01/09/07 FDLE sued over online access to juvenile arrest data
We've been duped!
- Juvenile arrest records not confidential...
by
Cathy Corry, justice4kids.org, April 29, 2005
As I discovered approximately two years ago, the criminal arrest history of juveniles arrested in Florida is PUBLIC RECORD and is available from Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) for a nominal fee ($23) to ANYONE! No signed release is requested or required.
The records accessed at FDLE are Florida arrest records only. Court records and Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) records are not accessible from FDLE.
As I stated at the 4/28/05 Pinellas County Juvenile Justice Council (PCJJC) meeting, possibly the Council can work toward recommending legislative change that would keep these juvenile arrest records confidential so that employers, landlords and schools would no longer be able to obtain this information that has a detrimental impact on many youth.
Notice the detail in the boxes below (copied from the FDLE website), indicating Public Records accessible by the General Public.
To access this information, the requestor does not even need to know a Date Of Birth or Social Security # of the 'criminal', nor does the requestor need permission from the youth, parent, or anyone!
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Division of Criminal
Justice Information Services (CJIS), is the central repository for criminal history information for the state
of Florida. In addition to maintaining criminal history information, it is our
responsibility to provide public access to this information when requested.
- FDLE
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Below is a search I requested on April 28, 2005 (see FDLE Criminal History Inquiry Results below). This is a random name chosen from a list after doing a search for my son. I do not know the boy, MXXXXXX CAREY, currently age 15, listed with a St Pete address.
NOTE: The XXXXXX is my redaction. I paid FDLE for access to the complete name.
The listing shows two arrests by Pinellas County Sheriffs Office when the boy was age 13 and 14:
04/16/03 - shoplifting
01/08/04 - false ID to LEO
The following notations are included in the search record:
****THIS RECORD CONTAINS JUVENILE ARREST INFORMATION****
RECORD WAS REQUESTED PURSUANT TO 943.053(3), F.S.
AS MANDATED BY CHAPTER 2002-356, LAWS OF FLORIDA
Please note: In the FDLE public disclosure listed below, I chose to redact a portion of the boy's name and address, so as to not contribute to further dissemination of information that would negatively impact this youth. The STATE ID (SID) number remains displayed.
Cathy Corry -
www.justice4kids.org
727-799-9762
******************************************
FDLE Criminal History Inquiry Results: E-mail to Cathy Corry from FDLE April 28, 2005 [REDACTED by Cathy Corry]
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June 17, 2005
From: Nelson Ocampo
To: Cathy Corry
Subject: RE: Re: Juvenile arrests-FDLE public record
Ms. Corry,
We apologize for the delay in our response and thank you for your patience. We have conferred with our Office of General Counsel, as well as other sections within the Criminal Justice Information Services Program area involved with the issues presented to us. We will attempt to answer your questions from the information available.
1. FL Statute s. 943.051(3)(b) refers to submission of fingerprints by minors, not the actual offense record of the minor.
Sections 943.051(3)(b) and 985.212, F.S., require the submission of fingerprints of a child to the Department of Law Enforcement for the listed offenses, with no explicit reference to accompanying criminal histories . Please note, however, that the definition of "criminal history information" at Section 943.045(4), F.S., includes, by implication, "identification information, such as fingerprint records, if the information does ... indicate involvement of the person in the criminal justice system." An arrest fingerprint card, containing identification information and the reason (charge) for the arrest, is itself a criminal history record. The release to the public of juvenile criminal history records is authorized at Section 943.053(3)(a), F.S., (which refers to "information relating to minors") and is presumed by the abbreviated retention schedule found at Section 943.0515, F.S., as well as by the allowance for the expunction and sealing of juvenile criminal history records made at Sections 943.0582, 943.0585, and 943.059, F.S. Section 943.051(4), F.S., states that fingerprints shall be used as the basis for criminal history records. Legislative intent in the above statutes, in addition to Attorney General Opinions (AGO), supports the Department in the following understanding: the actual submission of fingerprints, as referenced in the above statutes, would include the reporting of arrest records and dispositions, forming the actual criminal history of a minor.
Attorney General Opinions 94-91 and 95-19 further affirm the Legislature's intent to establish the public's right to obtain information about persons who commit serious offenses, regardless of age. The AGO cites can be reviewed at http://myfloridalegal.com/ . Should you have any questions concerning our interpretation, please provide a phone number and a member of our Office of General Counsel will contact you to discuss this issue further.
