Although Attorney General Gary King said last week he believes a resignation letter from the state Elections Bureau director is public information, the Secretary of State's Office still isn't ready to release it.

In a written response Monday to The New Mexican's request last week for a copy of A.J. Salazar's resignation letter, Deputy Secretary of State Francisco Trujillo said, "the document will require additional legal review."

Salazar's letter reportedly accuses Secretary of State Mary Herrera of violating New Mexico's Governmental Conduct Act and election laws.

Trujillo said his office would contact the newspaper within 15 days — the maximum response time allowed under the state Inspection of Public Records Act.

"It's certainly within their right, and it's probably advisable, to get a legal opinion on releasing this document," said Sarah Welsh, executive director of New Mexico Foundation for Open Government.

On Friday, Trujillo said it wasn't only Salazar whom he was trying to protect by not releasing the letter, but other employees mentioned in it. According to published reports, however, the main person mentioned in the letter is Herrera herself.

"I'm interested to see what they do release," Welsh said Monday. " 'Legal review' often means using a black marker to redact sensitive information. If that's the case here, I hope the reviewers take special note of the fact that there's no secrecy privilege for criticisms of a public official. In general, allegations of government malfeasance are of extremely significant interest to the public and are afforded the highest level of protection for free speech. Such allegations deserve to be aired fully and tackled head on."

In a copyrighted article last week, the Albuquerque Journal reported that Salazar's letter said Herrera "insisted that we obtain 'sponsorships' or donations through targeted communications with firms or businesses with whom we contract" to support training seminars for county clerks across New Mexico.

Salazar reportedly said Herrera accused him of going over her head when he sought legal advice on the sponsorships.

He also reportedly said Herrera ordered her exempt employees — political hires outside the state personnel system — to gather 1,000 signatures each for her re-election campaign. Herrera told the Journal that the petitions were brought up during a lunch meeting and some people volunteered to gather signatures, but "nothing was handed to my employees by me."

Herrera responded in a statement that said Salazar's allegations "are false and misleading."

King told reporters his office is looking at Salazar's allegations, which he said were "serious."

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