Private Investigator Public Records Internet Search Privacy Reporting – PI Buzz

Reversing a lower court, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that some autopsy records should be disclosed to the public. Maybe the coroners will further open those records in the advent of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Right To Know Law, which explicitly places the burden of proof on the government for justifying why a document is not a public record.

The names of jurors are public records, according to a ruling by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which countered the actions of a Pennsylvania federal judge who kept the juror names from the media in a high-profile trial. Apparently, the 3rd Circuit believes that’s not the norm in federal court, but the reality on the ground is a bit mixed. It’s a different world in state courts, many of which have an explicit ban on releasing the names of jurors.

The Massachusetts Supreme Court is proposing new procedures that, if adopted, would curtail the available personal information in all court files. The court is accepting public comments on its Interim Guidelines for the Protection of Personal Identifying Data in Publicly Accessible Court Documents.

The document proposes redaction of particular personally identifying information in court filings.

Except as provided in these guidelines, a document filed with a court should not include a complete version of any of the following personal identifying data elements. Instead, the filer should redact information from any pre-existing document, or omit information from any document prepared for filing, so that the document includes:
(1) in the case of a social security number, taxpayer identification number, credit card or other financial account number, driver’s license number, or passport number, only the last four digits;
(2) in the case of a birth date, only the year of birth, rather than the exact day or month; and
(3) in the case of a name identified as the mother’s maiden name of a person, only the first initial of that name.

The Pennsylvania Treasury Department has launched a database of state government agency goods and services contracts. Search by any combination of contractor, contracting agency, contract amount or date range. This primarily includes contracts entered into or renewed on or after July 1, 2008. See the FAQ’s for database parameters.

The University of New Mexico is revising its policies on access to public records and disclosure of personal information. One of the additions to the list of public record information on University employees is job application, resume or curriculum vitae. The policy changes will be voted on at the August 2008 UNM Board of Regents meeting.

Government agencies in California can’t assign control of records that would otherwise be public records to a private entity. SB 1696 enrolled. New Law Allows Greater Access to Government Contracts, PolitickerCA.com, Adam Keigwin.

A Pennsylvania open records blog reports that the recent overhaul of the Pennsylvania Right To Know Law includes a requirement that records held by private companies doing business with the government may be a public record.

Emails on the private home computers of government appointees serving on a foundation benefiting public schools are public records, according to an opinion by the North Dakota Attorney General.

I recently discovered that police records in Arizona, even in open investigations, are public records. Public Records Free Directory blog reports that new legislation requires government employee disciplinary records be disclosed, with a provision that police officer’s home addresses are protected.

The Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania is formulating new policies regarding public access to court case files. The Notice from the court highlights the proposed removal of Social Security numbers and bank account numbers from future court files. The public can submit comments by email, which are due by May 28, 2008.

The New Jersey Supreme Court Committee on Public Access to Court Records recently solicited comments on its proposed policy changes. Read the submitted comments and the report on policy changes.

An Opinion issued by the North Dakota Attorney General confirms that email messages from government employees “acting within the scope of their public positions” are public records “regardless of whether it is located at their private homes or businesses.”

Last year, I wrote about a similar determination by the Idaho Supreme Court and the Arkansas Supreme Court. The courts, not the government entity, must determine whether public employees’ emails are private, according to the Arizona Supreme Court.

Read a recent round-up of other state court decisions: Are public employee e-mails secret?, The Des Moines Register, March 18, 2008.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press tracks public records news. Subscribe by email or RSS.

The California Franchise Tax Board list of delinquent taxpayers (or should-be taxpayers) extends back to 1987.

“California Revenue & Taxation Code Section 19195 directs the Franchise Tax Board to publish an annual list of the top 250 taxpayers with liened state income tax delinquencies greater than $100,000.”

Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, New Mexico and New Jersey are among the states that are currently listing delinquent taxpayers, although some of these are just the top 100 taxpayers who owe the most.

Select a state Department of Revenue to locate other delinquent taxpayers lists.

A law firm that accessed and viewed archived Web pages of an adversary through Archive.org did not violate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act , even though those Web pages were not supposed to be available, an Eastern District of Pennsylvania judge ruled. Federal Judge Clears Law Firm Accused of Hacking Opponents’ Web Archives, New Jersey Law Journal, July 24, 2007

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that documents covered by attorney-client privilege are not public records. Work-product may still be covered by the public records law. Attorney-Client Privilege and Public Records Access, Massachusetts Law Updates, July 23, 2007.

