Judge sends final decision on KSWO v. CCDC open records lawsuit

LAWTON, Okla. (KSWO) – After a six-month legal process, Judge Emmit Tayloe issued his final decision on the open court case between KSWO and the Comanche County Detention Center.

According to Tayloe, the public interest in viewing the tape does not outweigh the reason for refusal, and therefore CCDC is not obliged to release the footage.

During the hearing, Judge Tayloe ruled that CCDC is a law enforcement agencyspecifically stating in the order that they are a government agency charged with enforcing laws and initiating prosecutions.

Open records laws are much stricter in law enforcement than in other public agencies because very few records are actually accessible to the public. Surveillance video is not an exception that leads to the question of whether the public interest outweighs the reason for denial.

The tape in question is about the circumstances surrounding the death of Keith Bradley, an inmate at the time mother was also unable to view the tape after several requests.

The reason for the request was to delve deeper into the conditions in which the prisoners had to live. However, one of the main arguments against releasing the tapes was concerns about security and exposing blind spots.

While no specific reasons were given as to why the public interest wasn’t enough, the video shows “detainees in various states of undress,” blind spots and how detention officers react to situations, according to the warrant.

KSWO’s denied data request was part of a nearly year-long investigation into conditions at the detention center following a peak of deaths in 2023.

There is a fifteen-day period to appeal the decision.