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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 1105
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 6353
Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION
AND ELECTIONS
Introduced by:
(GAE)
AN ACT CONCERNING TH E CONFIDENTIALITY OF LAW
ENFORCEMENT RECORDS CONCERNING VICTIMS O F SEXUAL
ASSAULT AND FAMILY V IOLENCE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (b) of section 1-210 of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 2
October 1, 2019): 3
(b) Nothing in the Freedom of Information Act shall be construed to 4
require disclosure of: 5
(1) Preliminary drafts or notes provided the public agency has 6
determined that the public interest in withholding such documents 7
clearly outweighs the public interest in disclosure; 8
(2) Personnel or medical files and similar files the disclosure of 9
which would constitute an invasion of personal privacy; 10
(3) Records of law enforcement agencies not otherwise available to 11 Raised Bill No. 1105
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the public which records were compiled in connection with the 12
detection or investigation of crime, if the disclosure of [said] such 13
records would not be in the public interest because it would result in 14
the disclosure of (A) the identity of informants not otherwise known or 15
the identity of witnesses not otherwise known whose safety would be 16
endangered or who would be subject to threat or intimidation if their 17
identity was made known, (B) the identity of minor witnesses, (C) 18
signed statements of witnesses, (D) information to be used in a 19
prospective law enforcement action if prejudicial to such action, (E) 20
investigatory techniques not otherwise known to the general public, 21
(F) arrest records of a juvenile, which shall also include any 22
investigatory files, concerning the arrest of such juvenile, compiled for 23
law enforcement purposes, (G) the name and address of the victim of a 24
sexual assault under section 53a-70, 53a-70a, 53a-71, 53a-72a, 53a-72b 25
or 53a-73a, voyeurism under section 53a-189a, [or] injury or risk of 26
injury, or impairing of morals under section 53-21 or family violence, 27
as defined in section 46b-38a, or of an attempt thereof, or (H) 28
uncorroborated allegations subject to destruction pursuant to section 1-29
216; 30
(4) Records pertaining to strategy and negotiations with respect to 31
pending claims or pending litigation to which the public agency is a 32
party until such litigation or claim has been finally adjudicated or 33
otherwise settled; 34
(5) (A) Trade secrets, which for purposes of the Freedom of 35
Information Act, are defined as information, including formulas, 36
patterns, compilations, programs, devices, methods, techniques, 37
processes, drawings, cost data, customer lists, film or television scripts 38
or detailed production budgets that (i) derive independent economic 39
value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to, and not 40
being readily ascertainable by proper means by, other persons who can 41
obtain economic value from their disclosure or use, and (ii) are the 42
subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to 43
maintain secrecy; and 44 Raised Bill No. 1105
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(B) Commercial or financial information given in confidence, not 45
required by statute; 46
(6) Test questions, scoring keys and other examination data used to 47
administer a licensing examination, examination for employment or 48
academic examinations; 49
(7) The contents of real estate appraisals, engineering or feasibility 50
estimates and evaluations made for or by an agency relative to the 51
acquisition of property or to prospective public supply and 52
construction contracts, until such time as all of the property has been 53
acquired or all proceedings or transactions have been terminated or 54
abandoned, provided the law of eminent domain shall not be affected 55
by this provision; 56
(8) Statements of personal worth or personal financial data required 57
by a licensing agency and filed by an applicant with such licensing 58
agency to establish the applicant's personal qualification for the 59
license, certificate or permit applied for; 60
(9) Records, reports and statements of strategy or negotiations with 61
respect to collective bargaining; 62
(10) Records, tax returns, reports and statements exempted by 63
federal law or the general statutes or communications privileged by 64
the attorney-client relationship, marital relationship, clergy-penitent 65
relationship, doctor-patient relationship, therapist-patient relationship 66
or any other privilege established by the common law or the general 67
statutes, including any such records, tax returns, reports or 68
communications that were created or made prior to the establishment 69
of the applicable privilege under the common law or the general 70
statutes; 71
(11) Names or addresses of students enrolled in any public school or 72
college without the consent of each student whose name or address is 73
to be disclosed who is eighteen years of age or older and a parent or 74
guardian of each such student who is younger than eighteen years of 75 Raised Bill No. 1105
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age, provided this subdivision shall not be construed as prohibiting the 76
disclosure of the names or addresses of students enrolled in any public 77
school in a regional school district to the board of selectmen or town 78
board of finance, as the case may be, of the town wherein the student 79
resides for the purpose of verifying tuition payments made to such 80
school; 81
(12) Any information obtained by the use of illegal means; 82
