The Garden City Telegram
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Grant County alters jail log
Published 8/25/2009 in Local News : Police
By RACHAEL GRAY
The Grant County Sheriff's Office may have violated the Kansas Open Records Act after a refusal to release the name of a man whom deputies arrested Sunday in connection with the 2008 deaths of a Ulysses couple.
The Telegram received a faxed copy of the Grant County Jail log Monday morning with the name of an arrested person whited out, along with the reason for arrest whited out. The arrest was the only one from Sunday, the day of the murder suspect's arrest.
According to Kansas law, a criminal justice agency can withhold records compiled in investigations but police blotters, court records, rosters of inmates of jails or other correctional or detention facilities are not documents of investigation. Failure to record the names of persons arrested and placed in jail would constitute a violation of the statute and the open records act, according to Kansas Attorney General opinions.
Kansas Assistant Attorney General Mike Smith said under the Kansas Open Records Act, materials mentioned above can be altered but the agency must state the reason for the alteration.
Kansas Press Association Attorney Mike Merriam said the redaction of the name was in clear violation of the Kansas Open Records Act.
Grant County Sheriff Lance Babcock was unavailable for comment because he left for vacation Monday, according to staff at the Grant County Sheriff's Office.
Grant County Attorney Robin Hathaway said all matters in the case would be handled by the Kansas Attorney General's Office.
"The decision to redact the document was not made by our office. We will talk with Grant County and explain that they can't do that," Ashley Anstaett, spokeswoman for the Attorney General's office, said this morning in an e-mail.
This morning, Grant County Undersheriff Loy Henderson said Sheriff Babcock took the name off the jail log because the jailer wasn't to have put it on in the first place.
Henderson said it was "common practice" to not release the name of a person until they've been charged.
Arrest records are open to the public, under the Kansas Open Records Act.
On the Web:
Download a copy of the Grant County jail log page faxed to The Telegram.
Grant County Sheriff's Office: http://www.grantcoks.org/index.aspx?nid=154
Found 4 comment(s)!
Altered Jail log
Kearny County has been known to do the same thing in the past!
Posted by: Resident on 9/2/2009
CalldaFeds
Get the State Atty. General involved and the Feds in to investigate this sheriffs office.
Posted by: roads on 8/30/2009
I hope they redact it when I get arrested.:)
Posted by: Shayla on 8/27/2009
story
Great reporting :)
Posted by: Shayla on 8/25/2009
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