The Olympic Herald Fights Back: Journalist Seeks Review Over Court’s Basden-Watts Emails

The fight for transparency in the Clallam County Superior Court escalated on Thursday, April 2, as I filed a formal Request for Internal Review challenging the court’s aggressive refusal to release communications between Judge Brent Basden and a former employee now facing massive drug distribution charges.

On March 23, I submitted a written administrative records request seeking any and all emails between Judge Basden and Johnny Watts spanning from 2018 to 2024.

Watts, the former Adult and Juvenile Drug Court Coordinator who worked under Basden, was recently arrested and accused of operating a major fentanyl and methamphetamine distribution network on the Olympic Peninsula.

Rather than turn over the documents to shed light on how Watts was vetted and managed, Superior Court Administrator and Public Records Officer Lacey Halberg summarily denied my request on March 27.

She declared that every single email was “categorically exempt under GR 31.1 as chambers records,” and swiftly declared the matter “closed.”

However, the GR 31.1 internal review that I filed this afternoon, outlines how the Court Administrator’s blanket denial blatantly violates both state court rules and the Clallam County Superior Court’s own internal policies.

The request for internal review is available below.