Chapter 610, Missouri Revised Statutes, is called the “Sunshine Law.” It governs what materials governmental agencies must disclose to the public upon request. The law is designed to foster a healthy democracy by increasing transparency in government, limiting corruption, creating a better-informed public, and improving public trust.
The Sunshine Law applies to “public governmental bodies.” This term includes all law enforcement agencies in the state, from the Highway Patrol to the county sheriff’s office to the smallest local police department. Any record (whether written or electronic) that is “retained” by a public governmental body is a “public record.” The default rule is that all public records of public governmental bodies are open to the public for inspection and copying, unless some exception applies. Law enforcement agencies can be subject to fines, attorneys’ fees, and even criminal charges for failing to disclose records they are required to disclose or for disclosing records they are prohibited from disclosing.
Under the Sunshine Law, incident reports and arrest reports are open records. Investigative reports are closed until the investigation becomes inactive. If disclosing information in an open record, other than an arrest report, poses a clear and present danger to the safety of any person (including victims, witnesses, and undercover officers), or it would jeopardize a criminal investigation, or it would expose law enforcement techniques, those parts of the record must be closed and redacted from the rest of the record before providing the record. A victim’s right to privacy might also require information in arrest reports to be closed. Special laws govern expungements of criminal records, including criminal penalties for failing to comply with expungement orders or wrongfully disclosing expunged information.
Some best practices for complying with the Sunshine Law include:
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- Refer all incoming Sunshine Law requests to the agency’s custodian of records.
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- Upon receiving a request, preserve the record even if it would normally be destroyed.
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- Protect the safety of victims, witnesses, law enforcement officers, and others when evaluating records to determine what must be redacted or kept closed and what must be disclosed. Have policies in place that protect the legitimate privacy rights of employees and others.
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- When in doubt, use the “safe harbor” options of asking for a formal opinion of the agency’s attorney (such as the county attorney) or the Missouri Attorney General.
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