Judges: WINSTON BRYANT, Attorney General
Filed Date: 4/11/1995
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 7/5/2016
The Honorable Doug Wood State Representative P.O. Box 7078 Sherwood, Arkansas 72116
Dear Representative Wood:
This is in response to your request for an opinion on the following questions:
In the juvenile court system, for cases of dependent abuse or dependent neglect, are the tape recordings made by the court reporter subject to the Freedom of Information Act and accessible by any party to these actions? Certainly, transcriptions are available for a fee, but are the audio tapes themselves subject to inspection and/or copying by a defendant or party? If so, what would be the usual and customary charge for a copy of the audio tape?
Your first question has two parts: 1) Whether such tape recordings are "subject" to the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA") A.C.A. §§
The FOIA, however, expressly exempts documents which are protected from disclosure by order or rule of court. See A.C.A. §
(a) Records of the arrest of a juvenile, the detention of a juvenile, and of proceedings under this subchapter shall be confidential and shall not be subject to disclosure under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, §
25-19-101 et seq., unless:
(1) Authorized by a written order of the juvenile court; or
(2) The arrest or the proceedings under this subchapter result in the juvenile being formally charged in circuit court for a felony.
Thus, in the types of cases to which you refer, dependent abuse or dependent neglect, which are "proceedings under . . . subchapter [27 of title 9]," the records are confidential unless the court authorizes disclosure by written order.2 If no such order has been entered, no one, not even a party to the proceedings, has any right to access or copy information by virtue of the FOIA. The right of a party to access the information will generally be subject to the oversight of the juvenile court. If no written order has been entered by the court nullifying the confidentiality provisions of A.C.A. §
If, in a given case, a written order has been entered by a court making the tape disclosable under the FOIA, it is my opinion that generally, the requester of the information is under the responsibility to provide copy equipment to make the copy. Should the court reporter wish to provide a copy, however, and charge a fee therefor, it is my opinion that the fee should be "reasonably related" to the cost of copying, which would include the cost of the blank tape and any wear and tear on equipment.See generally Op. Att'y Gen.
The foregoing opinion, which I hereby approve, was prepared by Deputy Attorney General Elana C. Wills.
Sincerely,
WINSTON BRYANT Attorney General
WB:ECW/cyh