(1) Subject to ORS § 192.401 (1) and 192.427, any person denied the right to inspect or to receive a copy of any public record of a state agency may petition the Attorney General to review the public record to determine if it may be withheld from public inspection. Except as provided in ORS § 192.401 (2), the burden is on the agency to sustain its action. Except as provided in ORS § 192.401 (2), the Attorney General shall issue an order denying or granting the petition, or denying it in part and granting it in part, within seven days from the day the Attorney General receives the petition.

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(2) If the Attorney General grants the petition and orders the state agency to disclose the public record, or if the Attorney General grants the petition in part and orders the state agency to disclose a portion of the public record, the state agency shall comply with the order in full within seven days after issuance of the order, unless within the seven-day period it issues a notice of its intention to institute proceedings for injunctive or declaratory relief in the Circuit Court for Marion County or, as provided in ORS § 192.401 (3), in the circuit court of the county where the public record is held. Copies of the notice shall be sent to the Attorney General and by certified mail to the petitioner at the address shown on the petition. The state agency shall institute the proceedings within seven days after it issues its notice of intention to do so. If the Attorney General denies the petition in whole or in part, or if the state agency continues to withhold the public record or a part of it notwithstanding an order to disclose by the Attorney General, the person seeking disclosure may institute such proceedings.

(3) The Attorney General shall serve as counsel for the state agency in a suit filed under subsection (2) of this section if the suit arises out of a determination by the Attorney General that the public record should not be disclosed, or that a part of the public record should not be disclosed if the state agency has fully complied with the order of the Attorney General requiring disclosure of another part or parts of the public record, and in no other case. In any case in which the Attorney General is prohibited from serving as counsel for the state agency, the agency may retain special counsel. [Formerly subsections (1) to (3) of 192.450]