2. FL Statute s. 943.051(3)(b) does not include numerous offenses that are actually disclosed on public record access for juvenile arrests: like misdemeanor FALSE ID GIVEN TO LEO or misdemeanor MARIJUANA POSSESSION. Note: I will separately forward to you a criminal history search that I retrieved 6 weeks ago (on 4/28/05) for MXXXXXX CAREY, DOB 10/15/1989, SID#5822692, that discloses a misdemeanor arrest for FALSE ID GIVEN TO LEO. I have other many examples of similar disclosures for juvenile arrests
Your second concern identifies a problem with the dissemination of juvenile offense information. The specific charge detailed in SID# 5822692, Fraud-Impersonation, False ID Given to LEO, should NOT have been disseminated to the public as it is not one of the offenses listed in Section 943.051(3). This error has been rectified for this particular criminal history and the charge will not be disseminated to the general public. Should you have further examples, as you have alluded, and can provide us with SID's or demographic information, we will certainly amend those specific records immediately.
In the interim, we are exploring the offense dissemination errors reported above to determine the extent and the cause of the problem. A complete analysis of our extensive juvenile criminal histories is currently being performed to ensure compliance with the proper dissemination of juvenile offense records. It is anticipated that this analysis may require two weeks to accomplish. Please be assured that this issue is important to the Department and we are working diligently to properly address this issue and take any corrective action necessary.
3. I don't find anything that exactly states the authority to release all juvenile arrest records; the closest that I could find is s. 943.053(3)(a) '...After providing the program with all known identifying information, persons in the private sector and noncriminal justice agencies may be provided criminal history information upon tender of fees...' But, please explain to me what 'the program' is. Also, this section seems to refer to ALL criminal history, nor just certain offenses.
The authority to release juvenile criminal history records is discussed above in response to Question 1. The "program" as referenced in the cited statute is the Criminal Justice Information Program. The FDLE Criminal Justice Information Program manages the central repository for criminal history information for the State of Florida. In addition to maintaining and updating criminal history information, it is our responsibility to provide public access to this information when requested in accordance with State law. As you are aware, records received by an agency in its official capacity are public unless made confidential or exempt from disclosure by law.
Section 943.053(3)(a), F.S., does refer to criminal history information in general, including information relating to minors. It does not specifically address the issue of which juvenile offenses may be disclosed to the public. The mandatory reporting and authorized disclosure of juvenile criminal history records are specifically referred to in other statutes, as noted in the response to Question 1.
We hope these responses will be helpful to you. Thank you again for your patience and continued understanding as we move forward on the issue outlined in Question 2. We welcome any further questions or concerns you may have.
Nelson Ocampo
Senior Management Analyst Supervisor
Criminal History Public Records Section
http://www2.fdle.state.fl.us
(850) 410-8109
June 16, 2005
From: Cathy Corry
To: Nelson Ocampo
Subject: Fw: Re: Juvenile arrests-FDLE public record
Nelson Ocampo, Are you working on my concerns or has this been sent to the FDLE legal department? Please provide to me an approximate date that I can expect a reply. Thank you! Cathy Corry - www.justice4kids.org
June 08, 2005
From: Cathy Corry
To: Nelson Ocampo
Subject: Re: Juvenile arrests-FDLE public record
Nelson Ocampo, Thank you for your swift and detailed reply. I have reviewed the summary attachment that you sent as well as the applicable statutes. Which leads me to further concerns:
1. FL Statute s. 943.051(3)(b) refers to submission of fingerprints by minors, not the actual offense record of the minor.
2. FL Statute s. 943.051(3)(b) does not include numerous offenses that are actually disclosed on public record access for juvenile arrests: like misdemeanor FALSE ID GIVEN TO LEO or misdemeanor MARIJUANA POSSESSION. Note: I will separately forward to you a criminal history search that I retrieved 6 weeks ago (on 4/28/05) for MXXXXXX CAREY, DOB 10/15/1989, SID#5822692, that discloses a misdemeanor arrest for FALSE ID GIVEN TO LEO. I have other many examples of similar disclosures for juvenile arrests.
