The Indiana Publisher

March 8, 2017 Page 3 See Fold, Page 4 The following questions were sub- mitted by the Tribune-Star (Terre Haute), The Loogootee Tribune, Greensburg Daily News, and The Times (Munster): The newspaper is trying to get information about the performance of the Department of Child Services in relation to the death of a 9-year-old who was allegedly starved to death by his caregivers. Criminal charges have been filed. The judge in the criminal cases says the records are part of the investigation and will not release them. What can we do? The newspaper needs to go to the juvenile court with the request. You can supply the judge with the indictment(s), which should give him/her the infor- mation to find that the death was due to neglect, abuse or abandonment. That triggers a request to DCS for the records to be sent to the juvenile court, where the newspaper can then get copies after paying appropriate copying fees to both DCS and the juvenile court. The relevant statute is I.C. 31-33- 18-1.5. Note that the DCS has 30 days to forward the records to the juve- nile court, so don't expect to get the requested records quickly since the juvenile judge is required to review and redact certain information before releasing it. We have started receiving the local township financial reports and were told that we are to 'scan' the public notices as is. We had asked for the public notices to be emailed to us. Is it correct that we are to just scan each report and publish as is when they begin coming in? Scanning in the submit- ted financial reports is OK. You'll have to make sure the smallest type in the scanned document prints at a minimum size of seven points. You'll then need to convert the ad to the correct equivalent lines based either as a one-column or wider col- umn width and a particular point size so you can properly fill out the pub- lisher's claim form and bill the correct amount. If the scanned legal contains a lot of lines where the amount in the report is $0, the townships may be costing themselves additional money because they are adding lines that don't have to be published, but that's their choice. From your standpoint, it's a lot eas- ier to scan and size a pdf to fit your page than having to sit down and type in the information to create the ad. New Attorney General Curtis Hill announced a press conference to urge the confirmation of President Donald Trump's nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court. Does this violate Indiana and/or federal law to use elected office staff/platform/tax- payer funding to campaign for a can- didate for the Supreme Court? Paid ads are currently running in Indiana for President Trump's Supreme Court nominee by Judicial Crisis Network. The AG's action would seem to fall under this category. U.S. Supreme Court jus- tices are not elected posi- tions. They don't fall under election law restrictions on advertising or use of staff resources if a decision is made to support the court nominee. You can double check with the Election Division of the Secretary of State's office, but I don't believe Hill's actions would be deemed problematic or illegal. If a youth is facing a felo- ny charge in juvenile court, is the hearing open to the public? We have a teen who was charged with aggra- vated battery and battery after a fight during a high school basketball game. Keep in mind that in juve- nile court, the youth isn't charged with a felony or mis- demeanor, he/she is charged with being a juvenile delinquent for an act that would be a felony or mis- demeanor if committed by an adult or a status offense that's only wrong because of the youth's age (underage drinking, for example). I.C. 31-32-6-3 states that "a delin- quency proceeding is open to the public whenever a petition alleging that the child has committed an act that would be murder or a felony if committed by an adult…" There are a couple of exceptions listed in IC 31-32-6-4 where the judge may close a portion of the case, but in general the judge does not have discretion to close the proceeding under this statute. In your situation, the question is whether aggravated battery or battery are felony charges if committed by an adult. I believe they are, but your prosecutor's office could answer that question for you. A Q Q HSPA Legal Hotline to be an idea generating session that might help you create that next big rev- enue generator for your market. Since we've had budget cuts over the past few years, these sessions are offered free of charge. The only invest- ment is one hour to listen to ideas shared from across the state of Indiana. We've held two sessions thus far, and the feedback and results have been pos- itive. Personally, I've found two great ideas that are now a part of our plans for 2017. Thanks to ideas shared by col- leagues from The Times of Northwest Indiana (Munster) and The News and Tribune (Jeffersonville), we have brand new ideas for our market. An idea exchange won't work unless you are also willing to share a success. Our hope is that you will join us for the next idea exchange session, and will also have an idea to share with the group. The state of Indiana has been blessed with great newspapers and great ideas that originate from those publications. The advertising idea exchange calls are a chance to help our industry and brag about the great things being accom- plished in individual markets. Here is a quick overview of how the calls work. Newspaper professionals on the call will share their ideas, and field any questions from those on the call interested in the idea. If you have any sales material, PDFs of the products, etc., email those to HSPA, and they share them with everyone on the call. In a matter of minutes, you have new ideas, sales fliers and other materials available to help you use the program locally. The next idea exchange is planned for Thursday, May 18 th , at 10 am EDT / 9 am CDT. The call is scheduled for no more than an hour. Pete Van Baalen, general manager for Fort Wayne Newspapers, is a member of the HSPA board of directors and presi- dent of Indiana Newspaper Advertising Executives Association. Q A Ideas Continued from Page 1 Q A A to craft the language to make the search fee least burdensome for citi- zens. The federal Freedom of Information Act and 27 other states have search fees in their public records laws. H.B. 1523's sponsors are Sens. Bray and Tim Lanane, D-Anderson. The bill has been assigned to the Senate Local Government Committee, chaired by Sen. Jim Buck, R-Kokomo. HSPA and the Indiana Broadcasters Association (IBA), have been working with Sen. Eric Koch, R-Bedford, on his bill concerning limitations on the use of drones. The original version of S.B. 299 raised First Amendment concerns with a criminal penalty for the publication or posting of certain photos taken from a drone. Sen. Koch amended the bill follow- ing discussions with the media orga- nizations. HSPA and IBA hope that Koch may favor additional language to protect news coverage. S.B. 299 was passed by the Senate, 50-0. The House sponsor is Rep. Tom Washburne, R-Inglefield. Rep. Greg Steuerwald, R-Danville, met with HSPA this week to dis- cuss HSPA's suggestions for greater transparency in the proposed Marion County judicial selection process out- lined in H.B. 1036. HSPA has suggested the pro- posed committee should mirror the process used by the state's Judicial Nominating Commission. H.B. 1036 passed the House, 61-30. The sponsors are Sens. Jim Merritt, R-Indianapolis, Sen. Bray, and Sen. Mike Young, R-Indianapolis. Legislative Continued from Page 1 Email: info@newspaperconsultants.com | Phone: 910-323-0349 | www.newspaperconsultants.com TV Magazine Ad Sales For 20 years, ANC has worked with newspapers to generate millions in ad revenue. We offer a comprehensive TV magazine ad sales program that will turn your TV magazine into a true revenue center in 10 days or less. No one knows the TV Magazine marketplace like ANC. We are experts at iden fying the right adver sing prospects who target the reader demographic of this weekly insert with its long shelf-life. We will meet with you to create a program that encourages par cipa on of your sales staff and sets the stage for success. This sales event will lead to contracted, annual adver sing revenue! We are the industry's leading TV magazine ad sales consul ng company, genera ng millions in annual ad revenue for newspapers. 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