(13) Records of an investigation or the name of an employee 83
providing information under the provisions of section 4-61dd or 84
sections 4-276 to 4-280, inclusive; 85
(14) Adoption records and information provided for in sections 45a-86
746, 45a-750 and 45a-751; 87
(15) Any page of a primary petition, nominating petition, 88
referendum petition or petition for a town meeting submitted under 89
any provision of the general statutes or of any special act, municipal 90
charter or ordinance, until the required processing and certification of 91
such page has been completed by the official or officials charged with 92
such duty after which time disclosure of such page shall be required; 93
(16) Records of complaints, including information compiled in the 94
investigation thereof, brought to a municipal health authority pursuant 95
to chapter 368e or a district department of health pursuant to chapter 96
368f, until such time as the investigation is concluded or thirty days 97
from the date of receipt of the complaint, whichever occurs first; 98
(17) Educational records which are not subject to disclosure under 99
the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 20 USC 1232g; 100
(18) Records, the disclosure of which the Commissioner of 101
Correction, or as it applies to Whiting Forensic Hospital, the 102
Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services, has 103
reasonable grounds to believe may result in a safety risk, including the 104
risk of harm to any person or the risk of an escape from, or a disorder 105 Raised Bill No. 1105
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in, a correctional institution or facility under the supervision of the 106
Department of Correction or Whiting Forensic Hospital. Such records 107
shall include, but are not limited to: 108
(A) Security manuals, including emergency plans contained or 109
referred to in such security manuals; 110
(B) Engineering and architectural drawings of correctional 111
institutions or facilities or Whiting Forensic Hospital facilities; 112
(C) Operational specifications of security systems utilized by the 113
Department of Correction at any correctional institution or facility or 114
Whiting Forensic Hospital facilities, except that a general description 115
of any such security system and the cost and quality of such system 116
may be disclosed; 117
(D) Training manuals prepared for correctional institutions and 118
facilities or Whiting Forensic Hospital facilities that describe, in any 119
manner, security procedures, emergency plans or security equipment; 120
(E) Internal security audits of correctional institutions and facilities 121
or Whiting Forensic Hospital facilities; 122
(F) Minutes or recordings of staff meetings of the Department of 123
Correction or Whiting Forensic Hospital facilities, or portions of such 124
minutes or recordings, that contain or reveal information relating to 125
security or other records otherwise exempt from disclosure under this 126
subdivision; 127
(G) Logs or other documents that contain information on the 128
movement or assignment of inmates or staff at correctional institutions 129
or facilities; and 130
(H) Records that contain information on contacts between inmates, 131
as defined in section 18-84, and law enforcement officers; 132
(19) Records when there are reasonable grounds to believe 133
disclosure may result in a safety risk, including the risk of harm to any 134 Raised Bill No. 1105
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person, any government-owned or leased institution or facility or any 135
fixture or appurtenance and equipment attached to, or contained in, 136
such institution or facility, except that such records shall be disclosed 137
to a law enforcement agency upon the request of the law enforcement 138
agency. Such reasonable grounds shall be determined (A) (i) by the 139
Commissioner of Administrative Services, after consultation with the 140
chief executive officer of an executive branch state agency, with respect 141
to records concerning such agency; and (ii) by the Commissioner of 142
Emergency Services and Public Protection, after consultation with the 143
chief executive officer of a municipal, district or regional agency, with 144
respect to records concerning such agency; (B) by the Chief Court 145
Administrator with respect to records concerning the Judicial 146
Department; and (C) by the executive director of the Joint Committee 147
on Legislative Management, with respect to records concerning the 148
Legislative Department. As used in this section, "government-owned 149
or leased institution or facility" includes, but is not limited to, an 150
institution or facility owned or leased by a public service company, as 151
defined in section 16-1, other than a water company, as defined in 152
section 25-32a, a certified telecommunications provider, as defined in 153
section 16-1, or a municipal utility that furnishes electric or gas service, 154
but does not include an institution or facility owned or leased by the 155
federal government, and "chief executive officer" includes, but is not 156
limited to, an agency head, department head, executive director or 157
chief executive officer. Such records include, but are not limited to: 158
(i) Security manuals or reports; 159
(ii) Engineering and architectural drawings of government-owned 160
or leased institutions or facilities; 161
(iii) Operational specifications of security systems utilized at any 162
government-owned or leased institution or facility, except that a 163
general description of any such security system and the cost and 164
quality of such system may be disclosed; 165
(iv) Training manuals prepared for government-owned or leased 166 Raised Bill No. 1105
