appellees: Paula A. Fleck and Susan L. Combs, Holland & Hart LLP, Jackson, Wyoming. Argument by Ms. Combs.
Before DAVIS, C.J., and FOX, KAUTZ, BOOMGAARDEN, and GRAY, JJ.
[¶1] Wyoming Jet Center, LLC (Wyoming Jet) filed a petition in district court seeking access to certain records held by the Jackson Hole Airport Board. On cross-motions for summary judgment, the district court concluded that the Special District Public Records and Meetings Act governs the Board’s record disclosure requirements, not the Wyoming Public Records Act, and it ruled in the Board’s favor. We reverse.
[¶2] Wyoming Jet presents four issues, which we summarize as the following single question: Did the district court err in ruling that the Jackson Hole Airport Board is not subject to the record disclosure requirements of the Wyoming Public Records Act?
[¶3] In 1968, the Town of Jackson and Teton County entered into an agreement to create the Jackson Hole Airport Board, a joint powers board tasked with operating the Jackson Hole International Airport (Airport). The Board consists of five voting members, all of whom are qualified electors of Teton County jointly appointed by the Jackson Town Council and the Teton County Board of County Commissioners. The Board currently operates under an agreement that was updated in 2013.
[¶4] The Board receives grants from the Federal Aviation Administration that require the Airport to use more than one fixed base operator (FBO), if available, unless the Board itself serves in that role. In May 2017, the Airport had a single FBO, Jackson Hole Aviation, LLC, and Wyoming Jet applied to serve as a second FBO. The Board initially responded by issuing a request for proposals for a second FBO. In July 2017, however, the Board changed course and decided to consider the option of purchasing Jackson Hole Aviation’s assets and serving as the FBO itself. It thus withdrew its request for proposals and set the question to be heard at an upcoming meeting. In a subsequent resolution declaring its decision to proceed with the option of serving as the FBO, the Board cited its authority to act as FBO and what it deemed to be the advantages of doing so.
[¶5] On August 31, 2017, Wyoming Jet submitted a letter to the Board requesting the opportunity to inspect or obtain copies of documents relating to the Board’s then pending decision to purchase Jackson Hole Aviation’s assets and serve as the Airport’s sole FBO, pursuant to the Wyoming Public Records Act (WPRA). The Board denied that it was subject to the Act, but it nonetheless made some documents available for inspection. As to those documents to which the Board denied access, it variously cited confidentiality, privilege, and the unduly burdensome nature of producing the requested documents as the bases for its denials.
[¶6] On October 12, 2017, Wyoming Jet filed a "Petition for Access to Records" against the Board and the Airport’s executive director. Through its petition, Wyoming Jet sought an order directing disclosure of the requested records, or in the alternative, a log and in camera review of the withheld documents. The Board answered and counterclaimed for a declaration that it is governed solely by the Special District Public Records and Meetings Act (Special District Act) and not the WPRA. It further requested a declaration that the records requested are not within the scope of records required to be maintained for public review under the Special District Act.
[¶7] The parties subsequently agreed that the threshold question at issue in the dispute was whether the Board was subject to the requirements of the WPRA. They filed cross-motions for summary judgment, with each agreeing that the question was one of law, and that there were no genuine issues of material fact. On April 5, 2018, the district court entered an order granting the Board’s summary judgment motion. The court reasoned (with some citations omitted):
[¶8] On April 10, 2018, the parties filed a stipulated...
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