Former Oregon first lady Cylvia Hayes took to Facebook Thursday morning to explain her decision to file for bankruptcy.

In a lengthy post, Hayes said the filing was necessary to "protect my home from The Oregonian." She was referencing a six-figure lien on her home, which was recorded after she lost a court decision to the news organization. Hayes' lawyers did not respond to a request for comment as The Oregonian/OregonLive was preparing to report Hayes' plans on Wednesday nor again on Thursday.

Hayes and her fiancé, former Gov. John Kitzhaber, face thousands of dollars in penalties after the Oregon Government Ethics Commission found they violated state ethics laws, including a prohibition against using one's public office for personal gain.

Both retained lawyers as state and federal prosecutors, and state ethics officials, looked into influence-peddling allegations against the couple. Hayes also was able to obtain two public defenders for her federal case.

But Hayes attributed her planned bankruptcy filing solely to the nearly $125,000 a judge says she owes The Oregonian/OregonLive. The news organization sought to recover attorney fees it incurred while fighting a lawsuit Hayes filed seeking to block release of her emails. And she did not mention the ethics fines, which she is trying to negotiate to avoid a maximum penalty of $110,000.

"I am ready to have all of my energy moving forward focused on positive work, rather than mired down in a legal quagmire," Hayes wrote. "As one friend advised me, 'never get in a fight with a pig, you both get dirty and the pig likes it.'"

A little background: Hayes had worked as an environmental and clean energy consultant for years, increasingly landing government contracts before Kitzhaber was elected to a third term in 2010. Questions about her work intensified in fall 2014, after Willamette Week reported that private groups were paying her to promote the same economic and clean energy policies she was advocating for as an unpaid but official policy adviser in Kitzhaber's administration. Subsequent news reports ultimately revealed Hayes was paid more than $200,000 by private groups.

Here are five questions raised by her post:

Question: Why does Cylvia Hayes owe The Oregonian/OregonLive $125,000?

Answer: In late 2014, The Oregonian/OregonLive filed a public records request for Hayes' emails discussing state business on her private email account. She never had a state email account. In February 2015, Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum ordered Hayes to release the emails sought by the news organization. Hayes then sued the company in an attempt to keep those messages secret. She lost, and a judge ordered her to turn over the emails and pay the newspaper's legal fees. Hayes appealed the fee issue.

Earlier this year, The Oregonian/OregonLive recorded the judgment against Hayes in Deschutes County, effectively putting a $125,000 lien on her home there. Hayes, so far, has not paid anything to The Oregonian/OregonLive; with a lien in place, the news organization could recoup its legal costs if Hayes sells the property.

Under Oregon law, legal judgments create automatic liens against any real property owned by the debtor within the local county, in this case Marion County because Hayes filed her lawsuit there. Charles Hinkle, The Oregonian/OregonLive's lawyer, wrote in an email Thursday that it made sense for the media company to record the judgment in Deschutes County, where Hayes' home is located. "The Oregonian did nothing unusual when it registered that same judgment in the county where Hayes actually owns property," he wrote.

Mark Katches, the editor and vice president of content at The Oregonian/OregonLive, noted that Hayes could have avoided the expense if she hadn't fought the news organization for records that were deemed public.

"Ms. Hayes had been notified in writing three years ago that she was going to be liable for our attorney fees if she lost her case, and she chose to try to keep her records secret anyway," Katches said. "That resulted in a protracted legal battle that she brought against us."

Q: Why is Cylvia Hayes planning to file for bankruptcy?

A: In her Facebook post, Hayes suggested that she will seek relief through bankruptcy on more than one debt, but she did not provide any detail.

"Prior to all of this my only debt was my mortgage – no credit card balances, school loans were paid off and my car was paid in full (the same car I am driving today)," Hayes wrote. "I have never failed to pay off a debt and never imagined I would be in bankruptcy. These unprecedented and seemingly never-ending circumstances have forced my hand and I am truly sorry to the creditors involved."

More information about Hayes' creditors will become public if she proceeds with bankruptcy.

Q: Was the lien on Hayes' home unusual?

A: Hayes described the lien as "unprecedented" and lawyers from other states who were interviewed by the Columbia Journalism Review said they had not heard of such a scenario.

It is unusual for a public records judgment to apply to an individual public official in Oregon. Typically, the government agency where the public official works would be responsible for any judgment against the official in a public records case.

In Hayes' case, she has never admitted to being part of the state government and subject to public records law, despite a judge's ruling that she was. She also acted alone in resisting the disclosure of her emails, while the state cooperated in releasing them. (After Kitzhaber resigned in February 2015, his successor Gov. Kate Brown released thousands of Hayes' emails with state employees on their government accounts.)

"Only Hayes herself resisted disclosure, and only Hayes filed a lawsuit to block disclosure," Hinkle wrote. "Only Hayes caused The Oregonian to incur attorney fees in defending its public records request."

Hayes is not the only public person to owe The Oregonian/OregonLive for legal fees after losing a public records fight. As of earlier this year, Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer was on the hook for more than $28,000 levied in 2016.

Q: Should other Oregon public officials be worried they'll get hit with liens?

A: Hayes suggested that other public officials should be worried should they find themselves in a similar situation.

"The precedent this sets should cause serious concern for anyone in Oregon in an appointed or volunteer public service position," Hayes wrote. "You too could find yourself in the crosshairs of dishonest, for-profit media institutions coming after you and your personal property."

As noted above, this situation is highly unusual and resulted from a series of events, including Hayes' decision to fight the release of her emails even after the state government and a judge found they were public records.

Q: Is The Oregonian/OregonLive seeking legal fees to profit off Hayes?

A: Hayes wrote: "I don't believe The Oregonian is fighting this fight on principal (sic) but rather is using it as an opportunity to make as much money as possible rolling me out as clickbait."

Hayes' emails and other public records have received extensive coverage by the media in recent years, as have Hayes' statements on social media and the state ethics commission's findings.

Katches, the news outlet's editor and vice president, said the public records fight was indeed based on principle.

"We believed strongly that the public had the right to know about the business being conducted by the then first lady of Oregon," he said in a statement. "It shouldn't be lost on anyone here, that she sued us to keep the records hidden. We won. She lost. We've taken steps to preserve our rights to recover our legal fees, but it's worth noting she has not paid us a dime so far."

-- Hillary Borrud; Twitter: @hborrud; 503-294-4034