Attorney General's Opinion 1987-88 #037
ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNMENT GENERALLY: VIRGINIA FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT: COUNTIES, CITIES AND TOWNS: POLICE AND PUBLIC ORDER.
Grant of access to Jail Log and Dispatch Log maintained by sheriff's department. Exceptions to mandatory disclosure requirement.
May 19, 1988
The Honorable Warren G. Lineberry
Commonwealth's Attorney for Floyd County
87-88 37
You ask whether the sheriff of Floyd County is required to permit access to certain records under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, §§2.1-340 through 2.1-346.1 of the Code of Virginia (the "Act").
I. Facts
The sheriff maintains two continuous logs in his office, one referred to as a "Dispatch Log" and one referred to as a "Jail Log." The Dispatch Log contains information concerning calls to various government agencies for assistance, services, or complaints, including fire and rescue calls, assistance requests for disabled vehicles, traffic complaints, automobile accident calls, and civil and criminal complaints. Calls recorded in the Dispatch Log may contain the names of the persons calling, the specific requests, specific actions and abuses, and may include the names of suspects and alleged perpetrators. The Dispatch Log also records the specific actions taken by the dispatcher and the advice or information given in response to the call.
The Jail Log contains general administrative information concerning inmates, including the transportation of inmates, visits and communications, inmate requests, medical care, attorney visits, complaints, observations of inmate conduct, and disciplinary matters. The Jail Log is used as a routine daily log relating to matters involving inmates' confinement. The information is recorded so that the correctional officer next on duty will have access to it and the chief correctional officer will receive an overall view of jail activities.
II. Applicable Statutes
Section 2.1-342(a) provides that, except as specifically provided by law, "all official records shall be open to inspection and copying by any citizens of this Commonwealth during the regular office hours of the custodian of such records." The term "official records" is defined in §2.1-341(b).
Certain statutory exceptions to the mandatory disclosure requirement of §2.1-342(a) are enumerated in §2.1-342(b)(1):
Memoranda, correspondence, evidence and complaints related to criminal investigations, reports submitted to the state and local police and the campus police departments of public institutions of higher education as established by Chapter 17 (§ 23-232 et seq.) of Title 23 in confidence, and all records of persons imprisoned in penal institutions in this Commonwealth provided such records relate to the said imprisonment. Information in the custody of law-enforcement officials relative to the identity of any individual other than a juvenile who is arrested and charged, and the status of the charge or arrest, shall not be excluded from the provisions of [the Act]. [Emphasis added.]
Section 15.1-135.1 requires that sheriffs maintain specified records necessary for the efficient operation of a law- enforcement agency. Records related to investigations, reportable incidents and noncriminal incidents are among those records required to be maintained. The terms "arrest records," "investigative records," "reportable incidents records," and "noncriminal incidents records" are defined in §15.1-135.1(B). Section 15.1-135.1(A) provides, in part, as follows:
Except for information in the custody of law-enforcement officials relative to the identity of any individual other than a juvenile who is arrested and charged, and the status of the charge of arrest, the records required to be maintained by this section shall be exempt from the provisions of [the Act].
III. Prior Opinions Conclude that "Jail Register" Must Be Disclosed
Prior Opinions of this Office have reviewed the application of the Act to records maintained by sheriffs' departments. Records maintained by a sheriff's department, as a general rule, are "official records" and must be made available under the Act. See 1976-1977 Att'y Gen. Ann. Rep. 250. A prior Opinion of this Office concludes that a jail register or list of those persons incarcerated is subject to disclosure under §§2.1-342(a) and 2.1-342(b)(1). See Att'y Gen. Ann. Rep.: 1983-1984 at 446; 1974-1975 at 583.
The Dispatch Log and the Jail Log about which you inquire, however, contain information other than a mere list of persons incarcerated in the jail.
IV. Some Matters Recorded in Dispatch Log Excepted from Mandatory Disclosure Under §§2.1-342(b)(1) and 15.1-135.1
The information contained in the Dispatch Log appears to be the record of all calls which may require a response by the sheriff's department. Some of the calls recorded will result in criminal charges and will entail criminal investigations. The record of such calls, in my opinion, is related to criminal investigations within the meaning of §2.1-342(b)(1) and is an "investigative record," "noncriminal incidents record," and "reportable incidents record" within the meaning of §15.1-135.1(A) and as defined in §15.1-135.1(B). It is my opinion, therefore, that the Dispatch Log should be reviewed, and notations with respect to calls within the meaning of the exceptions provided in §§2.1-342(b)(1) and 15.1-135.1(A) may be deleted prior to the grant of access to other portions of the Dispatch Log pursuant to §2.1-342(a).
V. Some Matters in Jail Log Excepted from Mandatory Disclosure Under §§2.1-342(b)(1) and 15.1-135.1
The matters recorded in the Jail Log relate to the administrative record of inmate activities. Sections 2.1-342(a), 2.1-342(b)(1), and 15.1-135.1 require the disclosure of information related to the identity of an individual, other than a juvenile, or charged and the status of the arrest or charge. Under §§ 2.1-342(b)(1) and 15.1-135.1, however, other records of inmates are excepted from the mandatory disclosure requirement of § 2.1-342(a). It is my opinion, therefore, that matters recorded in the Jail Log must be disclosed to the extent that such matters relate to the identity of an individual arrested or charged and the status of the arrest or charge. It is further my opinion, however, that other matters recorded in the Jail Log concerning inmate activities or observations concerning inmates may be deleted from the Jail Log, pursuant to the exceptions in §§ 2.1-342(b)(1) and 15.1-135.1, prior to disclosure.
