Library director explains redaction

June 14, 2022

From the Boundary County Library website

By Kimber Glidden
Director
Boundary County Library

I would like to take a moment to explain to the community why the Library District has not made any grand public announcements or released the information that it has been accused of hiding. It is important to understand that just because a report is generated using funds from taxpayers dollars, it does not make all information in the report available to the public.

Idaho State law specifically defines what can and cannot be released as a public record. Because the request pertains to a personnel issue, the basis for the partial denial is that certain portions are exempt from disclosure under the following statutory exemptions:
  • Idaho Code section 74-106(1): Except as provided in this subsection, all personnel records of a current or former public official other than the public official’s public service or employment history, classification, pay grade and step, longevity, gross salary and salary history, including bonuses, severance packages, other compensation or vouchered and unvouchered expenses for which reimbursement was paid, status, workplace and employing agency. All other personnel information relating to a public employee or applicant including, but not limited to, information regarding sex, race, marital status, birth date, home address and telephone number, social security number, driver’s license number, applications, testing and scoring materials, grievances, correspondence and performance evaluations, shall not be disclosed to the public without the employee’s or applicant’s written consent.
  • Idaho Code section 74-112 provides that: EXEMPT AND NONEXEMPT PUBLIC RECORDS TO BE SEPARATED. If any public record contains material which is not exempt from disclosure as well as material which is exempt from disclosure, the public agency or independent public body corporate and politic shall, upon receipt of a request for disclosure, separate the exempt and nonexempt material and make the nonexempt material available for examination, provided that a denial of a request to copy nonexempt material in a public record shall not be based upon the fact that such nonexempt material is contained in the same public record as the exempt material.

The Library District is being advised by counsel in this matter and takes both the allegations and their potential remedies seriously. I hope that this helps alleviate some concerns.