Alaska Public Media and the Alaska Dispatch News have reached an agreement with the state of Alaska in their lawsuit to obtain records related to the Alaska National Guard scandal.
The agreement signed Tuesday says the Department of Law will assign a team of attorneys to process the request for public records and produce the documents as soon as possible.
The state also agrees not to destroy any relevant documents. The pact specifically covers emails on the personal email account of Mike Nizich, chief of staff to Gov. Sean Parnell, that concern problems at the Guard.
Alaska Public Media first filed a public records request in May to determine how Parnell and his executive staff responded to reports that Guard leaders were mishandling sexual assault complaints.
The media outlets filed a lawsuit after the state rejected their requests.
Liz Ruskin is the Washington, D.C., correspondent at Alaska Public Media. Reach her at lruskin@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Liz here.
