Bill Removing Child Crime Victims’ Names From Public Record Passes Unanimously To House

• By Taylor Wooten, TheStatehouseFile.com
• FEBRUARY 9, 2022

INDIANAPOLIS—A Senate bill removing names of minors who are victims of crimes from police logs has received bipartisan support and is on its way to a full House vote.

Senate Bill 117 passed out of the House Veterans Affairs and Public Safety Committee 11-0 Tuesday but with the requirement that the author and others address the concerns expressed in testimony.

Senate Bill 117,  authored by Sen. Kyle Walker, R-Lawrence, aims to protect the identities of child victims. The bill received a hearing and a 11-0 vote of support from the House Veterans Affairs and Public Safety Committee, where lawmakers promised to look into potential unintended consequences of the bill.

Under current law, police logs only omit the names of victims of sex crimes or sex trafficking. Walker and eight other authors and coauthors of the nonpartisan bill support extending this protection to all minors that are victims of crimes.

“What this bill would do is exempt the records and personal identifying information of minors on police logs for any public access,” Walker said. “And it’s supported by a wide variety of cities and towns across the state, many law enforcement professionals.”

Prior to the committee meeting Tuesday, legislators amended the original bill so parents can give police agencies permission to release information and amended it to give police discretion in instances where a parent is the perpetrator of a crime against a minor. But there are still concerns that the bill goes further than intended.

Steve Key, executive director of the Hoosier State Press Association, which represents newspapers across the state, expressed concerns that the bill could limit reporting on court proceedings, where names of minors may need to be redacted from public records. The bill could also create problems when children have gone missing or been taken by a parent.

Parents or guardians are able to release the name of a child who has been victimized, but Key said this wouldn’t always solve the problems.

“I think we want to protect the privacy of the family and the information there,” Key said. “But I don’t think you want to tie the hands of the police department if they’re in situations where they want to release information and, for whatever reasons, they can’t get ahold of family.”

Key suggested that instead the bill language be amended to give individual police departments discretion on whether minors’ names are included in police logs.

With the session wrapping by mid-March, committee chairman Rep. Randy Frye, R-Greensburg, said he did not want to hold the bill longer. Instead, he asked that Walker, House sponsor Rep. Steve Bartels, R-Eckerty, Legislative Services Agency staff and Key work together to fix any issues within the bill before second reading in the House.

“I trust the author and the sponsor to work with LSA and make sure that we will get this answer,” Frye said.

FOOTNOTE: Taylor Wooten is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.