Times-World LLC., which operates The Roanoke Times, has won a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the city of Radford and obtained an uncensored portion of a closely held document and near-full reimbursement of its legal expenses.

City Manager David Ridpath declined to discuss the material unearthed by the newspaper's 2-year-old public records lawsuit concerning a 2008 harassment investigation at the city, while Mayor Bruce Brown limited his comment to the end of litigation.

In the summer of 2008, the newspaper became aware of two written requests by then-Radford spokeswoman and Deputy City Council Clerk Rebecca Hawke for a city investigative report about a complaint of harassment.

Hawke, now Christiansburg's spokeswoman and known as Becky Wilburn, made her requests under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.

A short time later, a newspaper employee sought copies of Hawke's FOI requests by filing his own FOI requests.

Before giving Hawke's requests to the newspaper, the city blanked out some names and other information from the documents.

The newspaper sued the city in September 2008, arguing that Hawke's FOIA requests were public records and must be released in full. The city claimed that the blanked-out portions were exempt as personnel files.

In December, Judge Joey Showalter rejected the city's argument. He ruled the city must release one of Hawke's FOI requests in complete form.

In addition, Showalter directed the city to release the other Hawke FOI request with one deletion undone. The judge upheld another deletion, saying it shielded information the newspaper had not asked for.

Showalter ordered the city to pay $5,000 of the newspaper's legal expenses up to that point.

Before complying with the ruling, Radford filed a petition for appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court, which reached the high court in July.

Earlier this month, the city withdrew its petition, without waiting to find out whether the justices would take up the case.

Brown, who was elevated to mayor in May, said the newly constituted council reviewed all available information and elected to drop the appeal. He declined to discuss the harassment matter Hawke had inquired about, citing the advice of attorneys.

The supreme court marked the case closed Oct. 14.

When a party that is denied access to a public record prevails in court, the party is entitled to reimbursement for legal expenses, under state law.

Earlier this week, Radford paid the newspaper $11,562, amounting to the previously ordered $5,000 plus $6,562 covering the newspaper's appellate-level legal work. The payment totaled 85 percent of the newspaper's total expenses of $13,547.

Radford paid $5,554 for its own legal representation in the case.

"We wish it hadn't taken so long to resolve the case, but we're glad the city offered to drop its appeal, reimburse the company for legal fees and comply with the judge's ruling," said Michael Stowe, managing editor of The Roanoke Times.

"It's our job to hold public officials accountable when we think the Freedom of Information Act has been broken," he said. "It's a role we take seriously and, as this case shows, are willing to pursue in court."

Megan Rhyne, who directs the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, said state open-records law exempts actual personnel records from public review for good reasons.

This case offers "a cautionary tale to public bodies not to try to overextend the exemption for personnel records," she said. "We should guard against attempts to stretch the definition of a personnel record to anything having to do with a public employee."

The newspaper continues to review the newfound material, which amounted to 23 words, two middle initials and two numbers.

Editor's note: The name of the parent company of The Roanoke Times has been corrected in the online version of this story.