Sunshine Law - Missouri Attorney General

LAW ENFORCEMENT RECORDSSTATE EX REL. PULITZER MISSOURI NEWSPAPERS, INC. v. SEAY,330 S.W.3d 823 (Mo. App. S.D. 2011)City’s former police chief was given a suspended imposition of sentence andplaced on probation. The court ordered the file to be a closed and confidential file.Thereafter, the judge denied a newspaper publisher’s request to review file. Thecourt of appeals found the publisher was entitled to review the file because theformer chief ’s case was not finally terminated as of the date of the request. Section610.105, RSMo, provides records of a suspended imposition of sentence are closedrecords when the case is finally terminated. On the date the publisher inquiredabout the file, the case had not been finally terminated because the former chief,who had received a suspended sentence, had not yet completed his probation.GUYER v. CITY OF KIRKWOOD, 38 S.W.3d 412 (Mo. 2001)A complaint alleging criminal misconduct by a police officer is an “incident report,”and a report concerning investigation into the complaint is an “investigative report”under § 610.100, RSMo. Those records can be closed only on grounds specified in§ 610.100, RSMo, for closing law enforcement records. They cannot be closed under§ 610.021(3) or (13), RSMo, on grounds that they are personnel records or relatedto disciplining or firing of an employee.STATE EX. REL. GOODMAN v. ST. LOUIS BOARD OF POLICECOMMISSIONERS, 181 S.W.3d 156 (Mo. App. E.D. 2005)An “incident report” as defined in § 610.100, RSMo, only includes those elementsdescribed in its definition. Other information, such as phone numbers andaddresses, is not subject to disclosure.SCROGGINS v. MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES,227 S.W.3d 498 (Mo. App. W.D. 2007)The director of the Children’s Division has discretion to release records and reportsthat it generates, but investigative reports of law enforcement agencies provided tothe Children’s Division are closed records under § 610.100.2, RSMo, until the lawenforcement investigation becomes inactive.NEWS-PRESS AND GAZETTE CO. v. CATHCART,974 S.W.2d 576 (Mo. App. W.D. 1998)A coroner is a public governmental body under § 610.010, RSMo. But an autopsyreport used in an active investigation is an “investigative report” and is closedunder § 610.100, RSMo.MISSOURI SUNSHINE LAW 2014 45