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institutions or facilities that describe, in any manner, security 167
procedures, emergency plans or security equipment; 168
(v) Internal security audits of government-owned or leased 169
institutions or facilities; 170
(vi) Minutes or records of meetings, or portions of such minutes or 171
records, that contain or reveal information relating to security or other 172
records otherwise exempt from disclosure under this subdivision; 173
(vii) Logs or other documents that contain information on the 174
movement or assignment of security personnel; and 175
(viii) Emergency plans and emergency preparedness, response, 176
recovery and mitigation plans, including plans provided by a person 177
to a state agency or a local emergency management agency or official. 178
(20) Records of standards, procedures, processes, software and 179
codes, not otherwise available to the public, the disclosure of which 180
would compromise the security or integrity of an information 181
technology system; 182
(21) The residential, work or school address of any participant in the 183
address confidentiality program established pursuant to sections 54-184
240 to 54-240o, inclusive; 185
(22) The electronic mail address of any person that is obtained by 186
the Department of Transportation in connection with the 187
implementation or administration of any plan to inform individuals 188
about significant highway or railway incidents; 189
(23) The name or address of any minor enrolled in any parks and 190
recreation program administered or sponsored by any public agency; 191
(24) Responses to any request for proposals or bid solicitation issued 192
by a public agency or any record or file made by a public agency in 193
connection with the contract award process, until such contract is 194
executed or negotiations for the award of such contract have ended, 195 Raised Bill No. 1105
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whichever occurs earlier, provided the chief executive officer of such 196
public agency certifies that the public interest in the disclosure of such 197
responses, record or file is outweighed by the public interest in the 198
confidentiality of such responses, record or file; 199
(25) The name, address, telephone number or electronic mail 200
address of any person enrolled in any senior center program or any 201
member of a senior center administered or sponsored by any public 202
agency; 203
(26) All records obtained during the course of inspection, 204
investigation, examination and audit activities of an institution, as 205
defined in section 19a-490, that are confidential pursuant to a contract 206
between the Department of Public Health and the United States 207
Department of Health and Human Services relating to the Medicare 208
and Medicaid programs; 209
(27) Any record created by a law enforcement agency or other 210
federal, state, or municipal governmental agency consisting of a 211
photograph, film, video or digital or other visual image depicting the 212
victim of a homicide, to the extent that such record could reasonably 213
be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of the personal 214
privacy of the victim or the victim's surviving family members; 215
(28) Any documentation provided to or obtained by an executive 216
branch agency, including documentation provided or obtained prior to 217
May 25, 2016, relating to claims of faulty or failing concrete 218
foundations in residential buildings by the owners of such residential 219
buildings, and documents prepared by an executive branch agency 220
relating to such documentation, for seven years after the date of receipt 221
of the documentation or seven years after May 25, 2016, whichever is 222
later. 223
Sec. 2. Subsection (b) of section 1-215 of the general statutes is 224
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 225
October 1, 2019): 226 Raised Bill No. 1105
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(b) Notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes, and 227
except as otherwise provided in this section, any record of the arrest of 228
any person shall be a public record from the time of such arrest and 229
shall be disclosed in accordance with the provisions of section 1-212 230
and subsection (a) of section 1-210. No law enforcement agency shall 231
redact any record of the arrest of any person, except for (1) the identity 232
of witnesses, (2) the name, address or other identifying information of 233
any victim of sexual assault under section 53a-70, 53a-70a, 53a-71, 53a-234
72a, 53a-72b or 53a-73a, voyeurism under section 53a-189a, injury or 235
risk of injury, or impairing of morals under section 53-21 or family 236
violence, as defined in section 46b-38a, or of an attempt thereof, [(2)] 237
(3) specific information about the commission of a crime, the disclosure 238
of which the law enforcement agency reasonably believes may 239
prejudice a pending prosecution or a prospective law enforcement 240
action, or [(3)] (4) any information that a judicial authority has ordered 241
to be sealed from public inspection or disclosure. Any personal 242
possessions or effects found on a person at the time of such person's 243
arrest shall not be disclosed unless such possessions or effects are 244
relevant to the crime for which such person was arrested. 245
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2019 1-210(b)
Sec. 2 October 1, 2019 1-215(b)
Statement of Purpose:
To authorize the nondisclosure of the names, addresses and
identifying information of victims of sexual assault and family
violence contained in law enforcement records.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline,
except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is
not underlined.]