Banner Graphic, Volume 13, Number 112, Greencastle, Putnam County, 18 January 1983 — Page 3

Open records bill wins approval of Judiciary Committee INDIANAPOLIS (AP) An "open records" bill that spells out what government information is off-limits to the public and what must be disclosed is on its way to the full Indiana House. The measure, sponsored by Rep. Richard M. Dellinger, RNoblesville, cleared the Judiciary Committee on an 8-1 vote Monday. The lone dissenting vote was cast by Rep. Robert Heilman, a freshman Democrat from Terre Haute. "This bill, from our standpoint, is not perfect,” said Richard Cardwell, general counsel for the Hoosier State • Press Association who worked with Dellinger in drafting the bill. "Amost every line of the bill represents compromise." One of the problems with Indiana’s open records is that it takes a narrow view of what constitutes a public record, Cardwell said. The law only applies to records required to be kept by state statute or regulation. “It has the effect of creating a vast no-man’s land of records not required by statute but not confidential,” Cardwell said. The other problem, Cardwell said, is that the law makes it difficult for the average citizen to win a lawsuit enforce his legal right to see public records. Currently, the burden is on the citizen to justify why the record should be disclosed. The bill shifts that burden to the government, requiring the agency denying access to justify why a record should be withheld. The committee rejected an amendment offered by Heilman that would allow a judge to deny access to a record if the disclosure would intrude on privacy interests or if there was a valid public policy for keeping the record secret. “If you insert that language in the bill, then you have put a hole in the bill big enough to drive a Mack truck through,” Dellinger said. The measure starts out with the philosophy that public records are presumptively open, then lists exceptions. Among the records that can be kept private are law enforcement investigative records, test questions for licensing examinations, documents which contain trade secrets and personnel files of public employees. However, certain police information must be made available. This includes arrest information, including the identity of the suspect, the charge and the circumstances of the arrest. Police logs are public records that must be disclosed, as are records listing information about people in the county jail or lock-up. “The reason for this bill is that Indiana has the worst public records law in the United States,” Cardwell explained. “It has been the worst since the present law was adopted in 1953.” There was no outright opposition to the measure from those who testified at Monday’s hearing. Instead, several groups suggested amendments to clear up what they considered problem areas. Many of the suggestions were incorporated into the legislation as it cleared committee. At the urging of Dick Good, executive director of the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Association, the committee deleted the requirement that crime victims’ addresses must be released. Tom Bredewege of the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns suggested delaying the effective date of the bill from Sept. 1,1983 until Jan. 1,1984. That would allow municipal officials time to brush up on the new requirements and give time for transition from one administration to another following November municipal elections, he said. The committee also followed the suggestion of Joe Franklin of Indiana University and added language to permit agencies to throw away unneeded records. In its old form, “this bill would put IU in the warehouse business,” he said. The Indiana State Chamber of Commerce endorsed the bill, but spokesman Frank McAllister said he was concerned that businesses working with state agencies not have secret information divulged.

Cigarette-buying age to be 16 under state bill

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - A bill that would raise the minimum age for buying cigarettes from 13 to 16 years was ready for a final vote today in the Indiana Senate. The measure cleared the amendment stage Monday as the Senate passed its first bill of the 1983 session. Today marks the 11th day in the General Assembly’s 61-day session. Under the bill, a merchant who knowingly sells cigarettes to cun underage customer could befined up to SSOO. The bill also requires signs posted in stores and on vending machines stating it is illegal for those under age 16 to buy cigarettes. Merchants who don’t maintain the signs also risk up to a SSOO fine. Sens. Ralph Potesta, RHammond, and William Costas, R-Valparaiso, are sponsoring the measure. The Senate added a provision Monday suggested by Sen. John B. Augsburger, R-Syracuse, that requires underage youths who buy cigarettes to attend a seminar with their parents on the hazards of smoking or to write a two-page essay, with research from the American Lung Association. The bill still imposes no penalty for smoking cigarettes for those under age 16 who didn’t buy the tobacco themselves. Potesta suggesting removing the penalty provisions for merchants who don’t comply with

