Question
The County Sheriff Department maintains a website that contains a sheriff’s blotter of recent calls and related arrests by community. When I first started using this website to track crime in my community, the information about arrests included the charges filed, felony status, jurisdiction issuing warrants, etc. That information was removed about 18 months ago and replaced with this statement:
“Due to security concerns, we have discontinued posting detailed inmate information on this website. Information required to be disclosed under Government Code section 6254(f)(1) of the California Public Records Act may be obtained by calling Inmate Records at (714)
647-4666.”
At the time I complained about this, since it was much slower than seeing the information on the website, and it wasted tax dollars by having a manual process replace an automated process. However, it stayed this way.
Then, yesterday (June 29) I was told that they are no longer giving out information about charges filed except to family members. I feel this is a violation of PRA requirements and would like to know what the next step is get the policy changed back. In fact, I would like these changes rolled all the way back to having the information on the website – that’s the more efficient way to get information to the public.
Answer
Although California’s Public Records Act requires state and local agencies to provide access to most records created, used, or maintained by the agencies, there are broad exemptions for records related to law enforcement. Govt. Code Section 6254(f) (see below).
But this section of the PRA provides that “state and local law enforcement agencies shall make public the following information, except to the extent that disclosure of a particular item of information would endanger the safety of a person involved in an investigation or would endanger the successful completion of the investigation or a related investigation: (1) The full name, current address, and occupation of every individual arrested by the agency, the individual’s physical description including date of birth, color of eyes and hair, sex, height and weight, the time and date of arrest, the time and date of booking, the location of the arrest, the factual circumstances surrounding the arrest, the amount of bail set, the time and manner of release or the location where the individual is currently being held, and all charges the individual is being held upon, including any outstanding warrants from other jurisdictions and parole or probation holds.” Id. (emphasis added).
Accordingly, there does not seem to be any basis for withholding the charges on which an individual is being held from any member of the public in the absence of a specific showing as to why disclosure of the information would endanger the safety of someone involved with the investigation or the successful completion of the investigation. Where information must be disclosed under the PRA, it must be disclosed to any member of the public — not just selected individuals (e.g., arrestee’s family members).
As for whether the Department must post the information on its website, Section 6253.9 does require that an agency that holds records in an electronic format must make the records available in that format if a member of the public so requests. I am now aware of any authority requiring that an agency post information on its website simply because it has the capability to do so. To the extent that providing information on the website would be more efficient and ultimately less costly for taxpayers, as you argue, the Department might be persuaded by such an argument or political pressure based on this argument might be brought to bear on the Department, but the PRA does not appear to require that the information be posted on the website.
I hope this information is useful to you. Best of luck to you in your efforts.
Asked & Answered posts should not be relied on as legal advice, and FAC makes no guarantees about their completeness or accuracy. All posts carry a date of publication that readers should take note of in assessing their usefulness, given that laws and interpretations of them may change over time. Posts predating Jan. 1, 2023, that discuss the California Public Records Act may contain statute numbers no longer in use. Please see this page for a table showing how the California Public Records Act has been renumbered.