Hoosier State Press Association - The Indiana Publisher
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/626803
The current language gives police chiefs and sheriffs carte blanche to decline all requests from the public or press solely on the basis that they don't want to make videos available. If that's the case, a citizen or reporter's only recourse is to file a lawsuit. There is no inter- mediary, like the state public access counselor, who can be asked to intervene. And unlike the general principles of the Access to Public Records Act, where a govern- ment agency has the burden to convince the court a record can be kept confidential, the public has the burden to convince a judge that the wishes of police should be overruled. Under the bill, the public, without seeing the video in question, must prove that: • Public interest will be served by the vid- eo's release. • Release doesn't create a significant risk of substantial harm to any person or the public at large. • Release will not create a prejudicial effect on ongoing civil or criminal proceedings. H.B. 1019 also deviates from the Access to Public Records Act in that if the reporter or citizen prevails in court, this bill as currently written prohibits a judge from awarding rea- sonable attorney fees or court costs. Under the Access to Public Records Act, the legislature requires such reimbursement as long as the plaintiff first tried to resolve the issue with the public access counselor. Indianapolis attorney Dan Byron, represent- ing the Indiana Broadcasters Association and Indiana Coalition for Open Government, also raised concerns for the bill's framework. Evansville Courier & Press reporter Jay Young also spoke in favor of greater transpar- ency in the bill. The bill now goes to the House floor, where any state representative can offer amendments. After this second reading, the House will vote on H.B. 1019 as it stands at that point. "It's disappointing that greater concern was raised by some committee members over how video requests might put officers in a bad light than the public's ability to bring poor behavior by police officers to light," Key said. Key asked the committee to consider a structure that would give video of certain interactions between police and the public a presumption of disclosure, which mirrors the Access to Public Records Act. Under the HSPA proposal, law enforce- ment would then have a burden to object to a request to inspect or copy the video. HSPA suggested that a panel – perhaps with the public access counselor, a law enforcement member and citizen representa- tive – hear the objection and offer a ruling. This would be similar to the Access to Public Records Act's use of the access counselor to resolve most disputes without the need for litigation. If either side felt strongly that the panel rul- ing was wrong, then a lawsuit could be filed. HSPA feels that a citizen victory should also come with a reimbursement of reason- able attorney fees and court costs as called for under the Access to Public Records Act. Only Rep. Sue Errington, R-Muncie, voiced support for a citizen being reimbursed for court costs and attorney fees. H.B. 1022 In other Government and Regulatory Committee actions, lawmakers also passed without changes H.B. 1022, concerning the public's access to information on private uni- versity police departments. HSPA testified that while the bill is an improvement to current law, private universi- ties would not report the same information from criminal investigations under H.B. 1022 that a city police department would under the Access to Public Records Act. Rep. Pat Bauer, D-South Bend, is the bill's author. The language was recommended by the Independent Colleges of Indiana, he said. Ben Hunter, chief of staff to the president at Butler University, told the committee that private universities have to report more under the federal Clery Act. HSPA's Key shared police reporting require- ments under the Access to Public Records Act at IC 5-14-3-5 with the committee. The statute requires release of the name and age of the victim (unless a sex crime), the factual circumstances surrounding the inci- dent and a general description of any injuries, property involved or weapons used. A look at the Clery Act [20 U.S.C. 1092(f)] shows that the only university requirements are a log showing the nature of the crime and disposition of the complaint. Key said that's more a dispatch log entry than a daily report. The committee passed the bill out of com- mittee 13-0. January 14, 2016 Page 7 Cameras Continued from Page 1 News in brief Send promotions, announcements, staff changes and other corporate news to mtuley@hspa.com. CNHI opens Washington office Circ manager oversees 6 papers Fort Wayne journalist retires Comptroller with paper 53 years Community Newspaper Holdings Inc. opened a