the bill, but the Senate defeated that amendment, 33-13. A bill allowing the Department of Mental Health to operate community residential facilities for developmentally disabled individuals was eligible for a final vote today. A bill allowing the Department of Highways to issue emergency contracts without following the normal bidding process also was eligible for a final vote. The first bill passed by the Indiana Senate this year sailed through on a 47-0 vote. The measure that sets up a procedure for appointing a temporary mayor when a city’s chief executive is unable to perform the duties himself. The bill allows a mayor to designate a short-term replacement if he is out of town, ill or injured. If the mayor is incapacitated, the city council president or president pro tern can petition the circuit court for an interim mayor. In either case, the bill allows appointment of the city’s deputy mayor, city controller or city attorney to serve as acting mayor for 15 days in a 60-day period. The bill was prompted by the shooting last May of LaPorte Mayor Aloysius J. Rumely. He died in November from complicatons. Currently, there is no state law setting up what to do if the mayor is temporarily incapacitated. “I think this is the correct

Six-month warning asked

Bill would require plant closing notice

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Bills to set up a job retraining program and require plants to give six months notice before closing are among the latest bills introduced for consideration by the 1983 Indiana General Assembly. The measures are among 23 Senate bills filed Monday. Wednesday marks the 12th day of the 1983 session, and the deadline for filing Senate bills. House members have three additional session days to file bills. Sens. John Bushemi, D-Gary, and James R. Butcher, R-Kokomo, are sponsoring a bill to set up the Hoosier State Skills Corp. to make grants to train jobless Hoosiers. The corporation’s 25-member board, appointed by the governor, would implement the federal Job Training Partnership Act, and set up a jobs retraining program in Indiana. Businesses that plan to close or relocate would be required to give six-months notice under a bill sponsored by Bushemi and Farrell N. Duckworth, R-Bloomington. Similar measures have been introduced in the past and gotten nowhere. “Advance notice (of shutdowns) is declared essential to the public health and welfare and is declared to be a proper exercise of the police powers of this state,” the bill says. The bill declares that permanent dislocation of workers due to plant closings, relocations or a shutdown that displaces at least half of the employees within two years “is a serious

Audit of ABC recommends new computer system and controls

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The State Board of Accounts reports some Alcoholic Beverage Commission records have been destroyed, some files are missing and some permits were improperly handled since 1976. A Board of Accounts audit released Monday recommends a new computer system for the commission and tighter monitoring of permits and personnel. “Everything that could possibly be wrong was wrong,’’ said M.F. Renner, state examiner. “There's page after page of operating not in compliance with Indiana law.” In a 36-page audit report, auditors recommended a new data processing system, saying “the present system places the commission in a position of operating to a great extent at the mercy of its employees. “It also is susceptible to manipulation by the commission to obtain results which would be considered of a fraudulent nature and beyond a matter of administrative policy or management expediency, if they were so inclined,” the audit said.

way to proceed in this particular sticky situation,” said Sen. Dennis Neary, D-Michigan City, who co-sponsored the bill with Sen. Ernest Niemeyer, RLowell. A similar measure has been introduced in the House. The House voted 67-21 Monday for a bill that would allow judges to assess interest on late child support payments, despite complaints it would cause a hardship on the unemployed. Rep. Gordon Harper, RIndianapolis, sponsored the bill to allow a judge to assess an interest charge of 1 percent per month. The late fee would not be automatic. It would have to be requested by the parent entitled to receive the support payments. “I think this is putting an additional burden on them (the unemployed), and maybe we should wait a couple of years for this,” said Rep. Craig Campbell, D-Anderson. Campbell said he was in court Monday morning with an unemployed auto worker seeking a reduction in support payments. The father was 22 weeks behind in support and had exhausted his unemployment benefits. Rep. Hurley Goodall, DMuncie, said he was concerned the bill didn’t specify how long the support payments would have to be delinquent or a minimum dollar amount in arrears before interest could be ordered. ‘‘We have a lot of people out of work now,” Goodall said.

menace to the health and welfare of the people of this state.” The measure applies to factories, plants and offices that employ at least 100 people and have operated for at least five years, or have taken over firms that have been in the community at least five years. If a company plans to close or move out of the community, resulting in job loss for at least 10 percent of its employees, the bill would require the firm to notify the state Department of Commerce, Employment Security Division, the company’s employees, the union and local government officials. The bill would require the company to compile a written economic impact statement listing the number of employees on the payroll, the number of employees affected, their wages, the amount of state and local tax revenue that

