LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Clark County School District officials are now responding after being sued by ACLU of Nevada for not releasing police bodycam footage following a violent incident at Durango High School.
The incident happened on Feb. 9 during an interaction between white school police officers and a group of mostly Black students.
At the time, sources told 13 Investigates students were walking toward a nearby fast food restaurant where they often go after school. School police say the incident stemmed from an investigation into a report of a gun near the school.
That led to Superintendent Dr. Jesus Jara ordering CCSD Police Chief Mike Blackeye to conduct a complete review of the department's use of force policies.
RELATED LINK: Timeline: Nevada ACLU sues CCSD over unreleased bodycam video of Durango High School incident
ACLU lawyers submitted a public records request to CCSD for several items including police bodycam footage, photos, witness statements, and reports.
The suit states CCSD emailed the ACLU claiming the information it requested related to a "pending juvenile justice matter and therefore could not be released."
"Even if some information in these records could be considered confidential, CCSD has made no attempt or offer to release redacted records as required by law - instead choosing to withhold the records in their entirety," one passage from the lawsuit reads.
According to new court documents, Clark County School District officials are denying those allegations.
"ACLU's logic is entirely flawed," court documents state. "The records provided to the juvenile justice agency by [CCSD] are explicitly confidential as they pertain to juvenile justice information deemed confidential by Nevada law."
District officials state that in addition to confidentiality issues, it would take awhile to fully review what should and shouldn't be released.
"After conducting a limited search with keywords, the Clark County School District determined that there were over 10,000 communications partially responsive," according to one passage. "Without expending significant time and resources to review these records, the Clark County School District cannot determine what records are responsive to the request and what privileges apply. ACLU offers no explanation how internal communications would benefit the public."
CCSD said it would take 160 business days to complete that request. District officials also state they don't have all of the records that are being requested by the ACLU.
"The Clark County School District cannot turn over records that do not exist," lawyers for the district state.
The next hearing in the matter is scheduled for July 11.
