Jan. 14—An Albuquerque lawyer who has filed dozens of lawsuits on behalf of inmates alleging serious failures of the state’s prison health system is asking a court to order the New Mexico General Services Department to hand over records on the costs of such litigation.
Attorney Parrish Collins says in his lawsuit the state agency has violated the Inspection of Public Records Act by failing to produce records of settlement agreements and attorneys’ fees in every civil case over inmate care since 2016 against the Corrections Department or its medical and mental health providers.
According to his lawsuit, Collins requested the information June 24, 2024. The agency responded by deeming the request too burdensome, saying it would need until July 24 to produce the records.
On Sept. 4, the department requested an additional 60 days provide the records, the lawsuit says, and on Oct. 8 it provided some but not all of those requested.
Collins accuses the department of violating the state public records law by failing to provide the information within 15 days; failing to explain why it found the request “broad and burdensome”; failing to permit the records to be inspected within a reasonable amount of time; and failing to provide complete responses to his request.
He’s asking the court to order the department to release the rest of the records and seeks damages of $100 per day for each day of noncompliance with the law.
A spokesman for the General Services Department did not respond to an email Tuesday seeking comment.
Among the previous lawsuits Collins has filed against New Mexico’s prison medical care providers are multiple complaints alleging the providers and the state have allowed common bacterial infections to go unchecked until they’ve caused severe damage to inmates’ hearts, brains and spines, resulting in intense suffering, costly hospitalizations and sometimes death.
Many of the medical malpractice lawsuits name the state prison system’s former medical provider, Centurion Health, as a defendant; others are filed against current provider Wexford Health Sources or the state government. Some name all three.
Obtaining records related to settlements the medical provider reaches with plaintiffs has also been the subject of repeated litigation, as third-party vendors including Wexford and Centurion have routinely declined to provide records.
They have argued they are exempt from the Inspection of Public Records Act despite multiple court rulings finding the law applies to contractors’ state government-related records.