Newspaper Publisher Arrested After Open Records Request

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS JASPER, Ga. — Jul 1, 2016, 6:24 PM ET

The publisher of a small, weekly north Georgia newspaper was jailed, along with his lawyer, after officials alleged his open records request for county checks written to two local judges included a criminal falsehood, and that a subpoena they issued constituted an attempt to commit identity fraud.

The charges have drawn condemnation from a state journalism organization, but the local prosecutor said they were justified.

The three-count indictment filed June 24 in Pickens County Superior Court, accuses Mark Thomason, publisher of the Fannin Focus newspaper of making a false statement. It also charges him and his lawyer, Russell Stookey, with identity fraud and attempt to commit identity fraud.

The two were arrested June 24 and have been released on bond.

The indictment, provided to The Associated Press by Thomason, says Thomason sent an open records request to the Pickens County Commission chairman asking for three years' worth of cleared checks from the county to Judge Brenda Weaver, chief judge of the Appalachian Judicial Circuit, and Judge Roger Bradley for the judges' quarterly operating expenses.

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