BARRE, Vt.—A judge has ordered the state to provide all government employee e-mail addresses to a Barre man who requested them under public-records laws.
Wallace Nolen of Barre sued the Department of Information and Innovation in July after workers denied his request.
The addresses are available on the department's Web site as a printed list, or as a partial electronic list, but Nolen had requested the full database in one electronic file.
The state argued that the addresses in that form could be used for private gain.
Judge Dennis Pearson has rejected that argument.
Nolen said he was seeking the addresses in an effort to prove that the state is not doing enough to find owners of abandoned property. He says the state could find some of the owners by cross-referencing property lists with e-mail addresses.
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Information from: The Burlington Free Press, http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com
