The Latest: Attorney says he didn’t access private files
YAKIMA, Wash. – The Latest on state investigators looking into the access of Yakima County computers by County Clerk Janelle Riddle’s private attorney (all times local):
7:30 p.m.
An attorney under investigation by the state Administrative Office of the Courts says he didn’t access any confidential information while using a Yakima County computer in March.
Joseph Thomas told The Associated Press he was at the courthouse on behalf of his client, County Clerk Janelle Riddle, and that it was permissible for him to be there to gain an understanding of her job.
County commissioners have assembled a panel to look into concerns about how the clerk’s office is being run, prompting Riddle to hire Thomas.
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9 a.m.
State investigators are looking into the access of Yakima County computers by County Clerk Janelle Riddle’s private attorney.
According to the state Administrative Office of the Courts, Riddle allowed her attorney Joseph Thomas into the courthouse after normal business hours on March 19 despite county commissioners telling her not to, The Yakima Herald-Republic reported (http://bit.ly/1TaRP0d).
Commissioners have authority over access to the courthouse.
Surveillance video from that day shows a deputy clerk logging onto a county computer and letting Thomas take over the keyboard. Such computers house public documents as well as confidential information about child custody cases, victims and other protected information.
County officials launched their own investigation into the matter due to concerns over what Thomas viewed. On Thursday the Administrative Office of the Courts agreed to Presiding Superior Court Judge David Elofson’s request to investigate the matter.
Riddle hired Thomas after county commissioners assembled a panel to look into concerns about how the clerk’s office is being run.
Thomas said he was only using the computer to get an understanding of clerk’s office operations.
“My investigation was about the scope of the clerk’s office as I said time and time again,” Thomas said Thursday. “I was in the clerk’s office to investigate that. I did not investigate any documents illegally.”
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Information from: Yakima Herald-Republic, http://www.yakimaherald.com
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