The University of Nevada, Reno last week was sued by the USA Today for what the news outlet said were violations of Nevada’s Public Records Act.

USA Today was seeking letters of reference for former UNR Athletics Director Doug Knuth. UNR refused to turn them over or admit whether the records existed.

“USA TODAY investigative reporter Kenny Jacoby submitted [a public records] request to UNR that sought ‘copies of any and all letters of recommendation/reference written for Doug Knuth by any UNR employee since January 1, 2021,” the lawsuit notes. 

“UNR Operations Coordinator Mr. Lewis Beck responded, ‘If any such letters exist, they would have been written by individuals acting in their individual capacities, not as University employees, and would not constitute public records.’”

State law says government records are assumed to be open. Public record denials must have a legal reason for their denial – either they are exempt from public access based on a specific law, or there is legal precedent for their confidentiality.

“The capacity in which the records were claimed to be written is not determinative of whether the records requested are public records,” the lawsuit indicates. “A letter of recommendation from a UNR employee about Mr. Knuth would result from the experience of the author with Mr. Knuth at UNR. 

“The capacity in which such records are written is not relevant to an analysis of whether UNR is required to disclose such a record. There is no ‘capacity exception’ to a request for public records.”

UNR officials would not comment on the lawsuit after being provided a copy of it.

“The petition has not yet been served to the University of Nevada, Reno. If and when the petition is served, the University will take appropriate action,” UNR spokesperson Scott Walquist said. 

When asked what kind of action, he responded: “Until we are served with the petition, we will not know what actions are appropriate.”

Lawsuit follows national investigation 

USA Today reporter Jacoby reported in December UNR was one of only a handful of universities around the country that denied public records to the news outlet for an investigation into how universities handle Title IX complaints relating to sexual harassment and assault. 

It’s not clear how the report and the records request are related. Knuth left UNR after nine years with 14 months left on his contract. He was paid nearly $400,000 for the remainder of his contract, according to reporting by Nevada Sports Net. NSN further said Knuth’s administration “struggled with Title IX compliance issues.”

Jacoby, for the USA Today, reported in December:

“Scott Walquist, Nevada’s communications director, told USA TODAY three times in June and July 2021 that the Title IX office was working to gather the information. Natalie Fry, a communications officer, then told the news organization in July that the Title IX office did not have the information ‘on hand’ and did not ‘have the resources to gather the information at this time.’ USA TODAY asked Walquist, Fry and another communications official for the information again in June 2022. Although Walquist said that the Title IX office was working to gather the information, he wrote back in August saying the university was unable to ‘dedicate the people-hours needed’ to do so.

“USA TODAY filed a public records request in August 2022 seeking only the sanction information. Nevada’s public records office responded that the university was not required to create records that did not already exist, and that even if they did exist, it would not provide them because they are ‘confidential.'”

UNR officials later complained about Jacoby’s report.

“Every media request and public record request is taken seriously, treated equal, and answered within the amount of time requested,” UNR’s Kerri Garcia-Hendricks told the faculty senate. “UNR asked USA Today and Reno Gazette Journal to add numbers that answered the questions that answered their questions; this information was not added or changed.”

UNR President Brian Sandoval also accused the USA Today of misleading the public by not adding to their story after it was published.

“Although the information provided to the USA Today reporter is now responsive to his questions, and despite the University’s request to supplement his story with this information, the reporter has refused to reflect the Title IX information,” he wrote in a letter to the faculty senate in December, after the USA Today story was published. 

“Staffing at the Title IX Office has encountered several challenges brought on by employee turnover, the receipt of cases from other University departments that may not be within the Title IX jurisdiction, and a recent change in leadership in the Office,” he added.

It’s not the first time UNR has had issues with public records.

The university in 2015 used out-of-date laws to attempt to justify charging exorbitant public records fees to This Is Reno. 

It quietly changed its policies after initially defending their illegality.

Disclosure: Luke Busby, USA Today’s attorney, also represents This Is Reno in two public records cases. He would not comment on or provide information for this story.