A Nebraska father and disability advocate has filed a lawsuit against the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, alleging the agency effectively denied access to public records by attaching a nearly $1 million price tag and a projected 50-year wait to fulfill his request. Curt Safranek, founder of the Disability Alliance of Nebraska, filed the lawsuit Monday in Lancaster County District Court against DHHS Records Manager Thomas Skutt. Safranek’s son, Will, has intellectual disabilities and autism, and the lawsuit says his Medicaid funding was reduced under the interRAI assessment system adopted by the state in 2025.
The records request seeks emails and attachments related to Alvarez & Marsal, the consulting firm DHHS announced in August would conduct a review of the state’s interRAI implementation. According to court filings, DHHS initially estimated it would cost $976,263 to process the request, required a nearly $98,000 deposit, and projected completion by September 2076. After Safranek narrowed the request to records from January through September 2026, the agency reduced the estimate to about $474,000 with a projected completion date in October 2051. Safranek argues those costs and delays amount to an unlawful denial of public records access.
“Nearly $1 million and a 50-year wait. That’s not public access. That’s a roadblock to accountability,” Safranek said in a statement. The lawsuit asks the court to order DHHS to provide a legally accurate cost estimate and make the records available as soon as practicable. Safranek is represented by Omaha attorney Daniel Gutman of Gutman Law Group.
