PORT TOWNSEND — A Jefferson County Superior Court judge has ordered that the personnel file of former fireman Jon A. Schmucker be made available to local newspapers.
The Peninsula Daily News and Port Townsend/Jefferson County Leader sought access to the file to review the reasons for Schmucker’s Feb. 3 firing.
Schmucker and his wife, Anita, citing a right to privacy, opposed the release.
Schmucker’s attorney, Craddock D. Verser, said above all else, a report contained in the file should only be read by professionals.
The report is personal in nature and not of legitimate public interest, he argued.
But Superior Court Judge Thomas Majhan ruled Friday in favor of the newspapers, citing a legitimate public interest in the information in the personnel file.
“The people of the state have spoken,” Majhan said, referring to the 1972 Public Disclosure Act.
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