Public access to certain shared law enforcement records

What it does

Summary by the Legislative Reference Bureau, the Legislature's nonpartisan drafting office. It's their wording, not ours.

Currently, state and local governmental records are available for public inspection and copying except as specifically authorized or required by law, and except that if the custodian of a record demonstrates that the public interest in withholding access to information contained in a record outweighs the public interest in providing access to that information, access may be denied. Applying this test, the courts have permitted access to some law enforcement investigative records to be denied. In addition, under current law, law enforcement investigative records are exempted from the right of access whenever federal law or regulations so require or as a condition to receipt of aids by this state so require.

This bill provides that if a local governmental unit whose primary function is information storage, information technology processing, or other information technology usage (information technology unit) receives a request for access to information in a law enforcement record, the information technology unit must deny any portion of the request that relates to information in a law enforcement record.

Who's behind it

4 senators are its authors⁠. 3 are Democrats and 1 is a Republican.

14 more lawmakers signed on in support⁠.