requested public docs threatened with trespassing for return

[concernednurse]

Montana. I went to our local 501c 3 non profit hospital that receives significant support from the county. I requested to view public records. One thing I requested was to view board meeting minutes. I was told that I would have to pay 50 cents a page for them to be copied so I could view them. I asked for 990 forms from 2009 which are not available on guidestar. I was never asked to leave. I was denied access to these records and left the facility. An officer then found me at the local newspaper office and told me that if I went back to the facility I would be charged with trespassing. He also told me that I could not attend the hospital board meetings because they are held on the hospital property. Any advice?

 

[FlyingRon]

They are within their rights to bar you most likely. You will have no defense if you are on the property again since you have been given notice. If you want to fight it, you'll have to do so from a distance (most either in court or through the MT attorney general's office.

You weren't denied access to the records. You were given the proper procedure to obtain them. It would also seem that absent something you didn't tell us why you have any statutory right to the charity's board meeting (regardless of where it is held).