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.General
Assembly
Committee Bill No. 6236
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 5507
Referred to Committee on HIGHER EDUCATION AND
EMPLOYMENT ADVANCEMENT
Introduced by:
(HED)
AN ACT EXEMPTING CER TAIN INFORMATION CON CERNING
CONCRETE FOUNDATIONS FROM PUBLIC DISCLOSURE UN DER
THE FREEDOM OF INFOR MATION ACT.
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repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2
2021): 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 which 9
would constitute an invasion of personal privacy; 10
(3) Records of law enforcement agencies not otherwise available to 11
the public which records were compiled in connection with the 12
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detection or investigation of crime, if the disclosure of such records 13
would not be in the public interest because it would result in the 14
disclosure of (A) the identity of informants not otherwise known or the 15
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, (F) 21
arrest records of a juvenile, which shall also include any investigatory 22
files, concerning the arrest of such juvenile, compiled for law 23
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 or 25
53a-73a, voyeurism under section 53a-189a, injury or risk of injury, or 26
impairing of morals under section 53-21 or family violence, as defined 27
in section 46b-38a, or of an attempt thereof, or (H) uncorroborated 28
allegations subject to destruction pursuant to section 1-216; 29
(4) Records pertaining to strategy and negotiations with respect to 30
pending claims or pending litigation to which the public agency is a 31
party until such litigation or claim has been finally adjudicated or 32
otherwise settled; 33
(5) (A) Trade secrets, which for purposes of the Freedom of 34
Information Act, are defined as information, including formulas, 35
patterns, compilations, programs, devices, methods, techniques, 36
processes, drawings, cost data, customer lists, film or television scripts 37
or detailed production budgets that (i) derive independent economic 38
value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to, and not 39
being readily ascertainable by proper means by, other persons who can 40
obtain economic value from their disclosure or use, and (ii) are the 41
subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to 42
maintain secrecy; and 43
(B) Commercial or financial information given in confidence, not 44
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required by statute; 45
(6) Test questions, scoring keys and other examination data used to 46
administer a licensing examination, examination for employment or 47
academic examinations; 48
(7) The contents of real estate appraisals, engineering or feasibility 49
estimates and evaluations made for or by an agency relative to the 50
acquisition of property or to prospective public supply and construction 51
contracts, until such time as all of the property has been acquired or all 52
proceedings or transactions have been terminated or abandoned, 53
provided the law of eminent domain shall not be affected by this 54
provision; 55
(8) Statements of personal worth or personal financial data required 56
by a licensing agency and filed by an applicant with such licensing 57
agency to establish the applicant's personal qualification for the license, 58
certificate or permit applied for; 59
(9) Records, reports and statements of strategy or negotiations with 60
respect to collective bargaining; 61
(10) Records, tax returns, reports and statements exempted by federal 62
law or the general statutes or communications privileged by the 63
attorney-client relationship, marital relationship, clergy-penitent 64
relationship, doctor-patient relationship, therapist-patient relationship 65
or any other privilege established by the common law or the general 66
statutes, including any such records, tax returns, reports or 67
communications that were created or made prior to the establishment 68
of the applicable privilege under the common law or the general 69
statutes; 70
(11) Names or addresses of students enrolled in any public school or 71
college without the consent of each student whose name or address is to 72
be disclosed who is eighteen years of age or older and a parent or 73
guardian of each such student who is younger than eighteen years of 74
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age, provided this subdivision shall not be construed as prohibiting the 75
disclosure of the names or addresses of students enrolled in any public 76
school in a regional school district to the board of selectmen or town 77
board of finance, as the case may be, of the town wherein the student 78
resides for the purpose of verifying tuition payments made to such 79
school; 80
(12) Any information obtained by the use of illegal means; 81
(13) Records of an investigation or the name of an employee 82
providing information under the provisions of section 4-61dd or 83
sections 4-276 to 4-280, inclusive; 84
