Did a North Dakota county violate open-records law when a request went to junk mail before a prompt follow-up response?

Plain-English summary

A requester emailed Morton County's treasurer for property-tax notices, but an unintended junk-mail filter prevented the first message from reaching the office. After a follow-up email, the treasurer supplied the requested records.

Attorney General Drew Wrigley found no violation. A public entity had to provide records or explain a denial within a reasonable time after receiving the request. Because the treasurer did not receive the original email and responded within a reasonable time after the follow-up arrived, the county met that standard.

What this means for you

Records custodians

The opinion measures response time from actual receipt when an unintended spam filter blocks the original message and the office responds promptly after discovery.

Records requesters

The opinion found no violation on these facts because the follow-up produced the records within a reasonable period.

Common questions

Q: Did the junk-mail filter automatically excuse any delay? A: The opinion relied on both the unintended filtering and the treasurer's reasonable response after actual receipt.

Q: What did the requester seek?
A: Copies of property-tax notices.

Background and statutory framework

N.D.C.C. § 44-04-18 required a public entity to provide records or explain a denial within a reasonable time. N.D.C.C. § 44-04-21.1 authorized the Attorney General opinion process. The opinion followed an earlier decision finding no violation when a spam filter prevented receipt and the entity responded promptly once it learned of the request.

Citations and references

• N.D.C.C. § 44-04-21.1
• N.D.C.C. § 44-04-18

Source

• Landing page: https://attorneygeneral.nd.gov/the-north-dakota-attorney-general-issued-a-summary-opinion-to-morton-county/
• Original PDF: https://attorneygeneral.nd.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/2026-O-16.pdf

Original opinion text

STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA

OFFICE OF ATTORNEY GENERAL
www.attorneygeneral. nd. gov
(701) 328-2210

Drew H. Wrigley

ATTORNEY GENERAL

OPEN RECORDS AND MEETINGS SUMMARY OPINION
2026-0-16

DATE ISSUED:

August 31, 2026

ISSUED TO:

Morton County
SUMMARY OPINION 1

Karen Jordan requested an opinion from this office under N.D.C.C. § 44-04-21.1 asking whether Morton County failed to respond to an open records request in violation of N.D.C.C. § 44-04-18. On September 20, 2023, Karen Jordan emailed the Morton County Treasurer (Treasurer) requesting copies of property tax notices. The email was not initially received because it was filtered into a junk folder. Ms. Jordan sent a follow-up email at 10:36 p.m. on October 11, 2023, and the Treasurer provided the requested records "as soon as [she received]" the follow-up email on October 16, 2023. When a public entity receives a request for records, it must, within a reasonable time period, either provide the records or explain why the records are not being provided. 2 Here, the Treasurer did not receive the initial request due to an unintended junk email filter and provided the requested records within a reasonable time after receiving the follow-up request. 3 Accordingly, Morton County did not violate the open records law.

amr
cc:
1

Karen Jordan

This Summary Opinion is issued pursuant to the authority granted to this office in N.D.C.C. § 44-04-21.1 (1 ). 2 N.D.C.C. § 44-04-18. 3 See N.D.A.G. 2018-0-27 (finding no violation occurred where spam filter prevented receipt of email and the entity promptly responded upon actual receipt).