The battle continues to rage over the legality of NDAs when judge tells Ascension to reveal contents, parish files appeal

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The battle continues to rage over the legality of NDAs when judge tells Ascension to reveal contents, parish files appeal

May 25, 2026 by tomaswell

Remember the story about sneaky state senators and information-hoarding House members and crafty city and parish officials and the glut of nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) that have sprung up in every single parish in the gret stet of Loozeraner in an underhanded tactic to keep state voters in the dark about generous tax breaks and information on controversial multi-billion-dollar data centers popping up?

Remember how LOUISIANA ILLUMINATOR was the first news service in the state to devote the time and energy to tell us how we were being kept in the dark by these agreements that sealed off our access to otherwise public information?

Then, Lake Charles TV station KPLC scored a coup when it obtained a copy of a seven-page NDA signed between an unnamed corporate entity, State Sen. Jeremy Steine and Louisiana Economic Development (LED) Secretary Chris Stelly.

Well, it turns out there may be a crack in that wall of silence. A state district judge has ordered that Ascension Parish must release NDAs between officials and business leaders related to industrial development projects.

Naturally, the parish, which is all about transparency, is appealing. But if the order is allowed to stand—and it most likely won’t, knowing how the Louisiana Supreme Court leans politically—it could have a ripple effect throughout all 64 parishes.

One of the plaintiffs seeking to see what the NDAs contain, Ashley Graignard, president of Rural Roots Louisiana, was pretty succinct in asking the not-necessarily-rhetorical question: “If these projects are truly in the best interest of the people, why are so many documents hidden behind secrecy?

Judge Cody Martin agreed, ruling that neither of the public records exemptions claimed by parish officials are applicable

“The burden of proving protection from production of documents is on the custodian who is bound by law to produce said documents,” Martin wrote in his ruling. Ascension Parish, he said “has not met its burden in doing so.”

The NDAs are just one of several ATTACKS ON PUBLIC RECORDS by the Jeff Landry administration with no letup in sight.

It was Landry, after all who, as attorney general, FILED A LAWSUIT against a reporter who had the temerity to submit a public records request to the AG’s office.

It’s a legal tactic called Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation (SLAPP) being employed more frequently by public officials as a means of discouraging requests for public information.