The Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission (FOIC) has sent a preliminary ruling in the cases of two Newtown complainants back to the commission's hearing officer for what was described as a request for further clarification of several points in the officer's preliminary dismissals of both cases.

According to FOIC minutes of the May 11 regular meeting, Commissioners Owen P. Eagan, Jay Shaw (participating via speakerphone), Matthew Streeter, and Christopher P. Hankins voted 3-1 to send the separate complaints of Newtown resident Laura Terry and former Board of Education member Laura Roche back to hearing officer Victor Perpetua "to gather and review more evidence in the matter."

Commissioner Streeter voted against remanding either case back to the hearing officer.

Both complaints involve respondent David Freedman, a former town school board member, and current member Kathryn Hamilton.

On April 7, Mr Perpetua recommended the commission dismiss Ms Roche and Ms Terry's complaints on the grounds that documents representing the sole evidence in the FOI appeal and released by Mr Freedman and Ms Hamilton were public, and that the complainants' requests for other records to expose the recipients of those public documents were not.

The hearing officer also indicated in his decision that the information the complainants were seeking has likely been deleted from the respondents' private e-mail or text message accounts.

"It is concluded that the records requested are not public records [under the law]. It is therefore concluded that the respondents did not violate the FOI Act as alleged," Mr Perpetua wrote.

FOIC spokesman Tom Hennick, who attended the May 11 hearing, said it appeared the commission wanted Mr Perpetua to revisit and clarify the use of the phrase "probably by e-mail," when in his decision he refers to the means by which the public documents were shared by the respondents.

According to Mr Hennick, the hearing officer has the prerogative to reopen or make any substantive changes to his decision if he is inclined to do so. A scheduled date to continue or reopen the hearing for a full commission vote had not been set as of May 19.