By Taylor Wooten
Statehouse File
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, 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.
Sen. Greg Walker, R-Columbus, has voted in favor of the bill.
Under current law, police logs only omit the names of victims of sex crimes or sex trafficking. Sen. Kyle 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.
The bill, as originally written, would also prevent information about local missing or abducted children being released to the media by police, who assist law enforcement by notifying the public with the child’s name, description and other details in an effort to help the search.
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.”
