Edenburn v. New Mexico Department of Health, 299 P.3d 424

Edenburn sought records from the NM Department of Health (DOH) under IPRA related to the Title V Abstinence Education Block Grant program.
Her initial IPRA request was received August 24, 2007; DOH indicated it would respond within 15 days and later extended deadlines.
DOH allowed Edenburn to inspect some records (September 18, 2007) and later informed her additional responsive documents might exist.
On November 2, 2007 Edenburn requested two items—the email string and a draft letter—which DOH withheld as executive privilege and deliberative material.
Edenburn filed a mandamus/enforcement action in 2009; the district court granted summary judgment shielding the items; Edenburn appealed seeking disclosure and damages.
The appellate court later granted rehearing and substituted this opinion, reversing and remanding for further proceedings on disclosure and damages.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Deliberative process privilege applies to IPRA requests?	Edenburn contends no deliberative privilege exists and drafts/communications are public records.	DOH argued the email string fell under deliberative privilege and the draft letter was not a public record.	No deliberative process privilege exists; both items must be disclosed.
Are draft documents public records under IPRA?	Drafts are public records under IPRA’s broad definition.	Drafts fall outside IPRA protections per Sanchez and related guidance.	Draft letter is a public record subject to disclosure.
Retroactivity of Republican Party II to draft documents	Retroactive application required to promote open government and damages remedy.	Retroactivity may impose unexpected liability on agencies.	Republican Party II applies retroactively to the draft-document issue; damages may follow on remand.

Republican Party of N.M. v. N.M. Taxation & Revenue Dep’t (Republican Party II), 283 P.3d 853 (2012-NMSC-026) (no deliberative process privilege; IPRA disclosure focus; retroactivity considerations)
Republican Party of N.M. v. N.M. Taxation & Revenue Dep’t (Republican Party I), 148 N.M. 877, 242 P.3d 444 (2010-NMCA-080) (deliberative privilege analysis in discovery context; earlier stance before II ruling)
The Daily Times, 146 N.M. 349, 210 P.3d 246 (2009-NMCA-057) (presumption favoring public access to records; rule of reason concept later superseded)
State ex rel. Newsome v. Alarid, 90 N.M. 790, 568 P.2d 1236 (1977) (early rule of reason for IPRA/public records; later overruled by II)
Sanchez v. Board of Regents of Eastern New Mexico University, 82 N.M. 672, 486 P.2d 608 (1971) (drafts/non-final materials not controlling under then-IPRA framework; limited relevance post-II)
First Judicial Dist. Court v. State ex rel. Attorney General, 96 N.M. 254, 629 P.2d 330 (1981) (discovery-privilege framework later displaced by II in public records context)