About two weeks before he left office, Gov. Bill Richardson's staff handed over his office's records to the State Records Center and Archives. But there was one condition.

Richardson agreed to turn over his records under the condition that for the next eight years, only four people would have access or be able to grant access to the documents — Richardson himself; his chief of staff, Brian Condit; general counsel Justin Miller; and scheduler Janis Hartley.

Richardson's action is allowed under a state law passed in 1967, Records Center Director Sandra Jaramillo said Monday. Other governors before him have taken the same action, she said.

Attempts to reach Richardson and his spokeswomen were not successful Monday night.

Already, a public-information request by a television news reporter has been denied because of the request.

KOB reporter Gadi Schwartz in January requested all e-mails "to and from Former Governor Bill Richardson and access to and copies of all e-mails to and from (former Richardson spokesman) Gilbert Gallegos from August 2010 January 1st 2011."

On Jan. 27, he received a reply. Citing the state law, Jaramillo wrote " ... the State Records Administrator has the legal authority to accept and place the records and documents of elected state officials under moratorium in the State Archives. As has been the practice for all out-going Governor's records since 1967, the State Records Administrator has accepted and placed Governor Richardson's records under moratorium. The moratorium is for a period of eight years commencing on January 1, 2011."

The KOB reporter isn't the only one who has been turned down for Richardson records this year.

Scott Darnell, spokesman for Gov. Susana Martinez, said in an e-mail Monday, "We've attempted to get particular information and been denied as well."

Asked what recourse the administration has to obtain those records, Darnell replied, "It doesn't appear that we have any at this point."

Before Jan. 1, most of the records would have been considered public documents, which under the state Inspection of Public Records Act, anyone could ask to see.

A major reason for news media interest in Richardson's records has been "pay-to-play" allegations that resulted in at least two federal investigations in the last two years. At least one federal investigation — into the role of third-party marketers for state investments — is ongoing. Former Santa Fe investment broker Marc Correra, whose father and wife were connected to Richardson, shared in millions of dollars in "finder's fees" for state investment business.

Richardson steadfastly refused to let reporters or anyone see documents related to the investigations. The administration also refused to provide documents requested in court by Frank Foy, former investment officer for the state teachers pension fund. Foy filed a whistle-blower lawsuit, claiming political pressure was behind some state investments.

In an interview Monday, Jaramillo, who has worked for the Records Center for more than 20 years, said the law was passed more than four decades ago to allow the archives to process all the records left by a governor.

There were just a few requests for records of Richardson's predecessor, Republican Gary Johnson, Jaramillo said. "We just passed them to his people and they said to go ahead (and release the documents)," she said.

Back in 1987, there was a lot of media interest in records of Gov. Toney Anaya, a Democrat who made national headlines by commuting the sentences of death-row inmates, Jaramillo said.

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com. Read his political blog at roundhouseroundup.com.