SB 431 — AN ACT CONCERNING FEES FOR COPYING, REVIEWING AND REDACTING RECORDS CREATED BY POLICE BODY-WORN RECORDING EQUIPMENT AND DASHBOARD CAMERAS.

A public agency shall not charge a fee to any other requesting party whoif (1) the record depicts (A) a police officer involved in a shooting, (B) a police officer involved in a motor vehicle accident, or (C) a police officer giving a formal statement about the use of force, or (2) (A) there is an allegation of misconduct concerning the police officer involved, or (B) the police officer involved personis the subject of a disciplinary investigation, subject to any limitations on disclosure set forth in subsection (g) of section 29-6d of the recordgeneral requested.statutes, as amended by this act.

Sec.sSB431 / File No.

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396 Sec.

Subsections (a) and (b) of section 1-212 of the general statutes LCOare No.repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2024):

2893 10 of 12 Raised Bill No.431 are repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2024):

(1) An amount equal to the hourly salary attributed to all agency employeessSB431 engaged/ inFile providing the requested computer-stored public LCO No.

2893396 11 ofsSB431 12File Raised Bill No.

431396 employees engaged in providing the requested computer-stored public record, including their time performing the formatting or programming functions necessary to provide the copy as requested, but not including search or retrieval costs except as provided in subdivision (4) of this subsection;

3 October 1, 2024 1-212(a) and (b) Statement of Purpose:Legislative Commissioners:

ToIn authorizeSection a2(a)(3), publican agencyexception towas chargeadded a redaction fee for theconsistency. disclosure of a record created by police body-worn equipment or dashboard cameras that contains portions not authorized to be disclosed under state or federal law.

[ProposedGAE deletionsJoint areFavorable enclosedSubst. in brackets.

ProposedsSB431 additions/ areFile indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.] LCO No.

2893396 12 ofsSB431 12File No.

396 The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose.

In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge.

Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note State Impact:

Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 25 $ FY 26 $ Department of Emergency GF - Cost 58,000 73,000 Services and Public Protection State Comptroller - Fringe GF - Cost 23,000 30,000 Benefits Various State Agencies Various - See Below See Below Potential Cost/Potential Revenue Gain Note:

GF=General Fund;

Various=Various Municipal Impact:

Municipalities Effect FY 25 $ FY 26 $ Municipal Police Departments STATE See Below See Below MANDATE - Potential Cost Municipal Police Departments Potential See Below See Below Revenue Gain Explanation The bill expands the types of body and dashboard camera recordings that must be redacted prior to disclosure under the Freedom of 1The fringe benefit costs for most state employees are budgeted centrally in accounts administered by the Comptroller.

The estimated active employee fringe benefit cost associated with most personnel changes is 41.25% of payroll in FY 25.

2State mandate is defined in Sec.

2-32b(2) of the Connecticut General Statutes, "state mandate" means any state initiated constitutional, statutory or executive action that requires a local government to establish, expand or modify its activities in such a way as to necessitate additional expenditures from local revenues.

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396 Information (FOI) Act, and allows public agencies to charge requestors fees for time spent redacting a record, resulting in (1) a cost to the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP) and the State Comptroller, (2) a potential cost to various state agencies and municipal police departments, and (3) a potential revenue gain to the state and municipalities.

To meet the bill's redaction requirements, DESPP will need to hire one paralegal specialist for a salary and other expenses cost of $58,000 inFY25 and$73,000inFY26,alongwithassociatedfringebenefitscosts of $23,000 in FY 25 and $30,000 in FY 26.

Any state agency with law enforcement units that use body and dashboard cameras will face potential costs to the extent that the agency receives FOI requests for recordings that are subject to the bill's redaction requirements.

These potential costs will depend on the number of FOI requests that the agency receives for such recordings,the size of each recording, and the capacity of existing staff to field such requests.

Similarly, the potential cost to any given municipal law enforcement unit will depend on the same factors.

Some police departments may require additional staff or incur overtime expenses to meet the bill's requirements upon receiving a request.

