As used in this Article, the following terms shall have the
following definitions:
ARREST
An actual restraint of the person of the defendant, or by
his/her submission to the custody of the officer, under authority
of a warrant or otherwise for a criminal violation which results in
the issuance of a summons or the person being booked.
ARREST REPORT
A record of a law enforcement agency of an arrest and of
any detention or confinement incident thereto together with the charge
therefor.
INACTIVE
An investigation in which no further action will be taken
by a law enforcement agency or officer for any of the following reasons:
1.
A decision by the law enforcement agency not to pursue the case.
2.
Expiration of the time to file criminal charges pursuant to
the applicable statute of limitations or ten (10) years after the
commission of the offense, whichever date earliest occurs.
3.
Finality of the convictions of all persons convicted on the
basis of the information contained in the investigative report, by
exhaustion of or expiration of all rights of appeal of such persons.
INCIDENT REPORT
A record of a law enforcement agency consisting of the date,
time, specific location, name of the victim, and immediate facts and
circumstances surrounding the initial report of a crime or incident,
including any logs of reported crimes, accidents and complaints maintained
by that agency.
INVESTIGATIVE REPORT
A record, other than an arrest or incident report, prepared
by personnel of a law enforcement agency inquiring into a crime or
suspected crime either in response to an incident report or in response
to evidence developed by Law Enforcement Officers in the course of
their duties.
[Ord. No. 1330 §6, 4-21-2014]
A. The Police Department of the City shall maintain records of all incidents reported to the Police Department and investigations and arrests made by the Police Department. All incident reports and arrest reports shall be open records. Notwithstanding any other provision of law other than the provisions of Subsection
(C),
(D), and
(E) of this Section or Section 320.083, RSMo., investigative reports of the Police Department are closed records until the investigation becomes inactive. If any person is arrested and not charged with an offense against the law within thirty (30) days of the person's arrest, the arrest report shall thereafter be a closed record except that the disposition portion of the record may be accessed and except as provided in Section
120.150.
B. Except as provided in Subsections
(C),
(D),
(E), and
(F) of this Section, if any portion of a record or document of a Police Department officer or the Police Department, other than an arrest report which would otherwise be open, contains information that is reasonably likely to pose a clear and present danger to the safety of any victim, witness, undercover officer or other person; or jeopardize a criminal investigation, including records which would disclose the identity of a source wishing to remain confidential or a suspect not in custody; or which would disclose techniques, procedures or guidelines for Police Department investigations or prosecutions, that portion of the record shall be closed and shall be redacted from any record made available pursuant to this Chapter.
C. Any person, including a family member of such person within the first degree of consanguinity if such person is deceased or incompetent, attorney for a person or insurer of a person involved in any incident or whose property is involved in an incident may obtain any records closed pursuant to this Section or Section
120.160 for purposes of investigation of any civil claim or defense as provided by this Subsection. Any individual, his/her family member within the first degree of consanguinity if such individual is deceased or incompetent, his/her attorney or insurer involved in an incident or whose property is involved in an incident, upon written request, may obtain a complete unaltered and unedited incident report concerning the incident and may obtain access to other records closed by the Police Department pursuant to this Section. Within thirty (30) days of such request, the Police Department shall provide the requested material or file a motion pursuant to this Subsection with the Circuit Court having jurisdiction over the Police Department stating that the safety of the victim, witness or other individual cannot be reasonably ensured, or that a criminal investigation is likely to be jeopardized. Pursuant to Section 610.100(4), RSMo., if, based on such motion, the Court finds for the Police Department, the Court shall either order the record closed or order such portion of the record that should be closed to be redacted from any record made available pursuant to this Subsection.
D. Any person may bring an action pursuant to this Section in the Circuit
Court having jurisdiction to authorize disclosure of the information
contained in an investigative report of the Police Department, which
would otherwise be closed pursuant to this Section. The Court may
order that all or part of the information contained in an investigative
report be released to the person bringing the action. In making the
determination as to whether information contained in an investigative
report shall be disclosed, the Court shall consider whether the benefit
to the person bringing the action or to the public outweighs any harm
to the public, to the Police Department or any of its officers, or
to any person identified in the investigative report in regard to
the need for law enforcement agencies to effectively investigate and
prosecute criminal activity. The investigative report in question
may be examined by the Court in camera. The Court may find that the
party seeking disclosure of the investigative report shall bear the
reasonable and necessary costs and attorneys' fees of both parties,
unless the Court finds that the decision of the Police Department
not to open the investigative report was substantially unjustified
under all relevant circumstances, and in that event, the Court may
assess such reasonable and necessary costs and attorneys' fees
to the Police Department.
E. Any person may apply pursuant to this Subsection to the Circuit Court
having jurisdiction for an order requiring the Police Department to
open incident reports and arrest reports being unlawfully closed pursuant
to the Section. If the Court finds by a preponderance of the evidence
that the Police Department or officer has knowingly violated this
Section, the officer or agency shall be subject to a civil penalty
in an amount up to one thousand dollars ($1,000.00). If the Court
finds that there is a knowing violation of this Section, the Court
may order payment by such officer or agency of all costs and attorneys'
fees, as provided by Section 610.027, RSMo. If the Court finds by
a preponderance of the evidence that the Police Department or officer
has purposely violated this Section, the officer or agency shall be
subject to a civil penalty in an amount up to five thousand dollars
($5,000.00) and the Court shall order payment by such officer or agency
of all costs and attorney fees as provided in Section 610.027, RSMo.
The Court shall determine the amount of the penalty by taking into
account the size of the jurisdiction, the seriousness of the offense,
and whether the Police Department or officer has violated this Section
previously.
F. The victim of an offense as provided in Chapter 566, RSMo., may request
that his/her identity be kept confidential until a charge relating
to such incident is filed.
[Ord. No. 1330 §7, 4-21-2014]
Except as provided by this Section, any information acquired by the Police Department or a first responder agency by way of a complaint or report of a crime made by telephone contact using the emergency number "911" shall be inaccessible to the general public. However, information consisting of the date, time, specific location, and immediate facts and circumstances surrounding the initial report of the crime or incident shall be considered to be an incident report and subject to Section
120.130. Any closed records pursuant to this Section shall be available upon request by law enforcement agencies or the Division of Workers' Compensation or pursuant to a valid court order authorizing disclosure upon motion and good cause shown.
[Ord. No. 1271 §1, 9-19-2011; Ord. No. 1330 §8, 4-21-2014]
The City of Pevely Police Department shall collect a fee of
ten dollars ($10.00) from each non-City resident for rolling fingerprints
or an electronic fingerprint scan.