The D.C. Open Government Coalition filed suit today against the D.C. Council, claiming that legislators’ use of personal email accounts to conduct official business constituted an end-run around the public’s right to dig into what the city’s legislative body is up to.

The suit stems from the council secretary’s denial of a Freedom of Information Act request by the group earlier this year on the grounds that she did not actively control or have access to those personal email accounts. The coalition says that D.C. must keep pace with other states, which have said that official business—whether conducted via official or personal email accounts—is subject to disclosure.

“The Coalition’s lawsuit seeks to affirm that a public record is determined by its substance and content, not by what email account or device was used to create it,” said James McLaughlin, a member of the coalition’s board and co-chairman of its legal committee, in a press release.

The lawsuit asks the court to declare official emails sent over personal accounts to be considered public record, provide the coalition with the results of their request and cover all legal expenses.

Various members of the council have been known to send emails using personal accounts, and even former Mayor Adrian Fenty and D.C. CFO Natwar Gandhi have been dinged for the practice. In July, Mayor Vince Gray issued a mayoral order banning the practice, though it does not apply to councilmembers or council staff.

2012-10-16 DC Open Government Coalition FOIA Complaint (00559948)