Personal emails on government computers may be a public record, which should be determined by a court, in a ruling of the Supreme Court of Arkansas. The determination may rest in whether the non work related computer activity “should be carried out by a public official or employee.” Personal e-mail on public computers not always public, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, July 23, 2007.

Also, see my postings on this theme in other states: Arizona and California, Idaho, and the Sixth Circuit.

Search the online records of disciplinary actions from 2000 to 2007 for funeral homes and funeral practitioners at the Maine Board of Funeral Service. Use this advanced search query at the Google search engine. In this example, I’ve searched the name “Fernald”. Note the Web address in the search bar.

Use the same Google search format to identify Pennsylvania professional license disciplinary actions, including for funeral directors and funeral homes, from 1999 to 2007.

The Oregon Mortuary and Cemetery Board has images of Notice of Proposed Disciplinary Action and Consent Order for cases filed from 2005 to 2007.

The Texas Funeral Service Commission has a one page list of disciplinary actions taken against licensees since September 2006. The record has a name, violation, action taken and date.

This document has hyperlinks to all the state funeral regulatory boards.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a ruling that could advance employee rights to privacy protection of their personal email generated at a workplace computer.

In Warshak v. United States, the federal court upheld the finding that e-mail users are entitled to the same expectation of privacy as persons using the telephone.
…
“Employers should be aware that the Sixth Court did not state that a workplace-monitoring policy will always defeat an employee’s expectation of privacy. If, for example, a company representative with appropriate authority tells an employee that the company will not read his e-mail despite the existence of a policy to the contrary, the employee may be able to argue that he did have a reasonable expectation [of privacy] in his work e-mail,” he cautioned.

“It also is possible that an employee who becomes aware of his employer’s practice not to enforce its right to monitor e-mail may be able to show that he had an expectation of privacy in his e-mail,” Gordon concluded.

For all of these reasons, said Martin Jaron, litigation partner at Holland & Knight and cochair of its electronic discovery team, this decision is just a way station in the broader discussion of privacy rights.

A Washington State Superior Court denied a request for an injunction that would have required a state agency to produce public records in electronic form. Thurston County Judge Christine Pomeroy directed the requester to seek legislative clarification, that electronic copies of records are not currently required to be produced under the Public Disclosure Act.

Inmates in Iowa jails for 23 counties are now on the Vinelink notification service. More counties and the Department of Corrections inmates will be added later this year.

The Wisconsin State Journal is suing a police department for access to police officer employment and disciplinary records. A public records request for copies of complaints brought against a particular officer was denied by the law enforcement agency.

The Oakland, California police department is in the process of updating its public records policies and training procedures. The department is also installing cameras in their patrol cars and, in this article, the records supervisor mentions that these videos will be available under the Public Records Act. Last year, Californians Aware conducted a survey of several hundred California law enforcement agencies to determine their openness to releasing records covered under the Public Records Act. The Oakland Police Department was among the agencies receiving the lowest score.

The sex offender registry for Tennessee has added a mapping program, which will go online July 1, enabling a radius search. Changes in the laws this year will increase the number of offenders required to register, make more names public that have been considered confidential and require all those convicted of a sex crime in the past, regardless of the date, to register by August 1st.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that a prison telephone audiotape recording was a public record because it was played in an open court hearing. Even though the recording did not meet the evidence requirements to be submitted at trial it was nevertheless a judicial record.

The Ohio Office of Homeland Security, which licenses security guards, is having trouble keeping an accurate count of licensees since a recent requirement went into effect that employers register each new security guard hire. [State system doesn’t allow exact accounting of security guards, CantonRep.com, May 29, 2007.]

The state estimates about 21,000 individuals holding security guard licenses but says that number could be inflated by as much as 3,000 since employees are registered each time they go to work for a new company, meaning some could be registered multiple times.

Meanwhile, changes in access to public records in Ohio may make it difficult for even law enforcement to do background checks. Recently passed legislation shields personal information in public records on some government employees and their family members.

The New York Drug Dealer Registry Act, recently introduced legislation, would require drug dealers with felony convictions to register upon release from prison.

