The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is being sued over its fees for public records.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada filed the lawsuit in state court, claiming that LVMPD is "willfully violating the Nevada Public Records Act" through the different barriers and fine amounts for public records experienced by different entities, including the civil rights group and news organizations.
“This case is about government transparency," said Jennifer Peter, editor-in-chief of The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization. "When agencies over-charge for records or charge excessive fees, it becomes hard to hold government accountable. We joined this lawsuit not only so our reporters can have reasonable access to important police records, but so that anyone among the public can get the records they’re entitled to.”
The lawsuit claims that when the ACLU of Nevada requested body camera footage from a protest that happened June 11, 2025, LVMPD wanted $6,811.33 upfront before beginning to process the request. Then, the lawsuit claims, after months of the ACLU trying to narrow the request to reduce costs, LVMPD stopped responding entirely. The lawsuit claims that as of July 30, more than 13 months after the original request, LVMPD still hasn't responded.
Documents also claim that LVMPD charged different rates for the same type of records with no explanation. For body camera footage, LVMPD charged the ACLU approximately $85/hour in one invoice, then switched to $5.67/minute in a later invoice, then $5.80/minute days after that — all for the same request, according to the lawsuit.
“The government willfully passes on regular operating costs to public records requestors by charging for staff time and most entities consistently overcharge for basic items, charge different rates for different requestors at different times, and have required advance deposits to even start processing requests for records the public is entitled to," said ACLU of Nevada executive director Athar Haseebullah. "We cannot have government accountability without government transparency, and barriers to government transparency put up by government agencies continue to make government less accountable...All Nevadans deserve open and transparent government.”
The petitioners are asking the court to find that LVMPD willfully violated Nevada's Public Records Act and to impose civil penalties under NRS 239.340. Under that statute, a first willful violation within 10 years carries a $1,000 penalty; a second, $5,000; and each subsequent violation, $10,000.
You can read the full filing here:
LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — ACLU of Nevada files lawsuit against Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department by yolanda.cruz
