Game & Fish loses suit over hunter privacy

Land Commissioner can have email addresses, judge rules

SANTA FE — A state district judge has ordered the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish to turn over the email addresses of individuals who applied for state hunting licenses to Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn, who has sparred with the agency over access fees for state trust land.

However, the saga might not be over yet, because the Department of Game and Fish indicated it plans to appeal the ruling.

Dunn, a first-term Republican, earlier this year asked the Department of Game and Fish for the names and email addresses of roughly 80,000 hunters who sought licenses in 2015 and 2016.

“We thought it would be nice to be able to communicate with the hunters about the work we’re doing,” Dunn told the Journal, adding that the information had in the past been obtained by conservation groups.

In response, the agency said it could provide names but would redact some contact information — including email addresses — per a new internal policy.

That prompted Dunn to file a lawsuit in May in Torrance County, where he lives. He filed the lawsuit in his personal capacity.

In his ruling this week, District Judge Matthew Reynolds said the Department of Game and Fish had not cited a legitimate exemption to the state’s Inspection of Public Records Act when it decided not to provide the requested information in its entirety.

“This court cannot weigh defendant’s policy considerations against the clear mandate of IPRA,” Reynolds wrote in his ruling.

He ordered the Department of Game and Fish

to “promptly” provide Dunn with the requested information, and he said the agency would be on the hook for attorney’s fees in the case.

Those fees could amount to about $20,000, Dunn said.

However, Department of Game and Fish spokesman Dan Williams said the agency disagrees with the judge’s ruling and plans to appeal.

“The release of customers’ email information could put them at risk for identity theft, fraud or other crimes,” Williams told the Journal.

The legal squabble has played out amid a backdrop of discord. After Dunn took office in 2015, the State Land Office and the Department of Game and Fish quarreled over the annual fee the department pays to secure access to state trust lands for hunters, anglers and trappers.

The annual fee was eventually raised from $200,000 to $1 million. The money is distributed to beneficiaries of state trust land, including public schools.

Meanwhile, Attorney General Hector Balderas, whose office is in charge of enforcing the state’s public records law, defended the Department of Game and Fish in the lawsuit.

In an October court filing, an assistant attorney general argued that publicly releasing the contact information of hunters and anglers might expose them to harassment from antihunting groups.