The North Carolina Court of Appeal ruled against a newspaper that sought clemency appeal applications under the state public records law. [North Carolina Appeals Court Holds That Public Records Act Does Not Apply to Clemency Applications, Media Law Prof, June 7, 2007]

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court agrees with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that juror names are releasable under the state public records act. The newspaper was rebuffed in its request for juror addresses. [Names of criminal trial jurors are public, RCFP, June 5, 2007]

The Arizona Court of Appeal agreed with Phoenix Newspaper, Inc. that a claim for damages made against a school district is a public record, even in the case of a rape of a minor. [Ruling: Rape victim's compensation claim public record, Arizona Republic, June 12, 2007]

A few months ago I wrote about the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control maintains License Query System. An added feature to the ABC site is daily, weekly and annual reports of new licenses, license status changes and actions taken against licenses including, revocations, suspensions, fines, and issuance or denial of licenses. The database of reports cannot be searched at the site. Search the archived reports from September 16, 2006 to the present by using this advanced search at Google. Replace “Safeway” with your company name, address or other key words.

safeway site:www.abc.ca.gov/reports/

Reporters and anyone compiling statistical data will be able to make use of the reports menu at the ABC site. Query the reports by location and license type to get a detail of all that meet that criteria. For example, find all the caterer licensees in Azusa.

Washington State law now bans employer access to the credit reports of employees or potential employees unless such information is substantially related to the individual’s current or potential job responsibilities. An exception is made if the employer has a “reasonable cause to believe” that the employee “has engaged in specific activity that constitutes a violation of law.”

Missouri private investigators are poised to receive the stamp of legitimacy with the establishment of the Board of Private Investigator Examiners, which will license and regulate private investigators. The bill is awaiting the governor’s signature, which is expected this summer. The Missouri Association of Private Investigators has worked diligently to secure state level licensing and soon they’ll be able to join the majority of states that license PIs.

New regulations for Indiana private investigators will go into effect July 1, including the replacement of the term “private detective” with “private investigator”.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court will decide whether property assessment databases created on behalf of municipalities by private companies are a public records.

Legislation introduced in Pennsylvania would make it a crime to obtain, sell or receive phone records of state residents without their authorization.

Philadelphia will be the first region in Pennsylvania to implement an automated inmate release telephone notification. The service, which just covers local jails, will be available to anyone, not just crime victims, when it goes into operation in June 2007. The Statewide Automated Victim Information and Notification (SAVIN) alert program will add the other counties over the next 18 months, and may later add state inmates.

The Houston Independent School District is the most recent Texas school district to post its payments to vendors online. Expenses can be identified by vendor but not by type of expenditure. Other districts have some payment information online as well.

A law under consideration in the Nevada legislature would prevent sealing of court cases involving high-profile litigants, which the judges had been doing, according to a survey by the Nevada Appeal.

Search the Pennsylvania Department of State Registration database of lobbyists and lobbying firms, and the organizations they represent. A full or partial name or firm name returns a detail of the lobbying disclosure form, required for those who lobby elected officials in Pennsylvania on behalf of companies or organizations.
[Article: Pennsylvania Lobbying Registrations Searchable Online]

The flow of federal campaign money can be seen by utilizing multiple data collection sites. Real Time Investigations shows how to piece together information from the newly launched Office of Management and Budget Congressional Earmarks database with other public records expenditure sources to match politicians with the lobbyists and the companies that benefit. Then go to FedSpending to identify the Congressional district that was the primary recipient of the funds.

Query the Municipal Codes that are online for each city or county at the LexisNexis Municipal Code Web Library. Other jurisdictions may be found at General Code. If you don’t find the town you’re looking for at one of these sites, check the jurisdiction’s main Web site. To find the Municipal Code for Beverly Hills put the phrase “Beverly Hills Municipal Code” in your Web address search bar and you’ll be taken directly to the site that best matches your phrase. The General Code Publishers’ newsletter collects some changes in state laws by topic. A recent issue covered changes in ordinances in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida and New York related to residency restrictions for registered sex offenders.

A Pittsburgh Tribune article is reporting that the Tarentum, Pennsylvaina town council will hire a private investigator with a $5,000 cap to determine where Councilwoman Ginger Sopcak lives.

It seems allegations have been made against the councilwoman alleging that she no longer lives within her district. Residents and council members have questioned in recent months where Sopcak keeps her primary residence.

This is an opportunity for private investigators to market a similar service to town councils throughout the United States.

A Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article reports that a former Beaver County school district security guard filed a lawsuit against Marty Griffin, a KDKA-TV investigative reporter and a local private investigator for defamation and invasion of privacy.

