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December Minutes


ITAC MEETING MINUTES
December 20, 2007

Attendees: Frieda Artis, John Killebrew, Reginald Brown, Gloria McNeill, Vass Johnson, and Robert Michaud

Due to work schedules Sondra Chaffee, Niamh Darcy, and Darryl McGraw could not participate.

Wake County: John Higgins, Paula Richardson, Velvadine Wallace and Lib Wanner

Meeting began at 9:05 a.m. Lib welcomed everyone to the meeting. Lib introduced John Higgins, Assistant Director Technical Infrastructure and Paula Richardson, HIPAA & Privacy Officer to the group and stated that they would be giving the presentation for Justification for Publication of Arrest Records.

Justification for Publication of Arrest Records
Paula Richardson gave a brief overview of the decision tree process to the group. She explained that the purpose of the decision tree is to provide structure when determining whether to publish Public information that is of a personal nature on the County’s website. She stated that the focus of the discussion is not on whether or not the information is a public record but the ease of access to it.

John Higgins stated that the CCBI department received a request from the CorMedia LLC to publish arrest records, fingerprint and mugshot information on the Internet. He stated that both the Sheriff’s Office and CCBI are exploring the possibility of providing a web portal whereby the media and the public can view this data. John referred to slide four of the handout and reviewed the language of the North Carolina General Statutes that specified the type of information considered as public information and therefore could be presented on the website.

John Higgins then referred to slide five to discuss the practices of other Governmental Agencies: Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, and Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office. Robert Michaud asked John for a cost estimate for creating a website like one of the three examples and John indicated that he thought it would be in the range of $20 - $25K. Robert then asked if the County could charge for CorMedia for some or all of these costs if we decided to do this; and Lib indicated that because the information would be available to anyone who wanted to view it the County would not charge CorMedia. Lib Wanner indicated that the County charges for specialized information, like GIS and real estate data or maps, that are not provided to the public in the format requested but we do not charge for the creation of information that is available to all.

John Higgins then referred to slide seven of the handout to discuss the three questions presented to the group. The general concern was raised over the requirement to show all records, regardless of whether or not the individual was convicted of an offense, and asked if there could be a way to only show those who had been convicted. Paula Richardson indicated that all records would need to be shown and Lib Wanner indicated that there maybe a way to link the record to a resolution, but that doing so had not been discussed. The group expressed concern about the information being mis-interpreted and thereby being used to cause harm to citizens.

The group also discussed the various ways information could be mis-used. Lib Wanner indicated that one of the pro’s of posting the data on the website, would be that all the data needed to be shown according to the General Statutes would be shown versus providing a subset of data to an individual or company who requested it who could in turn use the data to convey a message that was not necessarily fully accurate. The group expressed concern over the broadness of the language in the General Statutes that govern public information and suggested that the County approach the legislature to see if this could be narrowed. Lib Wanner indicated that she would report this interest back to the County Manager for his consideration.

Reginald Brown asked John Higgins what would be included on the website and John indicated that mugshots taken since 1993, when CCBI captured mugshots electronically, would be included and it would cover everyone who had been arrested except for minors. John Higgins indicated that neither mugshots nor fingerprints are taken for minors.

Lib Wanner then asked if the overall recommendation of the group was that they prefer not to include this information on the County website and recommend seeking alternatives for providing the information requested by CorMedia. Lib asked if it would be correct to assume that if the County could not find an alternative, ITAC would like for the County to contact Charlotte/Mecklenburg to find out if they have had any feedback from the public on their presentation of this kind of information on their website before pursuing a project to present this information on the County website. If Charlotte/Mecklenburg has not had significant negative feedback, then ITAC’s recommendation would be to pursue the project with the idea of providing the minimal amount of information allowable per the General Statutes. The group indicated that Lib’s summary of their input was correct.

ELECTION PROCESS:
Lib informed the group that Reginald Brown served a one-year term as the chairperson. She stated that Darryl McGraw would now be the chairperson and asked if anyone wanted to serve as vice-chair. Gloria McNeill volunteered to serve as vice-chairperson.

Meeting adjourned at 9:58 a.m.