Jeffrey J. Pyle Quoted in Article About Public Access to Moldy Town Records

A resident of North Smithfield, Rhode Island, who raised questions about a recent sewer project at a February Town Council meeting, believes some of his answers may lie in public records stored in the “damp and dirty basement” of Town Hall.

Reporters from The Valley Breeze found sewer and water records from 1995 “laying disheveled in cardboard boxes on top of stacks of budget memorandums from 1998.”  In addition, the paper states that tax books are “speckled with mold” and are on shelves and stacked on the floor.

According to Prince Lobel Partner Jeff Pyle, “Rhode Island law requires all records be preserved. It has a state agency that works to help municipalities preserve those records so they are not diminished or inaccessible, specifically records that are of pertinent value.  The town is by law required to preserve those records so they can be accessed, as the public records law requires.”

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