James A. Law Jr., claims that a television report misrepresented his criminal history. He also claims that the report quoted private investigator Louis W. Gentile, with the firm, Gentile, Meinert and Associates, and that it included unsubstantiated and false statements.

December 2 UPDATE: The Pennsylvania Courts has posted the document, Electronic Case Record Public Access Policy.

Pennsylvania, which has one of the lowest ratings for access to public records as ranked by the Citizen Access Project, is standardizing its policy regarding electronic remote access to court records.

The new policy covers all electronic case record information maintained in the Pennsylvania Appellate Court Management System, Common Pleas Criminal Court Case Management System or Magisterial District Judge System.

A criminal case index and case dockets are currently searchable by defendant name for Common Pleas court. The new system will be implemented in January 2007, expanding the court coverage and listing full dates of birth. The policy statement will be available December 2 at the court Web site.

A debt collector who threatens to sue but doesn’t follow through may be in violation of the Fair Debt Collections and Practices Act, according to the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. The assertion, if not acted on through a court action, could be construed as “false and misleading statements”, which is prohibited in the act.

The Judiciary Committee of Pennsylvania legislature is considering House bill 2912, which would establish an Internet registry of those convicted of methamphetamine related offences. The act would take effect in July 2007 and registrants would be removed 7 years after the date of their conviction.

The U.S. Department of Education Web site provides links to each state’s Department of Education, and to private sites that have education related tools. Locate school names and addresses at the Standard and Poors site, SchoolMatters. Search by school or district name, city, state or zip code.

The National Center for Education Statistics has a school locator that includes colleges and public libraries. View school districts and plot Census demographics from 1990 and 2000 on state maps.

Some state Department of Education Web sites include a personnel directory. The New Mexico directory, which can be downloaded, lists schools and districts alphabetically.

The Michigan Department of Education has a Teacher Certification Verification database.

Find the status of a Teacher Certification application in Pennsylvania or New Jersey by SSN.

Pennsylvania district judges were upbraided by the administrator for the state courts for redacting court files without any legal authority.

The North Dakota Attorney General ruled against a county Sheriff for rejecting a public records request without citing any legal authority. The AG also noted that the Sheriff obstructed the requester’s objective by not pointing out that the records existed in a form other than the one identified in the record request.

An online database of stolen vehicles in Arizona can be searched by license plate number or VIN. The site is operated by the Arizona Attorney General.

Pennsylvania’s HB1746, which is now the law, makes law enforcement and criminal court records of a juvenile available to the public if the accused was over 14 years old at the time of the offense, and the crime would have been considered a felony if committed by an adult.

The U.S. Virgin Islands Recorder of Deeds index is online for documents recorded September 1, 1999 through June 14, 2006. Images of the documents can be purchased at the site.

The First Amendment Center carried an AP report that the New Mexico State Police have changed their policy on public access to arrest logs.

The New Mexico State Police office in Santa Fe has stopped providing the names and charges of those arrested in a daily log for public review.

Capt. Manny Gutierrez, commander of the district that includes Santa Fe, San Miguel, Los Alamos and Sandoval counties, said an arrest log isn’t required by law, and his staff is too busy to provide it.

“Within the last few months, we’ve decided that we are not going to provide that information. … All we’re really required to do is provide access to the desk logs,” Gutierrez said.

Neither the arrest log — a list of people arrested — nor the desk log — a chronological account of the date, officer, location and disposition of each police call — are required by the state Inspection of Public Records Act.

The North Middleton, Pennsylvania Police Department Crime Stoppers Wanted database lists crime reports with photos, organized by date.

Many innovative folks, some who have too much spare time, have found their calling applying the technology behind Google Maps to their own area of interest. One useful application is plotting crime reports on a map. Perhaps the most well-known one is ChicagoCrime.org. Berkeley, California crime incidents are now also mapped, covering the past year. The data can manipulated by date, incident type, zip code and time of day. The results are displayed on a map and the incidents, with report numbers and street address, are listed.

PhillyCrime.org covers crimes reported by the Penn University PD and crimes located in the 18th District of West Philadelphia.

The Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania will add the Philadelphia criminal index to its online electronic case record system. The comments submitted in advance of the upcoming March 2 hearing reflect the dilemma of maintaining open courts and transparent government while avoiding harm to people, due to inaccuracies in the data. The court’s Notice of Proposed Access Policy details the Court Administration’s reasoning in expanding access while instituting many restrictions, such as limiting birth dates to year of birth and age. This is sure to aggravate false positive name matches.

The Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting on the controversy.