The audit, which spans July 1, 1977 to June 30,1982. says a new computer system is being designed. The audit results were presented to the Alcoholic Beverage Commission and superintendent of the Excise Police on Nov. 18,1982. A copy of the audit was sent to U.S. Attorney Sarah Evans Barker in Indianapolis for “informational purposes,” Renner said. Renner said most of the problems occurred before 1981. Last year, the Indiana General Assembly passed several changes aimed at tightening enforcement of alcoholic beverage laws. Robert N. Skinner, ABC chairman since Jan 12.1981, announced last week he was resigning effective Jan. 31, to return to his law practice. He said Monday that he requested the Board of Accounts audit, and the results had nothing to do with his decision to resign. Harry K. Wick, a member of the Marion County Liquor Board, will serve the remaining two years of the term. The previous ABC chairman,

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James D. Sims, served from Jan. 1, 1977 through Jan. 12, 1981. Skinner said the commission has corrected most of the “deficiencies that were inherited by this commission.” He said the new data processing system is still in the works, but otherwise, “we’ve gotten everything taken care of ” The audit found the commission purged its permit and application files in 1976, and prior to April 1981 didn’t retain summaries of permit quotas and some other records. Some files for active permits or renewals were incomplete. Auditors said an employee told them previous files containing applications and other documents had “mysteriously disappeared or been misplaced.” The auditors recommended the commission maintain a centralized record indicating file numbers and action taken as each permit is renewed. The audit said the commission acted improperly when it halted applications for transfer or renewed permits after Indiana Wholesale Liquor

will be lost and an estimate of the financial impact on other businesses in the community. However, the measure contains no penalty for companies which fail to comply. Under another bill, sponsored by Sen. Frank Mrvan. D-Hammond, unemployed parents would qualify for Aid to Families with Dependent Children. Butcher wants to specify that juvenile courts can intervene on behalf of a handicapped child who is deprived of food or medical treatment “that is necessary to remedy or ameliorate a life-threatening medical condition” and if the food or medical care “is generally provided to similarly situated handicapped and nonha ndicapped c hildren. ’ ’ Similar language is already in the juvenile code. The measure is designed to prevent a

Dealers Association notified it the applicant hadn’t paid wholesalers. “It appears that the burden of enforcing collection of unpaid liquor bills lies with the wholesalers and is not the responsibility of the Alcoholic Beverage Commission or the state of Indiana,” the audit said. “This method of collection enforcement benefits the wholesalers at the expense of the taxpayers in the form of increased workload, mailing cost and processing time required for the processing of applications by state employees.” When applications can't be processed, the bartender permit section refunds money that accompanied the application. The audit found several envelopes with undeliverable refund checks and money orders, some worth as much as SI,OOO, dating from 1973 to 1981. The audit recommends such checks be given to the state treasurer, kept in a safe and subsquently be turned over to the attorney general as unclaimed property.

January 18,1983, The Putnam County Banner-Graphic

recurrence of cases similar to “Infant Doe,” a deformed infant whose parents chose to withhold medical treatment. The child died last spring. A similar measure has been introduced in the House. Elementary and high school students would be taught three times before graduation about the effects of drug and alcohol abuse, under a measure sponsored by Sen. William Dunbar, RTerre Haute. Sen. Virginia Blankenbaker, R-Indianapolis. is sponsoring a bill to bar the imposition of a penalty on student athletes for participating in organized amateur competition, if they have the permission of their parent, coach and principal or vice principal. The bill would also allow them to compete in the Olympic Games, Olympic trials, Olympic Development program, Pan-American Games or any other Olympic competition without penalty from the Indiana High School Athletic Association. Other bills would: —Revamp Indiana’s handgun licensing law, restricting ownership to persons age 21 or older. The current minimum age is 18. —Require motorists to drive in the right lane of a divided highway except to pass or avoid a traffic hazard. —Give S3O income tax credits to Hoosiers earning less than $15,000 a year to provide relief from utility costs.

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