(14) Adoption records and information provided for in sections 45a-85
746, 45a-750 and 45a-751; 86
(15) Any page of a primary petition, nominating petition, referendum 87
petition or petition for a town meeting submitted under any provision 88
of the general statutes or of any special act, municipal charter or 89
ordinance, until the required processing and certification of such page 90
has been completed by the official or officials charged with such duty 91
after which time disclosure of such page shall be required; 92
(16) Records of complaints, including information compiled in the 93
investigation thereof, brought to a municipal health authority pursuant 94
to chapter 368e or a district department of health pursuant to chapter 95
368f, until such time as the investigation is concluded or thirty days 96
from the date of receipt of the complaint, whichever occurs first; 97
(17) Educational records which are not subject to disclosure under the 98
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 20 USC 1232g; 99
(18) Records, the disclosure of which the Commissioner of 100
Correction, or as it applies to Whiting Forensic Hospital, the 101
Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services, has reasonable 102
grounds to believe may result in a safety risk, including the risk of harm 103
to any person or the risk of an escape from, or a disorder in, a 104
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correctional institution or facility under the supervision of the 105
Department of Correction or Whiting Forensic Hospital. Such records 106
shall include, but are not limited to: 107
(A) Security manuals, including emergency plans contained or 108
referred to in such security manuals; 109
(B) Engineering and architectural drawings of correctional 110
institutions or facilities or Whiting Forensic Hospital facilities; 111
(C) Operational specifications of security systems utilized by the 112
Department of Correction at any correctional institution or facility or 113
Whiting Forensic Hospital facilities, except that a general description of 114
any such security system and the cost and quality of such system may 115
be disclosed; 116
(D) Training manuals prepared for correctional institutions and 117
facilities or Whiting Forensic Hospital facilities that describe, in any 118
manner, security procedures, emergency plans or security equipment; 119
(E) Internal security audits of correctional institutions and facilities or 120
Whiting Forensic Hospital facilities; 121
(F) Minutes or recordings of staff meetings of the Department of 122
Correction or Whiting Forensic Hospital facilities, or portions of such 123
minutes or recordings, that contain or reveal information relating to 124
security or other records otherwise exempt from disclosure under this 125
subdivision; 126
(G) Logs or other documents that contain information on the 127
movement or assignment of inmates or staff at correctional institutions 128
or facilities; and 129
(H) Records that contain information on contacts between inmates, as 130
defined in section 18-84, and law enforcement officers; 131
(19) Records when there are reasonable grounds to believe disclosure 132
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may result in a safety risk, including the risk of harm to any person, any 133
government-owned or leased institution or facility or any fixture or 134
appurtenance and equipment attached to, or contained in, such 135
institution or facility, except that such records shall be disclosed to a law 136
enforcement agency upon the request of the law enforcement agency. 137
Such reasonable grounds shall be determined (A) (i) by the 138
Commissioner of Administrative Services, after consultation with the 139
chief executive officer of an executive branch state agency, with respect 140
to records concerning such agency; and (ii) by the Commissioner of 141
Emergency Services and Public Protection, after consultation with the 142
chief executive officer of a municipal, district or regional agency, with 143
respect to records concerning such agency; (B) by the Chief Court 144
Administrator with respect to records concerning the Judicial 145
Department; and (C) by the executive director of the Joint Committee on 146
Legislative Management, with respect to records concerning the 147
Legislative Department. As used in this section, "government-owned or 148
leased institution or facility" includes, but is not limited to, an institution 149
or facility owned or leased by a public service company, as defined in 150
section 16-1, other than a water company, as defined in section 25-32a, a 151
certified telecommunications provider, as defined in section 16-1, or a 152
municipal utility that furnishes electric or gas service, but does not 153
include an institution or facility owned or leased by the federal 154
government, and "chief executive officer" includes, but is not limited to, 155
an agency head, department head, executive director or chief executive 156
officer. Such records include, but are not limited to: 157
