Public records
Your window into government: Criminal justice
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We’re not your lawyer...
This is not legal advice. It’s a summary of what Lens journalists have learned in the course of using the Louisiana public records law to report stories.
The information in this presentation is based on our reading of state law, Attorney General’s opinions and case law.
The techniques we describe here are the ones journalists use to report stories.
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Civics 101
Louisiana’s public records law is one of two ways citizens are entitled to track and interact with their government entities.
(The other is the Open Meetings Law, which requires public bodies like city councils to make decisions in public.)
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Civics 101
Journalists have very few additional rights not afforded to regular citizens.
They just know how to use those tools because it’s part of their job.
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Civics 101
No government employee is obligated to answer your questions. But they do have to respond to public-records requests, even if you’re a critic, a political opponent, a gadfly, or just annoying.
Government bodies must interpret the public-records law liberally, not narrowly.
But there’s the law and there’s reality...
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Don’t expect it to be easy
Many government employees are underpaid, overworked and have not have been trained on public-records law.
You may be the first person to ask for a document — especially at a charter school.
Some government employees (or their bosses) may not think it’s their job to provide records.
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How public records hold officials accountable
Criminal justice:
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What entities are covered by the law?
The law applies to “public bodies.”
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What’s not covered by the law
Court systems, but a separate law dictates that court files are open to the public, unless they’re sealed by a judge or in juvenile court.
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Who’s responsible for public records?
The law defines the “records custodian” as the head of the government body who has custody or control of public records, or someone authorized to respond to requests.
State law requires government bodies to list the records custodian and contact information on their website.
Records must be preserved for at least three years, generally speaking.
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What’s a public record?
Basically, anything written down or stored electronically that relates to government work.
State law says it’s “All books, records, writings, accounts, letters and letter books, maps, drawings, photographs, cards, tapes, recordings, memoranda, and papers, and all copies, duplicates, photographs, including microfilm, or other reproductions thereof, or any other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, including information contained in electronic data processing equipment” ...
… that were created, used or kept for use in any way related to a government function.
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These are public records
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These are exempt
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How to ask
Find out what records exist first. Call or visit the government office and ask what relevant records or forms they have. The more they have to interpret your request, the less likely you are to get what you’re looking for.
They don’t have to create records to respond to your request. So you need to ask for things that exist. (Not “a list of teachers who chaperoned a field trip” but “any record reflecting the names of teachers who chaperoned a field trip.”)
Send the request to the “records custodian.” (Government entities are required to post the contact info for the custodian.)
They can ask you to file requests in a certain way like an online system or email. But they can’t require it; requests can be made verbally, by mail and email.
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Things to include
It’s wise to state that this is a “public records request” under Louisiana law. (In federal law, it’s called a “Freedom of Information” or FOIA request.) However, it’s not required.
Strike a balance. Narrower requests are easier for them to respond to; broader requests give you a better shot at getting something you didn’t know about.
Avoid asking for copies; ask to review the documents instead. That way you don’t pay for something you don’t want. (And you can usually scan it with your phone.)
Ask them to cite an exemption under state law if they deny any part of your request or redact anything.
If you’re asking for several records or types of records and the clock is ticking, ask to review them in batches. (Though they may ignore this.)
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What happens next?
Timeline for response: Records must be provided “immediately” if not in use. If they are, they must be provided within three business days. If the agency needs time to collect, redact or review documents, they must provide an estimate of how long that will take.
Many government employees don’t know the law. They think they have three days to respond in any way.
Don’t assume they’ll respond within the legal timeframe. You gotta follow up.
If they deny any part of your request, they must cite in writing the reason “under law,” which could be case law. (See section D of 44:32)
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The law vs. real life
They can’t ask you why you need a record, but if you tell them, you may have an easier time finding what you want.
The legal time frame is three days, but you probably won’t get anything that quickly. (Although we are sometimes surprised!)
And they have to issue a denial within five days.
