The Indiana Publisher

April 2022 Page 9 The following question was sub- mitted by The Corydon Democrat: We believe a judge may have been charged follow- ing a domestic dispute. She is on the ballot for re-election in the May 3 primary. The sheriff is refus- ing to release any information and while the county attorney acknowl- edges that certain information must be released, he says there's nothing in the statute relating to when it must be released. Can you clear up for me what the newspaper has right to obtain? Both the sheriff and the county attorney are incor- rect in their approach to the situation. I.C. 5-14-3-5(c) clearly sets out the information that must be released when police make an arrest or called for assistance. The Access to Public Records Act provision requires law enforce- ment to make the following infor- mation available for inspection and copying when an alleged crime has occurred: • Time, date, and location of the occurrence; • Name and age of the victim, unless it's a sex crime (note: In July the identity of child victims can also be withheld); • The factual circumstances sur- rounding the incident; and • A general description of any injuries, property, or weapons involved. The police also have to provide the time, substance, and location of all complaints or requests for assis- tance and the time and nature of the agency's response to that call. Refusing to provide any infor- mation is a clear violation of the law by the sheriff. Any attempt by the sheriff to claim the informa- tion is protected as investigative materials is sunk by the language in the investigatory records con- fidentiality provision of the APRA (found at I.C. 5-14-4(b)(1) that says "However, certain law enforcement records must be made available for inspection and copying as provided in Section 5 of this chapter." The attorney's contention that there isn't any deadline for the sheriff to make the information available is illogical when one takes into account two provisions of the statute. 5(c) requires the daily log or report be created no later than 24 hours after the call for assistance or incident occurs and I.C. 5-14-3- 3(b) states: "Within a reasonable time after the request is received by the agency, the public agency shall either (1) provide the requested copies to the person; or (2) allow the person to make copies. Since the document is clearly a disclosable record that needs no legal vetting, the reasonable intent of the legislature is that the daily log records should be available as soon as they are created providing the request was made during the normal business hours of the law enforcement agency. Aside from the law, that stance of the sheriff and county attorney only make the situation worse for both the judge, the sheriff, and county officials from a public rela- tions perspective. Refusing to release the informa- tion only serves to stretch out the story concerning the particulars of the judge's arrest. Turning a poten- tial one-day on the front page story into a multiple day story, which only brings more attention to the judge's legal issue prior to the May Primary Election. The sheriff, who takes an oath to uphold the law, violates that promise and raises the question as the motive behind his refusal. Is he trying to protect the judge and help her re-election bid? Is he afraid of reprisals by the judge against the department that would impact upcoming criminal cases connected to arrests by the sheriff's department? Is there something his department is trying to hide in con- nection to the arrest? And the county attorney's position opens up the implication that the county commissioners who employ the attorney are get- ting involved in what should be a straight-forward process. Is this an example of politicians working to protect their own by giving a pref- erential treatment to the judge? Send your questions to Steve Key, HSPA executive director and general counsel, slegal@hspa.com or call (317) 509-1507. Q HSPA Legal Hotline Sheriff must make information available on judge's incident A staple for years under his guid- ance. Plus, just before he was named editor, one of his news reporters earned national honors at one point for education stories. "We've obviously always have been pretty heavy on education coverage," Harmon said. "Without the newspaper, people without kids in the school corporation might not have been aware of a lot of the fantastic things that teachers, coaches, administrators and others were doing, and those kind of things could just slide by." In more recent challenges, today's Republic staff has covered more than two years of a world- wide pandemic that has affected Columbus' health, lifestyles, eco- nomic stability and nearly every aspect of community life. The staff has also had a ring- side seat to history as Columbus native Mike Pence was elected vice president of the United States and Columbus had a "center stage" participation in his inaugu- ration. The Republic received the General Excellence Award in the Hoosier State Press Association's 2021 Better Newspaper Contest, for overall excellence in all contest cat- egories for all Indiana newspapers of more than 6,000 circulation. Recording history Bartholomew County Historian Tamara Iorio understands the impact of The Republic from a long-term view as a researcher, often seeking snapshots of daily life via a daily newspaper. "Although there are other sources to learn about local history, a daily newspaper gives details about people, places, and events not avail- able anywhere else and so is invalu- able," Iorio said. "Additionally, newspapers cover day-to-day items that may not seem significant at the time but may end up being notable much later. "Older newspapers give us a window into life in the late 19th and early 20th century with descriptions of visitors coming to town, residents taking trips out of town, prominent citizens falling ill, churches holding picnics, and more." Jason Hatton, director of the Bartholomew County Public Library and a board member of the Bartholomew County Historical Society, understands the general power and importance of the printed word perhaps as well as anyone locally. And he has been a staunch defender of free speech via libraries and media. "I am a huge fan and supporter (of The Republic)," Hatton said. "It is absolutely critical that our com- munity has a local newspaper that reports on what is happening." Jeff Brown realizes that his fam- ily, and especially his father, always will be in some semblance of the historical spotlight for his near-half- century of service to the community. "(But) I would be remiss if I didn't say that no one person, my dad included, was responsible for the success of the business," Brown said. "It started with two entrepre- neurs in 1872, it went bankrupt, it was repurchased by the next genera- tion with the help of Joseph Irwin and went on to win the early com- munity newspaper wars at the turn of the century. "Each successive generation brought the right leadership to the table matching the challenges of the times." Republic Continued from Page 6

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