A Multnomah County judge on Friday ordered Portland City Councilor Dan Ryan to preserve communications on his personal devices while a public-records lawsuit over his phone records proceeds. Circuit Court Judge David F. Rees issued a preliminary injunction requiring Ryan to create a new backup of his application and communications data within one business day. The order also bars him from deleting messages and requires him to disable any automatic deletion settings and keep messages indefinitely. “There are some indications that those games are being played, and it has to stop today,” Rees said during the hearing, referring to concerns about preserving evidence. He warned Ryan could be held in contempt for violating the order. The lawsuit followed Ryan’s office declining a request for phone records and related correspondence. Under Oregon law, litigation is the available means to seek records stored on a public official’s private devices when the official declines to provide them. The court’s order sets deadlines for clarifying what happened to Ryan’s previous phone. Within three days, he must file a declaration describing whether the device was erased or reset, which carrier was involved, how data was transferred to his new phone and a chronological account of the attempted trade-in. Ryan’s account changed in court filings. He initially stated that he left his phone at home on Oct. 1 and that his spouse traded it in that day. In a declaration filed Oct. 8, he said his spouse had told him the phone was never mailed for trade-in and remained in his possession. Ryan wrote under penalty of perjury that he believed the records on the old device had been transferred to his new phone. The Oct. 1 date is significant because a judge had issued a temporary restraining order that day barring Ryan from deleting messages on his personal phone. Rees’s preliminary injunction extends preservation requirements through the lawsuit. Within three weeks, Ryan must arrange forensic imaging of his old and new phones, a backup made in February and any other device he uses. The city will pay for the imaging, which is expected to be conducted by a third party. Questions about whether the records were fully preserved arose in part because Ryan had previously said his phone was set to automatically delete text messages after 30 days, and that setting remained active after the legal case began. A February backup appeared to be the only remaining source of messages for the dates covered by the records request, while later messages could have been deleted automatically. The injunction does not determine whether the records will ultimately be released. It is intended to ensure evidence remains available as the case moves forward. Ryan’s office had not responded to a request for comment by publication time.