Hoosier State Press Association - The Indiana Publisher
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/141814
Page 4 July 4, 2013 Tell public about rights to hearings P ublic apathy, ignorance, or lack of time – you pick – are now impacting the Indiana legislature's approach to accountability. Since its creation, the state Department of Local Government Finance has held public hearings in the county of government units whose budget it was reviewing prior to the department making any adjustments or approving the budget. Notice of the hearings was published in two newspapers located in the county in question. Legislation that went into effect July 1 may eliminate this practice unless interested citizens decide to speak up. H.E.A. 1116 eliminates the public hearing unless someone in the community asks that a hearing be held. The Department of Local Government Finance requested the language, and the bill was authored by state Rep. Dan Leonard, R-Huntington, and sponsored by state Sen. Randy Head, R-Logansport. I'm sure Department of Local Government Finance officials aren't opposed to public input. They looked at the situation as one of wasted time and resources because few citizens attend the meetings. Why should they spend taxpayer dollars traveling throughout the state to hold public hearings that it appeared the public didn't care about? HSPA questioned the wisdom of this policy change when H.E.A. 1116 received its hearings in the House Government and Regulatory Affairs Committee and Senate Appropriations Committee. Particularly, how many Key Points By Steve Key citizens will know they can request a hearing? How many who might know will shy away from requesting hearings because they don't want to draw attention to the fact that they were the ones who forced local government bodies to endure hearings? These points did not resonate with any of the legislators in either committee. One publisher pointed out that the newspaper could ask for the public hearings. That's true, but the perception could be that the request was made to preserve the public notice advertising revenue from the Department of Local Government Finance rather than give citizens a last opportunity to speak out on local budgets. What newspapers need to do is educate readers on the budget process: • What relevant information can a citizen request to understand how tax dollars are spent? • Are your reporters writing stories that spell out the choices a government unit is weighing with dollars limited by property tax reforms? • When should readers look for the budget notice in newspapers that announces the hearing where they can testify about the budget? • And if they still have concerns, how do they request a hearing with the Department of Local Government Finance? HSPA Hotline The following questions came from Daily Reporter (Greenfield), Spencer Evening World, and Elwood Call-Leader: Q A judge is starting hearings early, leading to our staff missing key testimony we need in order to cover things fairly. Most recently, the judge started an 11 a.m. hearing at 10:35 a.m., which shocked the local police chief (who had to hurry over from the police department) and other officials involved, including the defendant's lawyer, who showed up "late." Our reporter arrived at 10:50 a.m. expecting to be 10 minutes early but in reality was 15 minutes late. We are concerned this practice thwarts the public's ability to attend an open hearing. Your thoughts? Meanwhile, we asked the judge (via email) what the procedure is for getting a copy of the audio recording of the hearing, since we missed a significant portion. Because he has failed to respond, we would now like to send a formal letter, citing the Indiana Code that allows us access to the recording. Can you help us narrow down the code we should cite? A The Open Door Law doesn't apply to the judicial branch, so we have to look at other arguments for the judge to start proceedings at the scheduled time. You might gently remind the judge that IC 5-14-2-2 says, "Criminal proceedings are presumptively open to attendance by the general public." Starting 25 minutes earlier than scheduled would run counter to that legislative mandate. As to the recording, you can reference the Indiana Supreme Court's Administrative Rule 9, which is the judiciary's equivalent to the Access to Public Records Act: 9(D)(1) says court records are accessible by the public unless specifically made confidential by another section of the rule. (D)(2) says the rule applies to all court records, regardless of form. So the recording should be made available for anyone to hear. The judge won't give you a copy because the Supreme Court prohibits broadcast of trial court proceedings. That also will mean that the judge may set restrictions to make sure you don't electronically copy the audio. Timing of when you can hear the recording could be impacted by the trial court's equipment. If the only device that can play the audio is located in the courtroom, for example, you'll have to work around the court's scheduled hearings. Q Follow-up question: I have since learned that the court does not allow members of the public to listen to recordings. Instead, people are required to pay to have a transcription. There's a per-page charge, and I'm told an hour's testimony is about $350. Is this proper? A The judge's policy doesn't comport with the intent of the Supreme Court. If you want to pursue it I suggest you contact Kathryn Dolan, the Indiana Supreme Court's public information officer, at (317) 234-4722 or kathryn.dolan@ courts.in.gov. Hopefully, the justices will quietly tell the judge he needs to change his system so that people can