Washing- ton, D.C., bureau to serve its markets in Indiana and 22 other states. Kery Murakami, a veteran investigative and politics reporter, was appointed the bureau chief. Bill Ketter, CNHI's senior vice president of news, said Murakami will provide localized coverage and analysis of federal government issues affect- ing communities where the company owns and operates news outlets. CNHI's nine Indiana properties include The Herald Bulletin (Ander- son), the Goshen News and the Tribune-Star (Terre Haute). Murakami has more than 25 years of experi- ence covering local, state and national politics and issues. Most recently, he cov- ered the banking industry for Bloomberg BNA in Washington. Scott Kinter was named regional circulation direc- tor for Lee Enter- prises, a manageri- al position in which he'll over- see the circulation of six dif- ferent Lee newspapers. Based out of Munster, he will manage circula- tion for The Times of Northwest Indiana, as well as newspapers in Waterloo and Mason City in Iowa, in Carlisle in Pennsylvania, and in Glens Falls and Auburn in New York State. The Lee Enterprises veteran had been direc- tor of operations at the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier for eight years. Prior to that, he had worked in the San Francisco region for the San Francisco Bay Area news group, as well as the Contra Costa Times, and also for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Kinter said he aspired to fix delivery problems that cropped up after The Times took over northwest Indiana delivery for local publications such as the Post-Tribune and national ones such as USA Today. Veteran News-Sentinel writer Kevin Leininger retired from the Fort Wayne newspaper after 36 years. He broke stories on political corruption and government malfeasance, covered a devastating flood as part of a Pulitzer Prize- winning team and inter- viewed celebrities, accord- ing to the newspaper. Leininger, a lifelong Luth- eran, accepted a pos ition as vice president for communi- cations at Con cordia Theological Seminary. The 60-year-old gradu- ated from Ball State Uni- ver sity in 1977 with a journalism degree. He started as an intern at the News-Sentinel in 1976. When he graduated there weren't any open- ings in Fort Wayne, so he took a job at the Val- paraiso Vidette-Mes senger until returning to the News-Sentinel in 1979. Leininger spent sev- eral years on the News- Sentinel's editorial board before going back to writ- ing a column and reporting. – Fort Wayne News-Sentinel After 53 years with the Times-Union (Warsaw), Dennis Plummer is retiring as comp- troller. Plum- mer start- ed at the newspaper Sept. 1, 1962. He graduated from Atwood High School in 1959 and then went on to International Business College in Fort Wayne, earning his associate's degree in accounting. In 1963 through 1969, he was a member of the Indiana Army National Guard out of Warsaw. Plummer and his wife, Sherrill, were married on March 17, 1963, and she died in 2008. They have two daughters, MaryBeth Garcia and Nancy Joan Boucher, and three grand- children. In retirement Plummer plans to go see the Chicago Cubs play in the World Series. postal permit. Both the Indiana Senate and House passed S.B. 369, but Gov. Mike Pence vetoed it due to an unrelated part of the bill. HSPA asked Torr to accept the language that was passed by the legislature last year, but he declined. His view is that since paid- circulation newspapers can be eligible for pub- lic notice advertising throughout the county, beyond the city or town where their office is located, free-circulation newspapers should have the same ability. He doesn't agree with the General Assembly's longstanding stance that paid- circulation newspapers should have preference across the county for publication of public notices. With paid newspapers, citizens are more likely to see notices for two reasons: • They have subscribed to the newspaper. • Notices will be delivered in a timely man- ner by the postal service. Paid newspapers must have a periodicals permit, which is treated like first-class mail. Free-circulation products are treated like junk mail and delivered as the post office sees fit. H.B. 1017 has been assigned to the House Government and Regulatory Reform Committee, chaired by Rep. Kevin Mahan, R-Hartford City. HSPA has voiced its concern with Torr's lan- guage to Mahan. Mahan gave Torr's bill a hearing last ses- sion. HSPA doesn't yet know if the bill will get a hearing this year. HSPA also alerted Buck to the concern with H.B. 1017. Notices Continued from Page 1 Is your newspaper uploading ALL pages to HSPA via our ftp site? ☑ ☑ YES we are Um, not exactly ... Thank you! You can remove HSPA from your print subscription list. Please upload pages to help protect public notices. Call HSPA at (317) 803-4772 for details. Kery Murakami Scott Kinter Dennis Plummer