You have to follow up. You have to follow up. You have to follow up. You may need to repeat yourself.
Remember, they may not know the law.
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Viewing records - Our experience
You cannot be charged a fee to review records in person.
They have to provide “reasonable comfort and facility” for you to view or copy (like a place to work) as long as they can make sure the records aren’t altered.
You have to do it during working hours. If the custodian allows you to do it outside of working hours, you may have to pay for an employee to be there.
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Getting copies
Except for court files, you’re allowed to make your own copies with a portable scanner, your phone or whatever they invent in the future.
They can charge a “reasonable” fee for copies, which hasn’t been defined by law, but in court, “reasonable” 25 cents to $1 a page. You can request a free copy if its for “public purpose.”
For electronic files, the City of New Orleans will charge you $25.
There is nothing in the law that allows the agency to charge for staff labor to make copies if they can do it during regular business hours.
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Dealing with denials
Your request may be denied because the records contain private information. But in those cases, the government body is required to “segregate” the private information and provide the rest.
They may try to charge you for their work reviewing records for private information or segregating them. The law does not provide for that. (See 44:32 C 3)
They could tell you that segregating is “overly burdensome.” Appeals courts have ruled that segregating can’t interfere with their legal duties. If you don’t agree with this, you’ll probably have to go court.
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Dealing with denials
You may be told your request is too broad. Try to find out what a record is called and ask for it by name. Or narrow your request and file several versions. If six months of emails among six government officials is too broad, ask for one month, or six months sent or received by two officials. If “all records” at an agency pertaining to a subject is too broad, pick keywords or identify a department likely to have it.
You can try to work out a compromise, but there is no formal appeals process outside a civil lawsuit. There is a special type of lawsuit to compel an agency to do its job, such as provide public records.
Sometimes it helps to have a lawyer write a letter on your behalf, if the lawyer knows public-records law.
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Workarounds
Use Google to search a government website for documents:
Try another government agency. Records do not have to be requested from the agency that created them. Charter schools send documents to the RSD, OPSB and the state education department. The city must provide documents to state agencies for certain things like grants.
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Personnel files of public employees
Personnel files are complicated. Courts have found that an individual’s right to privacy outweighs the public interest of seeing them.
School employees’ personnel records are not public.
Names, qualifications and employment history of applicants for public employment are public.
Some parts of personnel files are private under state law (home phone, address, bank info for direct deposit).
Evaluations and other measures of job performance are generally not public.
Salaries are unquestionably public record.
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Criminal justice
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In reality — accessing records behind bars
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Right to review records
-Records received in prison go through Investigative Services and other layers of review before they get to the requestor.
-Ability to review: law library to review with inmate counsel
-Handwritten filings
-Post conviction filings deadlines
-Important to start asking for records early. Find an advocate.
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911 logs and other online data
For the purpose of public records requests, most 911 records are maintained by the New Orleans Police Department, not the 911 call center. That means you can request them through the city’s NextRequest system.
Basic information is available online. You can see the time and date of the call, the type of incident, the location down to the block number, the units assigned, the “priority” designation, units assigned and officer response.
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Searching the city’s online 911 records
Click the three dots in the column name to learn what the codes mean. (“Report to follow” means there will be an incident report.)
Click the heading to sort in ascending order; click it again to sort descending.
Filter by block: “43XX Earhart” to get all records on the 4300 block. (Sometimes you need to use “043XX” or “X43XX”)
Use the “filter” function to select by more than one column (but it can be tricky).
“Typetext” has a description of the type of incident, which will correspond to the “type” column.
If you need an incident report, cite the “NOPD item number.”
You can export to text (CSV), Excel and other file types.
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But wait, there’s more!
If you want more, including exact addresses and a comments section, which has a brief description of the incident and response, you have to use NextRequest.
911 call-taker notes: More detailed than the logs, including brief, minute-by-minute descriptions of everything that happened with a call.
