Snyder administration's use of personal email accounts critiqued

LANSING, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - The latest batch of released emails from Governor Rick Snyder's administration show that some senior level staffers used their personal email accounts to discuss the fallout from the Flint water crisis.

The use of personal email accounts to discuss the Flint water crisis, although not illegal, is still coming under criticism similar to that faced by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"State employees are supposed to be using state email servers," said Jane Briggs-Bunting, president of the Michigan Coalition for Open Government.

Briggs-Bunting, said whether or not it's intentional, the use of private email accounts by senior Snyder staffers gives the appearance of secrecy, and could potentially make it more difficult for such emails to be recovered in the event of an investigation.

"There's either a stunning lack of knowledge or understanding of that or there's willful disregard," she added.

A spokesperson for Governor Snyder dismissed the comparisons to criticisms faced by Clinton for her use of a private account.

"It's not really for us to say how the federal government handles its email systems," wrote Ari Adler, a communications director for the Governor.

Adler added that in his opinion, the issues handled by those in the Snyder administration on Flint water issues pale in comparison to the top-secret national security documents handled by the Secretary of State.

"If emails discussed more than one topic and any of those were not state business, it's appropriate [for staffers] to use personal email addresses," he wrote, adding that if there are any questions about which email addresses should be used, staffers are urged by legal counsel to use personal email accounts.

According to the Adler, Snyder also occasionally used his private account to exchange messages about the water crisis.

Some of the criticisms about the use of personal email accounts by elected officials and staffers comes from those who say that the private accounts could make Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests such emails more difficult, and potentially more expensive.

Under Michigan FOIT law, The Governor and State Legislature is exempt from having to provide emails or guest logs, but after ample criticism and concern, Snyder's office began selecting and providing email correspondence about the crisis.

The most recent batch, however, contain some of the first exchanges that were not necessarily on the government servers.

Over at the Michigan Coalition for Open Government, Briggs-Bunting acknowledged it's not necessarily illegal for government workers to use private accounts.

"What is required, however, is that those emails be disclosed," she said.

As for the Governor's spokesperson, he said that some of the emails sent by personal accounts may have been sent by accident.

"If you use more than one email address on an iPad, sometimes when you go to forward or send an email, the system will default to an address," he wrote.

Adler said that standard state rules require that any subjects not related to state business, be handled on personal accounts, instead of the state's email system.