Carson District Judge Bill Maddox on Wednesday ordered Gov. Jim Gibbons to either give a newspaper copies of his e-mails or explain why not.
The e-mails were requested by reporters at the Reno Gazette-Journal. The governor's office rejected the request saying they were privileged communications and that they aren't required to produce a report they don't normally produce.
The newspaper filed for a writ of mandamus.
In his two-page order Wednesday, Maddox said "it appears that petitioner has set forth issues of arguable merit that it is wrongfully being denied access to public records and/or an explanation for why the public records are not being produced."
The order directs that the governor's office either provide the e-mails, provide reasons for not providing them or show cause in his courtroom Nov. 26.
He gave the governor's legal staff until Nov. 14 to respond to the order and petitioners until Nov. 24 to file a reply to that response.