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ST. LOUIS — Elad Gross won an important victory for public transparency on Friday morning.

The attorney was in the courtroom of Circuit Judge Michael Stelzer for a hearing on his open records lawsuit against St. Louis. Gross got the city’s Sunshine Law coordinator to admit a startling fact.

The coordinator is Joseph Sims, a paralegal who works for the city counselor, Sheena Hamilton. She was appointed to her position by Mayor Tishaura O. Jones. When it comes to the Sunshine Law, the connections matter. If you’ve ever filed a request for public documents in St. Louis, you likely received a letter signed by Sims saying a version of this:

“The Custodian of Records has again advised that additional time is necessary to locate and identify any records responsive to your request …�

Gross has received dozens of such letters. Many of them were related to the 11 Sunshine Law requests he filed in September and October 2021, seeking information about jail conditions in the city. I’ve received many of those letters too, as have most reporters in town and many lawyers and citizens who sought public information.

Here’s the thing about that sentence explaining a delay in producing records: In many cases, it is a lie — a sentence in a templated letter that is sent to people seeking public information, under a law that requires them to be told when the information will be available. The letters are sent by an employee of the city counselor’s office. The date for such delays is often pulled out of thin air.

In questioning Sims on the witness stand, Gross pointed to notes of conversations between Sims and various custodians of records, the city employees responsible for producing documents sought by the public. Under the Sunshine Law, government bodies have to appoint employees to handle records requests.

“There’s no details from the custodian in notes explaining she needs more time,� Gross noted, reading from documents the city produced as evidence.

So how, Gross asked, did Sims determine there has to be a delay and what that future date is?

“As the coordinator, I made that decision,� Sims said.

This is the dangerous game of circular logic the city is playing to keep documents from the public. Hamilton, the city counselor, argues that Gross can’t sue Sims (or Hamilton, or the mayor) because they aren’t the custodians of record. But the way the city is managing its records, Sims is the only person who is allowed to communicate with the public. And he is making decisions — sometimes without consulting the custodian of records — on delays.

There is no doubt the Jones administration has struggled with the Sunshine Law, specifically the delays and the failures of some departments to produce documents. Chief among those has been the Division of Corrections, under the leadership of Jennifer Clemons-Abdullah. It is one of two departments from which Gross sought records.

Earlier this year, the head of the Civilian Oversight Board, which oversees the jail, complained that board members couldn’t get records they needed. Clemons-Abdullah emailed another city employee to explain her intent to make sure such reports weren’t available for public inspection:

“The daily reports will include the City Counselor Office to ensure the information that is being shared is at the best interest of the City and not sunshine-able as it will be ‘attorney-client privilege,� she wrote.

That email isn’t a part of Gross’s lawsuit (not yet, anyway). But it could well have been the ammunition he fired when he was on the stand Friday, being questioned by a city lawyer about why he didn’t trust that the city would produce the records he asked for if he paid the required fees.

“I have lots of reasons why I don’t trust the city to produce records,� Gross said. “The city on multiple occasions did not fulfill Missouri Sunshine Law.�

That’s true in Gross’ case. And it’s true in many other cases, including the ongoing lawsuit over the previous mayoral administration’s practice of hiding records related to the failed airport privatization. Gross is seeking an order forcing the city to follow the Sunshine Law, as well as penalties for the alleged violations.

“If a government entity keeps (violating the law), there have to be consequences,� Gross argued.

He’s right, of course. The question for the judge, and perhaps eventually a jury, is who pays the price for government failure?