Bill would rewrite law on records

Monday, Nov. 23, 1998 | 11:51 a.m.

"This bill can be called a secrecy in government act," said Kent Lauer. "Every government agency gets to decide what information should be released to the public."

The Nevada Sheriffs and Police Chiefs Association has requested a bill to revise Nevada's 87-year-old public records law. The bill will be introduced during the legislative session that begins Feb. 1.

Lt. Stan Olsen, legislative lobbyist for the Las Vegas police, said changes are needed in the current law to protect police, informants and victims of crime.

"I fully support the idea of a free press and freedom of speech, but if there are no limits, then no limits will be voluntarily placed," he said.

He said the statute must be written so the public doesn't have unrestricted access to crime, arrest and other reports that contain personal information.

Olsen said Las Vegas police have restricted access to many reports for years, and reporters get news releases written by public information officers about major crimes.

The public records law now says that all records by government agencies are open for public inspection, unless otherwise stipulated by law. Scattered throughout the law books are more than 200 exemptions.

Nevada legislators repeatedly have tried to revise the law into one coherent statute, but they have failed to reach an agreement, including during the legislative session in 1997.

The police association wants the Legislature next year to pass a bill that would allow government agencies to keep any document secret as long as the agencies "can demonstrate that the public interest served by not making the information public outweighs the public interest served by disclosure of the record."

Lauer charges the police want to keep specific salary information of all public employees so under wraps that not even the governor's salary could be released.

In addition, Lauer said the police want the power to keep all background notes, e-mail and fax messages and consultant reports secret.

While he has not seen the proposal, Assembly Government Affairs Chairman Doug Bache, D-Las Vegas, said any bill that brings widespread changes to the public records law has little chance of passing.

"I don't think there is sufficient time in a 120-day session for proper discussion of any huge type of bill," he said. "It will be difficult to do an extensive overhaul unless you have consensus. This bill probably will end up dying."

After reviewing the draft bill, even Carson City Sheriff Rod Bannister said the proposal goes beyond what the sheriffs and chiefs initially wanted.

"I am not sure who came up with the wording," Bannister said. "But it would definitely encompass every (government) agency. That wasn't the intent of what we talked about."