Another lawsuit alleges Hamilton County Sheriff's Office denied public records requests

Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / A Hamilton County Sheriff's Office vehicle is seen at the scene of a shooting on the 9100 block of Broyles Drive on Tuesday, April 9, 2019 in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / A Hamilton County Sheriff's Office vehicle is seen at the scene of a shooting on the 9100 block of Broyles Drive on Tuesday, April 9, 2019 in Chattanooga, Tenn.

The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office is facing another lawsuit accusing it of denying or not responding to open records requests.

The allegations come at a time when the county has been under scrutiny for destruction of records and allegedly stonewalling requests for public records. The sheriff's office also has come under fire for a "catastrophic data loss" that caused thousands of sheriff's office videos from dashboard cameras to disappear, something that potentially could jeopardize criminal and civil cases.

At least four lawsuits now have accused the sheriff's office of not responding to open records requests. Two of the accusations are made in larger civil rights lawsuits and two more are lodged in their own open records suits.

In the latest suit, filed April 13, attorney Stephen Duggins alleges his client, Regina Holder, has not received a response to her open records request seeking disciplinary records and identities of deputies involved in a November 2019 incident during which she claims deputies pointed guns at her.

Holder and Duggins could not be reached for comment. The sheriff's office disputes the alleged lack of response.

The Times Free Press requested some of the same documents Holder requested and received a heavily redacted incident report and a partially redacted internal affairs report. Information redacted in the incident report included the 47-year-old suspect's name.

Attorney Dee Hobbs, who represents the sheriff's office, said Friday the information was redacted because it included personal information, and that the sheriff's office would "work in the spirit of Freedom of Information Act that regards that as an invasion of privacy."

The Freedom of Information Act allows the public to "request access to records from any federal agency" and does not address state or local agencies.

Asked to clarify Hobbs said in an email on Saturday, "while our agency is not directly subject to the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), we attempt to comply whenever we can with its directives on law enforcement matters that concern a potential invasion of privacy. If that is not the case here, it is quite close."

And, he added, "the report contains information of a health-related nature that is subject to protection under" federal health care privacy laws.

Federal law sets standards for the electronic exchange of patient information, including protecting the privacy of such records. It applies to entities such as health care clearinghouses, certain health care providers and health plans, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It does not apply to law enforcement.

Hobbs also said, "This person's identity had nothing to do with the IA complaint made by Ms. Holder, nothing to do with her request for records and nothing to do with the lawsuit she filed regarding those records. To release the information in this matter would be unwarranted, and I hope you can see that."

On Nov. 12, 2019, deputies were called to a home in the 6600 block of Gamble Road to respond to a complaint about a disorder that included shots being fired.

According to the redacted incident report obtained by the Times Free Press, a woman said she was arguing with a person about some missing money. As deputies were on the way, dispatch told them that "[redacted] was threatening to [redacted] and had fired two rounds from a handgun inside the residence and two rounds out the back of the residence."

But just before the deputies arrived, dispatch told them that "[redacted] had just left in an orange Jeep driven by [redacted] Regina Holder."

Deputies saw the vehicle about a block away and made a felony traffic stop. No criminal charges were filed.

In her interview with internal affairs investigators, Holder said the deputies - identified only by their last names: Mapp, Hogan, Mefford and Robbins - were rude, used excessive force and detained her in the back of a patrol vehicle without explaining why.

She told investigators the encounter scared her enough that she was afraid she would need medical attention.

Investigators then interviewed the deputies and reviewed dashboard and body camera footage, though the internal affairs report does not detail what the videos show or the deputies' responses.

It simply states that all of the deputies said "no" when asked about specific allegations made by Holder. It states that there was no evidence of the allegations found in the videos.

The investigation was closed on Dec. 9, 2019. Holder's public records request was filed on Feb. 28.

The sheriff's office responded to Holder's request on March 16, Hobbs said Saturday. The response was delayed because it had "not routed to appropriate personnel until March 12."

Hobbs noted the "lack of contact information from Ms. Holder on the request form," though her home address was listed on the envelope, which was attached as an exhibit in the lawsuit.

He said Holder would have to complete a form in order to obtain the requested personnel records, something he said Holder hasn't done. He also said the sheriff's office is waiting to receive 18 discs of dash camera footage and officer testimony, and "no follow up requests have been made by Ms. Holder regarding the expected receipt of those records."

Hobbs did not state whether those dashboard camera videos were included in February's server failure.

"The county typically does not comment on pending litigation; however, in this instance it is obvious from the face of the complaint that certain allegations are not true," he said. "Ms. Miller's letter in response to Ms. Holder's request went out March 16. Ms. Holder has yet to comply with its directives regarding inspection of personnel records as she has still not returned the required completed form."

Contact Rosana Hughes at rhughes@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6327 with tips or story ideas. Follow her on Twitter @Hughes Rosana.

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