GENTRY — In accord with the recent ruling of Judge Mark Fryauf, the Gentry Volunteer Fire Department hand-delivered copies of receipts and a check register and canceled checks showing its income and expenses related to the 2010 “Show Your Ride” car show to Wes Hogue.

Hogue filed a Freedom of Information request Aug. 31 asking for a copy of a deposit slip concerning money raised from the 2010 Fall Festival Car Show. Hogue’s request sought a copy of the checking history for 2010 and who the checks were made out to on the account into which the money was deposited.

Since the city did not maintain the volunteer fire department’s financial records, the request was not fulfilled and Hogue filed a lawsuit against the city, Gentry mayor Kevin Johnston and Gentry Fire Department chief Vester Cripps. The city contended it did not possess the documents Hogue requested, and Cripps said those records belonged to a separate non-profit organization which was not subject to Freedom of Information Act requirements since it is a firemen's association and not a government agency.

Judge Fryauf ruled Oct. 17 that the Gentry Volunteer Fire Department operates separate from the city, but said the group had so entwined itself with the city’s two-man fire department that the volunteer group subjected itself to the state’s Freedom of Information Act.

Fryauf told Hogue he needed to file the request with the volunteer organization. Fryauf said the volunteers must turn over the requested information to Hogue, but only information concerning the 2010 car show.

“It does not give you carte blanche access to all their records,” the judge told Hogue. “We are talking about the 2010 car show.”

The records handed over on Oct. 19 indicate a total of $697 cleared by the fire department after expenses related to the 2010 car show. Those profits were used to help pay for a rescue bumper for Rescue Truck Number 2251. The total for the bumper was $1,942.35, with $1,346.15 used to purchase the bumper from Pro Trucks, $422.62 used to paint the bumper to match the truck, $135.89for a chain and hooks to be used with the winch on the bumper, and $37.69 for a pintle hitch to be used with the rescue truck bumper.

Prior to the judge’s ruling, assistant fire chief Jeff Trammell released to the Westside Eagle Observer costs and expenses related to the car shows sponsored by the GentryFire Department and held in conjunction with the Gentry Fall Festival for the last three years.

"We have an operations cost of approximately $1,600 each year," Trammell wrote. "The expenses are as follows: Event shirts $1,000, Trophies $375, Plaques $125, and Miscellaneous $100."

Total earnings from the event over the past three years were reported by Trammell as follows: 2008 - $493.42; 2009 - $34 loss; 2010 - $697.

News, Pages 1 on 11/02/2011