SALINA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas governor’s office insists that the public doesn’t have the right to know who it’s considering to fill two new positions on the Saline County Commission.

The Salina Journal reports Gov. Sam Brownback’s office on Monday rejected the newspaper’s third request for the names of candidates the governor has interviewed for the posts. Voters in November expanded the governing body from three members to five.

The Journal contends the public has the right to know who is being considered to fill 40 percent of its commission positions. Brownback press secretary Eileen Hawley says the governor isn’t required to disclose the names of the candidates because it’s a personnel matter.

Journal editor and publisher M. Olaf Frandsen says the newspaper will fight for disclosure “as long as it takes.”