House votes to keep police reports open

BRAD SHANNON, THE OLYMPIAN

OLYMPIA -- A maneuver to block public access to basic police reports was rejected by the House of Representatives on Thursday.

Instead, the House approved a slimmed-down version -- Substitute House Bill 1717 -- by a 94-0 vote.

It leaves intact the public's right to see certain basic police reports, which newspapers, radio and TV stations routinely rely on for information.

The new bill lacks the restrictions on police reports, but does limit the release of a prison or jail's escape- response plans and security-related documents.

"This bill will help protect public safety and protect our correctional officers from harm," said Rep. Dave Morell, R-Puyallup. His original proposal, which the Senate amended with the police report restriction, came back as "son of Frankenstein," he said.

"We agreed with the newspapers, basically," House Co-Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, said of the decision to get rid of the Senate's restrictions on police reports.

The original bill was a response, in part, to complaints from the Department of Corrections, which said inmate requests for public records cost the agency $350,000 a year, a legislative analysis said.

All six South Sound representatives -- Republicans Gary Alexander and Richard DeBolt and Democrats Sandra Romero, Sam Hunt, Kathy Haigh and Bill Eickmeyer -- voted to pass the substitute bill without the police report limits.

The Senate had previously passed the House bill, but added an amendment that restricted access to police reports. Because an amendment was added, the bill had to go back to the House for approval.

The measure now goes back to the Senate, where its future is unclear without the limits on access to police reports.

Some senators have said they didn't understand the amendment restricting police report access and didn't have a chance to read the text when they passed it 41-6 on April 6.

Besides closing off police reports, the amendment would have blocked public access to a government agency's records of collective bargaining, professional negotiations and professional services contracting.

"We're not going to do that bill at all if that amendment comes off. So they're wasting their time," Sen. Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam, said of the House vote.

Hargrove and Sens. Georgia Gardner, D-Blaine, and Bob McCaslin, R-Spokane, had sponsored the amendment to limit public access to agency reports.

Sen. Tim Sheldon, D-Potlatch, had voted for the amendment but soon said he regretted the decision, explaining that he'd not had a chance to read the amendment on the floor. Sheldon said he would not vote for it again.

Sen. Karen Fraser, D-Olympia, had a similar explanation.

Hargrove said public access to police reports needs to be curtailed "so newspapers wouldn't print information about people who have not been convicted."

He wants to keep information about victims from being printed also.

Rowland Thompson, executive director for Allied Daily Newspapers of Washington, opposed Hargrove's efforts, but said he has no objections to the narrower bill.

Brad Shannon, political editor for The Olympian, can be reached at 753-1688 or shannonbrad@hotmail.com.

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