3. I don't find anything that exactly states the authority to release all juvenile arrest records; the closest that I could find is s. 943.053(3)(a) '. . . After providing the program with all known identifying information, persons in the private sector and noncriminal justice agencies may be provided criminal history information upon tender of fees. . .' But, please explain to me what 'the program' is. Also, this section seems to refer to ALL criminal history, nor just certain offenses.
FULL STATE SECTION EXCERPTED: 943.053 Dissemination of criminal justice information; fees.-- (3)(a) Criminal history information, including information relating to minors, compiled by the Criminal Justice Information Program from intrastate sources shall be available on a priority basis to criminal justice agencies for criminal justice purposes free of charge. After providing the program with all known identifying information, persons in the private sector and noncriminal justice agencies may be provided criminal history information upon tender of fees as established in this subsection and in the manner prescribed by rule of the Department of Law Enforcement.
Thank you for your assistance! Cathy Corry - www.justice4kids.org
June 07, 2005
From: Nelson Ocampo
To: Cathy Corry
Ms. Corry,
Thank you for your inquiry and interest in the dissemination of juvenile records, in accordance with Florida Public Records law. Attached is a document which outlines the dissemination of juvenile records, complete with statutory citations. For your convenience, I have attached a link to the Florida Legislature site where you can further review specific statutes.
http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Welcome/index.cfm
We value the opinion of our customers and are appreciative of your interest. We trust the attachment will answer and clarify any questions you may have had concerning this issue. Thank you and I hope you have a great day!
Nelson Ocampo
Criminal History Public Records Section
June 06, 2005
From: Cathy Corry
To: Nelson Ocampo
Subject: Juvenile arrests-FDLE public record
Nelson Ocampo,
I would like to be provided with the FL Statute that stipulates accessibility of public records for juvenile arrests in the state of Florida. The FDLE background search provides the following statement:
RECORD WAS REQUESTED PURSUANT TO 943.053(3), F.S.. AS MANDATED BY CHAPTER 2002-356, LAWS OF FLORIDA
I do realize that CHAPTER 2002-356 is incorrect, as referenced by the email communication below.
But I am curious to know if F.S. 943.053(3)(a) is the only Statute that references private sector accessibility to criminal history information of minors. Also, when was this section of the Statute enacted?
Thank you, Cathy Corry - www.justice4kids.org Kasserian ingera? [How are the children?] "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
Apr 30, 2005
From: Nelson Ocampo
To: Dave Plyer
Subject: RE: FDLE Criminal History Inquiry Results: CHAPTER 2002-356, LAWS OF
FLORIDA
Mr. Plyer,
We apologize for the confusion with the citation. When the bill passed and became law, the social security number exemption to Public Record was issued Chapter 2002-356, Laws of Florida. However, the issuance of a statute number amended the citation for the exemption. The correct reference for the Social Security Number exemption is Section 119.0721, Florida Statutes.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We will examine our documents to ensure the proper citation.
Nelson Ocampo
Public Records Section
April 30, 2005
From: Dave Plyer
To: Internet Criminal Results
Subject: FDLE Criminal History Inquiry Results: CHAPTER 2002-356, LAWS OF
FLORIDA
I have an e-mail with the subject FDLE Criminal History Inquiry Results. In the body of the e-mail is a disclaimer with these words:
"... THIS RECORD WAS REQUESTED PURSUANT TO 943.053(3), F.S. . AS MANDATED BY CHAPTER 2002-356, LAWS OF FLORIDA , FULL SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS ARE NOW EXEMPT FROM PUBLIC DISCLOSURE..."
When I went to FDLE Criminal History Inquiry Results, Laws of Florida
, via
http://election.dos.state.fl.us/laws/02laws/ch_2002-356.pdf , this is what I
found:
CHAPTER 2002-356
House Bill No. 965An act relating to Broward County, Florida; providing for deannexation of certain lands from the Town of Davie; providing for annexation of certain lands into the Town of Southwest Ranches; providing for confirmation of corporate existence of the Town of Southwest Ranches on June 6, 2000; providing an effective date.
Either I am looking in the wrong place or there is mistake in the reference number.
Please give me the correct link to the law.
Regards,
Dave Plyer
3021 Tennessee Av.
Clearwater, FL 33759
727.799.1431
