An extension, until at least Feb. 20, was requested by Randy Ruaro, deputy chief of staff to Gov. Sean Parnell, in October. Ruaro maintained that without an extension, responding to requests for the emails would "substantially impair" the other functions of the governor's office, as well as the ability to properly and thoroughly review the messages.
The Associated Press, which is among those who requested the emails, objected to the extension.
Outgoing Attorney General John Burns, in a letter dated Tuesday and in one of his last acts in office, said the length of time that's already elapsed is "troubling" but alone doesn't show that an extension is unreasonable or unnecessary to avoid impairing other agency functions.
If future extensions are sought, beyond Feb. 20, Burns said, they must include details on the progress made in responding to the request and a schedule for and resources committed to fulfilling the response.
In June, the state released 24,199 pages of emails from Palin's first 21 months in office, in response to public records requests first made in September 2008, after Palin was chosen as the GOP vice presidential nominee.
The final emails are from Oct. 1, 2008, to July 26, 2009, when Palin resigned as governor.
Important warning about e-mails purporting to be from the adn.com staff.