(i) Security manuals or reports; 158
(ii) Engineering and architectural drawings of government-owned or 159
leased institutions or facilities; 160
(iii) Operational specifications of security systems utilized at any 161
government-owned or leased institution or facility, except that a general 162
description of any such security system and the cost and quality of such 163
system may be disclosed; 164
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(iv) Training manuals prepared for government-owned or leased 165
institutions or facilities that describe, in any manner, security 166
procedures, emergency plans or security equipment; 167
(v) Internal security audits of government-owned or leased 168
institutions or facilities; 169
(vi) Minutes or records of meetings, or portions of such minutes or 170
records, that contain or reveal information relating to security or other 171
records otherwise exempt from disclosure under this subdivision; 172
(vii) Logs or other documents that contain information on the 173
movement or assignment of security personnel; and 174
(viii) Emergency plans and emergency preparedness, response, 175
recovery and mitigation plans, including plans provided by a person to 176
a state agency or a local emergency management agency or official; 177
(20) Records of standards, procedures, processes, software and codes, 178
not otherwise available to the public, the disclosure of which would 179
compromise the security or integrity of an information technology 180
system; 181
(21) The residential, work or school address of any participant in the 182
address confidentiality program established pursuant to sections 54-240 183
to 54-240o, inclusive; 184
(22) The electronic mail address of any person that is obtained by the 185
Department of Transportation in connection with the implementation 186
or administration of any plan to inform individuals about significant 187
highway or railway incidents; 188
(23) The name or address of any minor enrolled in any parks and 189
recreation program administered or sponsored by any public agency; 190
(24) Responses to any request for proposals or bid solicitation issued 191
by a public agency, responses by a public agency to any request for 192
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proposals or bid solicitation issued by a private entity or any record or 193
file made by a public agency in connection with the contract award 194
process, until such contract is executed or negotiations for the award of 195
such contract have ended, whichever occurs earlier, provided the chief 196
executive officer of such public agency certifies that the public interest 197
in the disclosure of such responses, record or file is outweighed by the 198
public interest in the confidentiality of such responses, record or file; 199
(25) The name, address, telephone number or electronic mail address 200
of any person enrolled in any senior center program or any member of 201
a senior center administered or sponsored by any public agency; 202
(26) All records obtained during the course of inspection, 203
investigation, examination and audit activities of an institution, as 204
defined in section 19a-490, that are confidential pursuant to a contract 205
between the Department of Public Health and the United States 206
Department of Health and Human Services relating to the Medicare and 207
Medicaid programs; 208
(27) Any record created by a law enforcement agency or other federal, 209
state, or municipal governmental agency consisting of a photograph, 210
film, video or digital or other visual image depicting the victim of a 211
homicide, to the extent that such record could reasonably be expected 212
to constitute an unwarranted invasion of the personal privacy of the 213
victim or the victim's surviving family members; 214
(28) Any [documentation provided to or obtained] records 215
maintained or kept on file by an executive branch agency or a public 216
institution of higher education, including documentation [provided] 217
prepared or obtained prior to May 25, 2016, relating to claims of or 218
testing for faulty or failing concrete foundations in residential buildings 219
[by the owners of such residential buildings,] and documents or 220
materials prepared by an executive branch agency or public institution 221
of higher education relating to such [documentation] records, for seven 222
years after the date of receipt of the [documentation] records or seven 223
years after May 25, 2016, whichever is later. 224
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This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2021 1-210(b)
Statement of Purpose:
To exempt records provided to and documents prepared by a public
institution of higher education concerning the concentration of
pyrrhotite in concrete foundations in residential buildings.
[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.]
Co-Sponsors: REP. FOSTER, 57th Dist.; SEN. OSTEN, 19th Dist.
SEN. ANWAR, 3rd Dist.; REP. HAINES, 34th Dist.
REP. SMITH, 48th Dist.
H.B. 6236