A Lancaster County judge has ruled the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office has fulfilled a local news agency’s Right-to-Know request for drug forfeiture documents and records.

The DA’s Office has provided LNP hundreds of pages of documents illustrating forfeiture accounts and what forfeiture monies are spent on. Yet, LNP claims in court precedings and filings that their request for “documentation related to forfeitures” was not satisfied.

Lancaster County Judge Leonard Brown issued a 29-page opinion and order Thursday, finding that the DA’s Office has providing accounting and spending across 13 categories, to include 35 letters from community organizations that received funding from DA Office forfeiture intake.

(The judge's opinion is attached at the bottom.)

LNP also sought names and addresses of individuals who purchased property at DTF auctions. Judge Brown ruled that information should not be made public, as the DA’s Office also maintained.

The Lancaster County Board of Commissioners joined in the litigation, claiming they need the forfeiture documents for budgeting purposes. The DA’s Office has asserted that forfeiture intake, by law, cannot be used for budgeting purposes. Additionally, the BOC receives annual audits – performed by the county controller and state Attorney General – with detailed information about the accounts.

In March, the DA’s Office offered all media outlets to review all forfeiture documents un-redacted – including six boxes of receipts – with an agreement that sensitive information not be publicized. LNP declined.

“We always prefer to resolve such issues diplomatically, and thought our offer was above and beyond,” District Attorney Craig Stedman said Thursday. “The judge’s ruling articulates that we have complied with the RTK request.”

At a court hearing last month, the DA’s Office provided testimony that LNP accepted a single page of forfeiture documentation from York County and four pages from Dauphin County in response to LNP RTK requests nearly identical to what was filed with the Lancaster DA. To provide further contrast, Berks County has provided no documents.

The Lancaster County DA’s Office provided nearly 400 pages of documents outlining activities relating to forfeiture dating back to 2000.

(Attached at the bottom are documents regarding Lancaster County forfeiture accounts since 2000.)

The judge’s ruling also cites the DA’s Office release of cash records and spreadsheets. The DA’s Office previously agreed to turn over those documents, which were not specifically mentioned in LNP’s RTK request.