listen to the tapes. Q A Are veterans' organizations and others, such as senior citizens and community centers, required to include their license numbers when publishing ads concerning bingo? Yes. 45 IAC 18-3-2(g) says a qualified organization may advertise an allowable event such as bingo. The advertisement in printed media, such as a newspaper, must contain in bold print the name and license number of the organization conducting the event. Q The Elwood mayor has been withholding police reports on non-arrest situations, such as the report of thefts, etc. Readers have contacted us expressing their frustration when the theft of their lawn mower hasn't appeared in our daily crime report. One theft victim asked the police why her report wasn't in the newspaper; she was told the mayor has decided to keep certain reports out of the paper so that it doesn't make our city "look bad." What's your advice on how we should proceed? A The mayor's decision to withhold daily log or report information required to be made available by the police is a violation of the Access to Public Records Act. IC 5-14-3-5(c) sets out what a law enforcement agency must make available to the public for inspection or copying within 24 hours of a request for assistance. The mayor has no authority to withhold items from the daily log. One of the policy reasons for this government transparency is forewarning others of crimes occurring so that they can act to protect themselves. I suggest the newspaper ask for a meeting with the mayor and police chief. The newspaper can remind the two of the state's requirement and your concern that items have not been included in the daily report. Hopefully, they'll commit to following the law. Q Follow-up question: I have since spoken with a veteran city police officer, who said that since Elwood's police dispatch was moved to Anderson, the calls/reports are county matters. She said that is why we only get arrests and not complaints or reports. Is that allowed? No. The county's dispatch log isn't the daily log or report mandated by the Access to Public Records Act. It might contain some of the information required by the statute but probably not everything. Each law enforcement agency is responsible for the daily log under IC 5-14-3-5(c). Since most police departments (like everyone else) detest extra paperwork, they usually take a copy of the incident report, redact information they may need to keep confidential (name of suspect, Social Security numbers, etc.) and make the blacked out copy available for inspection and/or copying. The incident report generally includes the description of what happened required by the Access to Public Records Act. Note: An incident report is an investigatory record, so the police don't have to release it. However, they have the discretion to release it. They often do this so that someone on their staff doesn't have to recreate information required under the Access to Public Records Act. To recap, each law enforcement agency in a county, regardless of whether they are all dispatched through the sheriff's department, is responsible for maintaining a daily log or report under the Access to Public Records Act. If your local department has confused the "daily log or report" with the dispatch log, then I could see where they might think they're off the hook for the creation of the record, but that is incorrect. A Contact Steve Key, HSPA executive director and general counsel, with media law questions at skey@hspa.com or (317) 624-4427. There's little incentive for government officials to encourage public participation in the process. Many may feel like a Lake County school superintendent who told Bill Masterson, then-publisher of The Times (Munster): "I don't want my notices in your newspaper because then more people will come to meetings and give us crap about what we're doing." That leaves it to newspapers to get readers motivated regarding the government process, whether it's a budget or proposed ordinance. When a community isn't engaged in its future, it only opens the door for bad decisions. Steve Key is executive director and general counsel for the Hoosier State Press Association. Materials for HSPA members Howling for Home HSPA Foundation offers a serial story – "Howling for Home" by Joan Carris – for newspapers to print free. This 10-chapter story about adopting a dog and all that it means to the dog and family can be reviewed (sample chapter, author study and curricula) at http://ncpress foundation.org/serial-stories. In addition to the story, you receive a word count, sidebar, news connection, teaching guide, creative opportunities for students, multiple-choice questions with answers and more. Indiana newspapers may run the story by signing a contract with the HSPA Foundation. For more information, email Shawn Goldsby at sgoldsby@hspa.com. This story is available to use through August 2014. The Indiana State Reading Association and the Indiana Newspaper in Education Foundation provided funding. More serial stories You will find four stories (one with two parts) by Artie Knapp on the serial story page of the developing North Carolina Press Foundation website. Knapp's stories may be used during the summer and other times. No restrictions apply. Visit http://ncpress foundation.org/serial-stories for more information. Lesson plans The Foundation offers weekly lesson plans (biweekly in the summer) for teachers who use the newspaper in the classroom. Teachers can access the materials at www.HSPAfoundation. org. When schools sign up to receive your newspapers in classrooms, please give them the link www. HSPAfoundation.org/ newspaper-education to access the free materials.