2018 Connecticut General Statutes
Title 1 - Provisions of General Application
Chapter 14 - Freedom of Information Act
Section 1-215 - (Formerly Sec. 1-20b). Record of an arrest as public record. Prohibition on redaction. Exemptions. Disclosure of other law enforcement records. Notice to state's attorney. Applicability of section.

(a) For the purposes of this section, “record of the arrest” means (1) the name, race and address of the person arrested, the date, time and place of the arrest and the offense for which the person was arrested, and (2) in addition, in a case in which (A) the arrest has been by warrant, the arrest warrant application, including any affidavit in support of such warrant, or (B) the arrest has been made without a warrant, the official arrest, incident or similar report, provided if a judicial authority has ordered any such affidavit or report sealed from public inspection or disclosure, in whole or in part, the portion of the affidavit or report that has not been sealed, if applicable, as well as a report setting forth a summary of the circumstances that led to the arrest of the person in a manner that does not violate such order. “Record of the arrest” does not include any record of arrest of a juvenile, a record erased pursuant to chapter 961a or any investigative file of a law enforcement agency compiled in connection with the investigation of a crime resulting in an arrest.

(b) Notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes, and except as otherwise provided in this section, any record of the arrest of any person shall be a public record from the time of such arrest and shall be disclosed in accordance with the provisions of section 1-212 and subsection (a) of section 1-210. No law enforcement agency shall redact any record of the arrest of any person, except for (1) the identity of witnesses, (2) specific information about the commission of a crime, the disclosure of which the law enforcement agency reasonably believes may prejudice a pending prosecution or a prospective law enforcement action, or (3) any information that a judicial authority has ordered to be sealed from public inspection or disclosure. Any personal possessions or effects found on a person at the time of such person's arrest shall not be disclosed unless such possessions or effects are relevant to the crime for which such person was arrested.

(c) In addition, any other public record of a law enforcement agency that documents or depicts the arrest or custody of a person during the period in which the prosecution of such person is pending shall be disclosed in accordance with the provisions of subsection (a) of section 1-210 and section 1-212, unless such record is subject to any applicable exemption from disclosure contained in any provision of the general statutes.

(d) Any law enforcement agency receiving a request for a record described in subsection (c) of this section shall promptly provide written notice of such request to the office of the state's attorney for the appropriate judicial district where the arrest occurred. The state's attorney for such district shall be afforded the opportunity to intervene in any proceeding before the Freedom of Information Commission concerning such request.

(e) The provisions of this section shall only be applicable to any record described in this section during the period in which a prosecution is pending against the person who is the subject of such record. At all other times, the applicable provisions of the Freedom of Information Act concerning the disclosure of such record shall govern.

(P.A. 83-272, S. 1; P.A. 94-117, S. 4; 94-246, S. 13; P.A. 15-164, S. 1.)

History: P.A. 94-117 added provision prohibiting disclosure of personal possessions or effects found on person at time of arrest unless such possessions or effects are relevant to the crime; P.A. 94-246 divided Sec. into Subsecs., amended Subsec. (a) to add exception that disclosure of data or information other than that set forth in Subsec. (b)(1) is subject to Sec. 1-19(b)(3) and added Subsec. (b)(2) re arrest report, incident report, news release or other similar report of the arrest of a person; Sec. 1-20b transferred to Sec. 1-215 in 1999; P.A. 15-164 added new Subsec. (a) redefining “record of the arrest”, redesignated existing Subsec. (a) as new Subsec. (b) and amended same by deleting “to the contrary”, deleting provisions re arrest of a juvenile, records erased under Ch. 961a and application of Sec. 1-210(b)(3), adding prohibition on redaction of record of the arrest and adding Subdivs. (1) to (3) re exceptions to the prohibition, deleted former Subsec. (b) defining “record of the arrest”, added Subsec. (c) re records documenting the arrest or custody of a person during the pending prosecution period, added Subsec. (d) requiring notice to the state's attorney and added Subsec. (e) re limiting applicability of section to pending prosecution period.

Annotations to former section 1-20b:

Cited. 206 C. 449; 217 C. 153; Id., 193; 218 C. 256; Id., 757; 220 C. 225; 221 C. 217; Id., 300; Id., 393; Id., 482; Id., 549; 222 C. 621. Section provides for both a requirement of disclosure and a limit on the extent of that disclosure; it does not require full disclosure of arrest reports during pendency of a criminal prosecution. 227 C. 641. Cited. 228 C. 158; Id., 271.

Cited. 16 CA 49; 22 CA 316; 29 CA 821; 35 CA 111; 37 CA 589; 42 CA 402; 43 CA 133.

Cited. 42 CS 84; Id., 129; Id., 291.

Annotations to present section:

Section exclusively governs law enforcement agencies' disclosure obligations under the Freedom of Information Act during pending criminal prosecutions. 312 C. 513.

Police blotter information described in Subsec. (b)(1) must be publicly available at the time of the arrest and may not be redacted under Sec. 1-210(b)(3), but the additional information required by Subsec. (b)(2) may be exempted or redacted under Sec. 1-210(b)(3); agency was only required to disclose police blotter and one additional piece of information contained in Subsec. (b)(2). 137 CA 307; judgment affirmed, see 312 C. 513.