Present law requires all state, county and municipal records to, at all times during business hours, which for public hospitals must be during the business hours of their administrative offices, be open for personal inspection by any citizen of this state, and those in charge of the records must not refuse such right of inspection to any citizen, unless otherwise provided by state law. Present law requires the custodian of a public record or the custodian's designee to promptly make available for inspection any public record not specifically exempt from disclosure. If it is not practicable for the record to be promptly available for inspection, the custodian must, within 7 business days, (i) make the public record requested available to the requestor, (ii) deny the request in writing or by completing a records request response form developed by the office of open records counsel, or (iii) furnish the requester in writing, or by completing a records request response form developed by the office of open records counsel, the time reasonably necessary to produce the record or information. This bill provides that, notwithstanding the restriction in the present law described above limiting access to public records to citizens of this state, an individual who is not a citizen of this state is entitled to inspect or receive a copy of any law enforcement record or report pertaining solely to that individual, including an arrest report, incident report, crash report, or citation, if the individual submits all of the following:  A written request identifying the specific record sought. A copy of a valid government-issued photo identification. A signed affidavit affirming that the record requested pertains solely to the individual requester. However, this bill clarifies that its provisions do not authorize the release of a record that is otherwise confidential by law.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 10-7-503