The bill also allows public agencies to charge a fee for redacting body and dashboard camera recordings and sets requirements for calculating the fee, resulting in a potential revenue gain to the state and municipal police departments, depending on how many requests an agency receives and whether the request is eligible for fees.4 3FY 25 costs reflect 9 months of salary due to the bill's October 1, 2024 effective date.

4Generally, an agency may charge a rate up to the hourly salary of the lowest-paid employee qualified to redact the record but may not charge more than $100 per hour of the actual length of time of the requested record.

Additionally, an agency may not charge a fee for the first two hours of labor or in some cases, the first four hours, and certain recordings are not subject to fees.

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396 The Out Years The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would continue into the future subject to the number of FOI requests an agency receives that are subject to the bill's provisions.

Sources:

Department of Administrative Services website sSB431 / File No.

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396 OLR Bill Analysis sSB 431 AN ACT CONCERNING FEES FOR COPYING, REVIEWING AND REDACTING RECORDS CREATED BY POLICE BODY-WORN RECORDING EQUIPMENT AND DASHBOARD CAMERAS.

SUMMARY This bill sets additional requirements for redacting and disclosing body and dashboard camera recordings.

It expands the types of recordings that must be redacted to include certain recordings showing the inside of a private residence or an individual in a state of undress or nudity.

However, it allows certain recordings that are otherwise generally confidential (e.g., those showing medical treatment) to be disclosed to requestors shown in the recording or involved in the incident that led to the recording.

The bill also allows public agencies to charge a fee for redacting (i.e., obscuring, pixelating, or muting) body and dashboard camera recordings and sets requirements for calculating the fee.

Among other things, the agency may charge a rate up to the hourly wage of the lowest-paid employee with the training required for redacting the record, but no more than $100 per hour for the actual length of time of the requested record.

However, an agency may not charge a fee when the requestor is an involved person in the requested record.

Under the bill, an “involved person” is any (1) individual depicted in a body or dashboard camera recording;

(2) individual directly involved in the incident that led to the police officer being called to respond;

or (3) responding police officer, including the officer who createdthe recording.

An agency also may not charge a redaction fee for (1) the first two hours of labor, or the first four hours for certain requestors, and (2) recordings showing certain sSB431 / File No.

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396 incidents (e.g., a police officer-involved shooting).

The bill requires the agency to maintain an original, unredacted copy of any requested record that is redacted for public dissemination.

Lastly, the bill makes technical and conforming changes.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

October 1, 2024 DISCLOSURE OF BODY CAMERA RECORDINGS Additional Disclosure Requirements Existing law generally subjects body and dashboard camera recordings to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), with certain exceptions.

Among other things, current law (1) prohibits officers from intentionally recording a person undergoing a medical or psychological evaluation, procedure, or treatment, unless the recording was made as part of an agreement between the law enforcement unit and the federal government;

and (2) makes confidential any recording showing these events.

The bill requires that recordings showing these events be disclosed to an involved person or requesting party if they show the involved person or requesting party.

With certain exceptions, existing law generally prohibits disclosing recordings of a minor.

Under current law, a recording of a minor must be disclosed if, among other things, the minor and his or her parent or guardian consent to disclosure.

The bill additionally requires disclosure if the (1) minor is an involved person and (2) parent or guardian is a requesting party or also an involved person.

Additional Redaction Requirements The bill requires that body and dashboard camera recordings be redacted before being disclosed under FOIA if (1) they show the inside of a private residence or an individual in a state of undress or nudity and (2) the agency determines disclosure could reasonably be expected to constitute an invasion of privacy.

Under the bill, these records may bedisclosed (presumably, unredacted)to arequesting party or involved person if (1) the inside of his or her residence is shown in the recording or (2) he or she is shown in a state of undress or nudity.

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396 The bill also requires redaction for body and dashboard camera recordings of any of the following, which by law, are confidential and generally exempt from disclosure under FOIA:

1.

communications with other law enforcement unit personnel, except those that may be recorded as the officer performs his or her duties;

2.

encounters with undercover officers, informants, or officers performing certain detective work;

3.

officers on break or otherwise engaged in a personal activity;

4.

someone undergoing a medical or psychological evaluation, procedure, or treatment;

5.

anyone other than a criminal suspect if an officer is wearing the equipment in a hospital or other medical facility;

6.

a mental health facility, unless responding to a call involving a criminal suspect thought to be present in the facility;

7.

scenes of an incident that involves victims of domestic or sexual abuse, homicide or suicide, or a fatal accident, if disclosure could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of the victim’s personal privacy;

or 8.

a minor.