911 audio: Most detailed information because you can hear what the officers and dispatchers are actually saying.
It’s best to include an NOPD item number. NOPD will deny requests for ongoing cases (under the investigative records exception).
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Police reports and body camera footage
The police report — called the “incident report” — is public. It includes:
You can get body camera footage, with exceptions. See 44:3 (I)
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Misconduct reports and LLEAD
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Getting records from the NOPD
The city has an online records request platform, called NextRequest. You’ll get a faster response if you have the item number, the unique ID for police incidents.
Sometimes it’s faster to go into NOPD headquarters and request your records directly from the records clerk, located on the first floor. It’s open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Don’t be surprised if they automatically try to give you copies and charge you for them. Don’t be surprised if they say you’re not allowed to view them, which isn’t true. (This applies to accident reports, too.) Ask to speak to a supervisor and be prepared to cite the law.
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Finding incarcerated people
Some parishes allow you to see their full detainee lists online. Orleans is not one of them.
For a full roster of detainees at the Orleans Parish jail for a specific day, file a public records request. OPSO has a brand new public records portal.
To search for individual detainees, you can go to the sheriff’s inmate query online. You have to enter first two letters of an inmate’s first and last names. You’ll see the defendant’s name, photo, charges, bond amount and court case numbers.
Jefferson Parish also has an inmate search.
You can search for people incarcerated in state prisons by name. This database includes both parish and state inmates.
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Court records
Criminal court records are not covered by the public records law (it applies to the executive branch), but they are easily available.
To view brief descriptions of cases, use the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office’s online docket master search. You’ll see records of every court appearance and every filing. You can see a description of the filings, but you can’t read the filing itself.
Jefferson Parish allows you to read filings online. It’s called JeffNet, but it’s not free — cheapest is $20 for 24 hours of access.
St. Tammany and St. Bernard have online services similar to Jefferson’s.
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Going down to the courthouse
To view case files for ongoing cases, you have to go to the clerk’s office on the second floor of the courthouse at Tulane and Broad. Ask a clerk at the counter.
You’ll need a case number, but you can get that by searching the defendant’s name on docket master.
A few judges maintain their own case files in their own clerk’s offices. The clerk will tell you what to do.
If the case is closed (a verdict was reached), you must fill out a form.
If a case is still in magistrate court, meaning someone has been booked by the police but not charged by the DA, you have to visit the magistrate clerk on the first floor. The process is the same.
For cases that have gone through the appeals process, you can get case files from the Louisiana Supreme Court, which will sometimes have transcripts.
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Getting copie$ of court files
Because the court system is not covered by the state public records law, you cannot scan or take pictures of records.
You have to pay for copies: $1.50 per page; $2 a page for certified copies. They accept credit cards and cash.
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The Orleans Parish District Attorney
The DA’s record ARE subject to public records law.
The DA’s office has its own case files as well, and they often have a lot more information about the state’s case.
You can access those by filing a public records request with publicrecordsrequest@orleansda.com. But they won’t be made available until the case is closed — meaning, after a verdict and any appeals.
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Other criminal justice records
Records related to current jail detainees probably will be denied under the criminal investigation exemption.
For people incarcerated in state prisons, the law spells out exactly what types of records are public.
The city of New Orleans posts its “use of force” reports online. They don’t include the officer’s name. To get that, file a public records request for the Public Integrity Bureau, using the PIB File Number. You can also request all PIB files for an officer by name. (Use NextRequest for both.)
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Criminal Justice Data Dashboards
New Orleans City Council dashboards: arrests, bond paid, jail population, etc.
District Attorney dashboards: staff capacity, case processing, trial results, etc.
Louisiana Department of Corrections dashboards: demographics, admissions and release, deaths.
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Resources
PDF of public records law (download to Dropbox and put on your phone)
Shortlink: bit.ly/louisianapublicrecordslaw
Attorney General’s opinions: Official guidance to government agencies (not legally binding, but influential)
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