Judge fines Missouri prosecutor for denying public records

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A judge has fined a central Missouri prosecutor more than $12,000 for failing to provide records to a man doing research for the marijuana activist group Show-Me Cannabis.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported the fine stems from records Aaron Malin sought from Cole County Prosecutor Mark Richardson in 2015 in an effort to show how the drug war is fought in the state.

Cole County Circuit Judge Patricia Joyce ruled Richardson “knowingly and purposefully” violated the state’s open-records laws by denying Malin’s requests. Malin asked for communication between Richardson and the area’s drug task force.

Malin told the newspaper he hopes the case sends a signal to other government officials about complying with the state’s Sunshine Law.

Richardson didn’t immediately return an Associated Press request for comment Wednesday.

Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com