REDACTION FEES Fee Calculation Under existing law, fees for copies of public records (including body and dashboard camera recordings) are set by FOIA unless the law provides otherwise (see BACKGROUND).

Generally, FOIA does not allow public agencies to charge requestors for the time spent redacting a record.

The bill generally allows public agencies to charge requestors a fee sSB431 / File No.

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396 for their time spent redacting body camera or dashboard camera recordings if it takes more than two hours to do so.

However, if the requesting party is an involved person’s parent or legal guardian, or an attorney representing an involved person in a civil, criminal, or administrative matter, then the agency cannot charge a fee for the first four hours to do the redacting.

If the redacting takes longer than the applicable threshold, the bill allows an agency to charge a rate up to the hourly wage (i.e., base salary excluding benefits) of the lowest-paid employee with the requisite training for redacting the record.

The bill prohibits agencies from charging for (1) time spent searching for the requested records, (2) an attorney hired to conduct a second review of the record, or (3) a digital management company’s services.

Under the bill, the redaction fee may not exceed $100 per hour for the actual length of time of the requested record.

The agency may round up the actual length of time to the nearest half-hour at the rate of $50 per hour.

Agencies (1) must inform the requestor if the fee is estimated to exceed $250, (2) may require prepayment in these cases, and (3) must refund any portion of a prepayment that exceeds the actual labor costs.

The billallows theFreedomofInformationCommission(FOIC)to order a refund of a payment or prepayment if it determines that a public agency violated the bill’s fee provisions.

Fee Prohibitions and Waivers The bill prohibits public agencies from charging a redaction fee to a requesting party who is an involved person in the requested record.

It also prohibits fees from being charged:

1.

for records that depict a police officer (a) involved in a shooting or motor vehicle accident or (b) giving a formal statement about the use of force or 2.

if there is an allegation of misconduct by the police officer involved or the officer is the subject of a disciplinary investigation.

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396 The bill specifies that these records remain subject to the disclosure limitations under current law and the bill.

The bill also requires agencies to waive the redaction fee for the same reasons that FOIA requires for waiving copying fees.

FOIA requires fee waivers for (1) political subdivisions’ elected officials who obtain, for official business, records from an agency of the subdivision;

(2) indigent people;

(3) public defenders;

(4) records exempt from disclosure;

and (5) requests that benefit the general welfare, as determined by the agency.

BACKGROUND FOIA Fees FOIA allows public agencies to charge the following for producing copies of computer-stored public records:

1.

the hourly salary attributed to all agency employees engaged in providing the requested record, including their time performing necessary formatting or programming functions, but not including search or retrieval costs;

2.

the cost of an outside professional electronic copying service, if needed;

3.

the actual cost of the storage devices or media provided to the requestor;

and 4.

computer time chargesif a contractor or another agency provides the storage and retrieval services (CGS §§ 1-211(a) & -212(b)).

Related Case In a contested case decided in 2023, FOIC rejected a law enforcement agency’s attempt to charge a requestor for labor costs to pixelate and mute a body camera recording.

Specifically, FOIC ruled that these actions were not formatting or programming within the meaning of FOIA’s fee provisions (because the agency used existing software and did not need to develop a program or contract with an outside entity to develop a program) (FIC 2022-0176 (2023)).

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396 Related Bill sSB 234, favorably reported by the Public Safety and Security Committee, among other things, expands the FOIA disclosure exemption for law enforcement agency records created in detecting or investigating crime that are not otherwise available to the public when disclosure would not be in the public interest, to include (1) the identity of mandated reporters not otherwise known and (2) sworn witness statements.

COMMITTEE ACTION Government Administration and Elections Committee Joint Favorable Substitute Yea 19 Nay 0 (03/22/2024) sSB431 / File No.

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