Donelon wins La. insurance case; conflict remains

Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon has won a court case over funding of his office, but he remains at odds with legislative auditors over access to his office’s e-mails. A state district judge today ruled in favor of the Department of Insurance on a request to maintain the agency’s flow of state funding. But the department’s refusal to release e-mails for a legislative audit means Donelon will soon be in violation of state law that requires compliance with the legislative auditor’s office. Legislative Auditor Steve Theriot is investigating possible wrongdoing, including price-fixing, at the state-backed Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. His auditors want access to about 13 million e-mail messages involving Citizens and Donelon’s agency. Today’s court hearing before District Court Judge Todd Hernandez was related to Donelon’s refusal to release about 2,000 of the messages.