Judge: State Attorney's Office must pay $26,000 in attorney fees for public-records lawsuit

A judge Wednesday ordered the State Attorney's Office to pay about $26,000 in attorney's fees and costs because the office didn't provide public records to a citizen in a reasonable amount of time.

Curt Lee first sued State Attorney Angela Corey in April 2012 because, the suit said, her office wasn't giving him records in a timely way and in some cases wasn't giving him records at all.

A judge agreed with Lee last August and ordered the office to give him records. Lee and the Corey's office were supposed to have a hearing on attorney's fees in December, but it was delayed.

The State Attorney's Office argued it shouldn't have to pay Lee's lawyer for the lawsuit, but Circuit Judge James Daniel disagreed.

Lee paid his attorney, Brooks Rathet, about $2,900 in 2012. Rathet agreed he would only collect the remaining fees if Lee won the case.

In all, the judge ordered the State Attorney's Office to pay Rathet $21,850, and the judge ordered the office to pay $4,141.87 more in costs.

The State Attorney's Office likely will not appeal, office spokeswoman Jackelyn Barnard said, although it hasn't yet decided.

Lee's records requests were related to whether the State Attorney's Office investigated the Jacksonville's Police and Fire Pension Fund.

"He's extremely dedicated to the idea that the local government in Duval County isn't wasting our money," Rathet said. "There's an irony to the fact that his fight was all about preventing the wasting of taxpayer money and anytime the government doesn't comply with the Public Records Act and sort of picks a fight over public records I think they're wasting our taxpayer money."

Andrew Pantazi: (904) 359-4310