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The Indiana Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in December for a case involving an Indianapolis attorney’s public records request that had been denied by the Indiana Family & Social Services Administration.
The hearing will be 10 a.m. Dec. 12 in the Supreme Court courtroom.
According to court documents, the dispute started when attorney Robert Saint requested a white paper from the agency via the Indiana Access to Public Records Act.
He wanted to inspect and copy a white paper that HealthNet, Inc., a private healthcare provider, had sent to FSSA to try to settle a dispute over how much HealthNet should be reimbursed by Medicaid.
HealthNet is a federally qualified health center that provides services to patients enrolled in Medicaid. It own and operates medical clinics throughout Indianapolis, according to court documents.
FSSA denied the request, citing a disclosure exception for intra-agency deliberative materials. The Marion Superior Court determined that exception did not apply and ordered the agency to produce the white paper.
The agency appealed, and a divided Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s decision. FSSA sought transfer to the state’s high court. Saint could not be immediately reached for comment by Indiana Lawyer.
In an opinion issued in June, the appellate court held that the deliberative-material exception in Section 5-14-3-4(b)(6) applies to communications (e.g., letters, memorandums, and emails) from one agency employee to another, if the communication consists of opinions or thoughts about a future agency decision.
“Applying this holding here, the exception does not apply because the White Paper was communicated by a private healthcare provider to a state agency. We therefore affirm the trial court’s order that FSSA must produce the White Paper,” Judge Nancy Vaidik wrote, with Judge Melissa May concurring with the majority opinion.
Judge Paul Mathias dissented.
The case is Family and Social Services Administration v. Saint, 237 N.E.3d 693 (Ind. Ct. App. 2024), trans. pending.
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