Ala. Judge Rules Crime Reports Are Public Documents, Usually

By: (AP) A judge has ruled the front page of crime or incident reports is generally a public document, but he also gave the sheriff discretion over releasing information that might harm an investigation.

Circuit Judge Scott Donaldson, acting in a case brought by The Tuscaloosa News, declined to order Tuscaloosa County Sheriff Ted Sexton to provide the front page of the reports "without exception or qualification."

But the judge held the report's front page is "generally a public record and should generally be subject to disclosure to the public" and the press. At the same time, the judge said the sheriff has discretion to decide if releasing the information will hamper an investigation.

Doug Ray, executive editor of the Tuscaloosa News, said the ruling Wednesday "recognizes that the documents we seek are supposed to be available to the public while acknowledging that, in some specific cases, there may be details which need to be protected."

Ray said he expects Sexton to "abide by the court's ruling and begin making the front side of the offense reports available to us as a matter of policy."

But county attorney Robert Spence viewed Donaldson's ruling as validating Sexton's practice of withholding all reports that pertain to any open investigation.

"My understanding of the ruling is, if it's related to an investigation, it's not public record," Spence said. "And I think the majority of them would not be public record."

Sexton had been providing copies of reports to crime victims, but the judge said such a practice, while admirable, is not supported by law.

"A public record cannot be disclosed without restriction to one segment of the public [absent legal authority] but withheld from the press, regardless of the commendable purpose," he wrote.

Spence said the only policy change Sexton must follow is no longer providing copies of reports to crime victims.

The newspaper's attorney, Gary Huckaby of Huntsville, took another view, saying Donaldson "has declared, as a matter of law, that the sheriff cannot withhold the front page of the uniform incident report as a matter of policy."

Huckaby said if Spence and Sexton "decline to follow our interpretation" of the judge's ruling, "we'd have to ask the judge to clarify it."

Gregory Enns, managing editor of the Tuscaloosa News and chairman of the Alabama Center for Open Government, said he sees the ruling as a double victory.

"The ruling declares that the front pages of offense reports generally are public records and should be disclosed to the public and press," Enns said. "By the sheriff honoring this ruling, we will be able to systematically and more comprehensively provide information about crimes in the county to our readers instead of having to rely only on information the sheriff chooses to release to us."

The newspaper sued Sexton in July for access to the front page of incident and offense reports, which are compiled by the deputies who respond to 911 dispatches or similar calls for assistance.

Sexton routinely denies the media open access to those reports, citing a need to protect the integrity of the investigation. Donaldson heard the case during a non-jury trial Dec. 8.