After the revelation last week that Gov. Matt Blunt’s office routinely deletes e-mails, the question arose:

Are e-mails public record?

Rich Chrismer, Blunt’s spokesman, flatly said they weren’t. That was despite the fact that Sloca, spokesman for the Missouri Republican Party, said they were. The party has used the Sunshine Law to obtain e-mails from the offices of Democrats like Attorney General Jay Nixon and Secretary of State Robin Carnahan.

Nixon, Blunt’s likely Democratic challenger next year, attempted to put the matter to rest.

James Klahr, the counsel in Nixon’s office on issues involving the Sunshine Law, informed media this week that Blunt’s office is wrong.

“There should be no debate — e-mail communications are public records,” Klahr said in a letter to the news media. Read more…

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