City turns down request for information on Knipp resignation

The city of Havelock last week denied a Havelock News request for documents relating to the resignation of Deputy Police Chief Timothy Knipp.

An Oct. 24 letter from the newspaper requested Knipp’s letter of resignation and details of a city-led investigation into his conduct. City Manager Jim Freeman declined the request in a Friday letter.

“It is the City’s position that such materials requested are not public records and considered as part of Mr. Knipp’s personnel files,” Freeman wrote. “Accordingly, the City can not provide the requested documentation.”

Freeman wrote that he conferred with J. Troy Smith Jr., the city attorney, upon receiving the request.

The Havelock News asked for the documents under a provision in the North Carolina public records law allowing city managers to release personnel records at their discretion.

Most material in state personnel records is confidential, but N.C. General Statute 160A-168 states that records can be disclosed when the city manager determines that “the release is essential to maintaining public confidence in the administration of city services or to maintaining the level and quality of city services.”

The newspaper’s position is that the investigation into Knipp’s conduct and his subsequent resignation are matters of public interest and that rumors about Knipp could damage the police department’s reputation, thus undermining the public’s confidence in the department.

Attorney John Bussian of the Bussian Law Firm in Raleigh said the city is legally able to release Knipp’s letter of resignation.

“This is an age-old problem, getting city government to understand that it has the option of disclosing all parts of an employee’s file — including termination records — under the North Carolina statutes,” he said.

Bussian is the media attorney for Freedom Communications, which owns the Havelock News. He also serves as First Amendment legal counsel to the N.C. Press Association.

“In North Carolina, we’re in the ice age when it comes to public access to personnel records,” he said. “In many other states including Florida, Ohio and Texas, you would have unfettered access to personnel files. It’s really an outrage.”

Bussian said the state’s public records law should be revised to include personnel files.

“It’s high time in North Carolina that we got the public records law changed to let the public know what it ought to know about its public servants,” he said.

Knipp’s resignation from the Havelock Police Department took effect Thursday. He had been placed on unpaid leave in September as the city investigated an unspecified incident.

He had been hired as police captain in June 2005 and later named deputy chief. He earned an annual salary of $56,152.

Some information about state, county and city employees — including age, position title, salary, date of employment, date of most recent increase or decrease in salary and date of separation — is considered public record under state law.