"Nevada County has been ordered to pay more than $20,000 in legal fees to a firm suing it in an ongoing case regarding a software contract.
"Nevada County — and its counsel — also could face possible sanctions, including jail time, if they missed a court-mandated deadline to produce documents in the federal lawsuit.
"Auburn software firm AtPac Inc. filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Sacramento in February against Nevada County, Clerk-Recorder Gregory Diaz and the county clerk-recorder's current software provider, Florida-based Aptitude Solutions.
"AtPac, owned by Nevada County resident Linda Maclam, had the county clerk-recorder's software contract for 10 years prior to 2008, when Aptitude Solutions beat the firm for a new contract.
"AtPac alleged, among other things, that Diaz's office gave away AtPac trade secrets when the office switched over to the Aptitude system in 2009.
"The AtPac suit fueled controversy when it was revealed Barry Pruett, a lawyer attempting to unseat Diaz in a June election bid, had represented AtPac during the time the firm was fighting to keep its contract with the county. During the campaign, Pruett said that experience prompted him to run; he also accepted campaign donations from Maclam. Diaz defeated Pruett by a wide margin.
The rest of the article from The Union is here.
From an insider's perspective, I observed with my own eyes what was happening in the Recorder's office and in the County. That is why I ran against Diaz - not because of political ambition, but in an effort to do the right thing.
While the County and Diaz did finally turn over some documents, the County and Diaz are still fighting the release of the remainder of the relevant documents which were ordered to be produced by the Court. Yesterday, additional arguments were filed publicly in federal court by both sides, which begs the question - what are the County and Diaz hiding?
Stay tuned for another ruling from Magistrate Mueller in the near future.
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