The Forum requested the names in August after a search committee selecting the next head of the NDSU Development Foundation and Alumni Association conducted a “blind review” of 12 applications in late July.

The foundation denied the request, saying these names were “trade secrets” of its search firm, Lois L. Lindauer Searches, and therefore not subject to open records laws.

“They point out that LLLS has spent years cultivating the contacts and it would not be able to sell its services if this entire database of contacts was generally known to the public,” Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem wrote in his opinion.

But Stenehjem determined that while the entire database was a trade secret, the 12 names were not, because the firm did not derive “independent economic value” from them.

The foundation paid for that information, he wrote, and Lois L. Lindauer was not in competition with other firms to obtain applications for the position.

“The North Dakota Supreme Court has stated that public entities cannot circumvent open records law by delegating the public duty of searching and obtaining applications for public employment to a third party and the records revealing qualifications and applications are not any less a public record simply because they are in the possession of the independent search firm,” Stenehjem wrote.

To remedy the violation, the foundation “must immediately” release records of who was included in the blind review, Stenehjem said.

The foundation was searching for a new CEO to replace Doug Mayo, who was bought out at the end of 2014 after less than two years on the job, a tumultuous time during which a dozen employees resigned.

After an eight-month search, John Glover took over in October as the new president and CEO.

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