Assembly Bill No. 462–Committee on Judiciary

 

March 24, 2003

____________

 

Referred to Committee on Judiciary

 

SUMMARY—Limits access to records related to homeland security. (BDR 19‑1282)

 

FISCAL NOTE:  Effect on Local Government: No.

                           Effect on the State: No.

 

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EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.

 

AN ACT relating to public records; limiting access to records related to homeland security; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN

SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

 

1-1  Section 1. Chapter 239 of NRS is hereby amended by adding

1-2  thereto the provisions set forth as sections 2 to 7, inclusive, of this

1-3  act.

1-4  Sec. 2.  “Actual cost” means the direct cost related to the

1-5  reproduction of a public record. The term does not include a cost

1-6  that a governmental entity incurs regardless of whether a person

1-7  requests a copy of a particular record.

1-8  Sec. 3.  “Committee” means the Committee to Approve

1-9  Schedules for the Retention and Disposition of Official State

1-10  Records.

1-11      Sec. 4.  “Division” means the Division of State Library and

1-12  Archives of the Department of Cultural Affairs.

1-13      Sec. 5.  “Governmental entity” means:

1-14      1.  An elected or appointed officer of this state or of a political

1-15  subdivision of this state;

1-16      2.  An institution, board, commission, bureau, council,

1-17  department, division, authority or other unit of government of this

1-18  state or of a political subdivision of this state;

1-19      3.  A university foundation, as defined in NRS 396.405; or

2-1  4.  An educational foundation, as defined in NRS 388.750, to

2-2  the extent that the foundation is dedicated to the assistance of

2-3  public schools.

2-4  Sec. 6.  “Record related to homeland security” means a

2-5  public record which is, based upon the history of terrorism or on

2-6  current events, designated by the custodian of the record to have a

2-7  high potential for use by foreign or domestic terrorists planning

2-8  an attack. The term includes, but is not limited to:

2-9  1.  Airport parking positions for aircraft;

2-10      2.  The location of airport radio beacons;

2-11      3.  Immunization statistics;

2-12      4.  Health plans and reviews of those plans;

2-13      5.  Information concerning use of explosives and permits for

2-14  such use;

2-15      6.  Plans for recovery from disasters;

2-16      7.  Records of emergency exercises;

2-17      8.  Records of training exercises for emergency management;

2-18  and

2-19      9.  Blueprints or plans of schools, places of worship, airports,

2-20  police and fire stations, hotels, casinos, courthouses, federal

2-21  buildings, production, storage or transfer facilities operated by

2-22  public utilities, or other potential targets for terrorist attacks.

2-23      Sec. 7.  1.  A public officer or employee who is the custodian

2-24  of a record related to homeland security shall establish a log to

2-25  track inspection of any such record, the persons requesting to

2-26  inspect the record, and the purpose of the inspection. The log must

2-27  include, without limitation:

2-28      (a) The name of the person who inspects the record;

2-29      (b) The name of the employer of each person who inspects the

2-30  record, if any;

2-31      (c) The citizenship of each person who inspects the record;

2-32      (d) The date and time that the record was inspected;

2-33      (e) A copy of photographic identification, issued by a

2-34  governmental entity or a federal agency, of the person who

2-35  inspects the record; and

2-36      (f) Except as otherwise provided in subsection 3, the purpose

2-37  for inspecting the record.

2-38      2.  A public officer or employee shall not allow a person to

2-39  inspect a record related to homeland security unless the person

2-40  seeking to inspect the record provides all of the information

2-41  required for the log maintained pursuant to subsection 1.

2-42      3.  A person is not required to indicate the purpose for

2-43  inspecting a record related to homeland security if the person

2-44  presents satisfactory documentation that he is:

2-45      (a) An employee of the news media;

3-1  (b) An employee of a governmental entity;

3-2  (c) A registered architect or licensed contractor, or a

3-3  designated employee of an architect or contractor; or

3-4  (d) An emergency services worker.

3-5  4.  The log maintained pursuant to subsection 1 is not a public

3-6  record and may only be inspected by:

3-7  (a) A representative of a law enforcement agency of the

3-8  Federal Government, the State or its political subdivisions; or

3-9  (b) An employee of the news media.

3-10      5.  A record related to homeland security must not be copied,

3-11  duplicated or reproduced in any way except:

3-12      (a) When necessary during an emergency;

3-13      (b) To protect the rights and obligations of a governmental

3-14  entity or members of the general public; or

3-15      (c) Pursuant to a court order.

3-16  A public officer or employee who allows a person to inspect a

3-17  record related to homeland security shall inform the person that,

3-18  except as authorized in this subsection, copying, duplicating or

3-19  reproducing the record in any way is prohibited.

3-20      6.  A public officer or employee shall not allow the

3-21  unsupervised inspection of a record related to homeland security.

3-22  Such a record may only be inspected in an area that may be

3-23  monitored by employees of the public agency. A public officer or

3-24  employee shall supervise the inspection of the record to the extent

3-25  necessary to ensure that the person inspecting the record does not

3-26  reproduce or otherwise misuse the record.

3-27      7.  Nothing in this section prevents a public officer or

3-28  employee from contacting a law enforcement agency to report a

3-29  suspicious or unusual request to inspect a record related to

3-30  homeland security.

3-31      Sec. 8.  NRS 239.005 is hereby amended to read as follows:

3-32      239.005  As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise

3-33  requires[:

3-34      1.  “Actual cost” means the direct cost related to the

3-35  reproduction of a public record. The term does not include a cost

3-36  that a governmental entity incurs regardless of whether or not a

3-37  person requests a copy of a particular public record.

3-38      2.  “Committee” means the Committee to Approve Schedules

3-39  for the Retention and Disposition of Official State Records.

3-40      3.  “Division” means the Division of State Library and Archives

3-41  of the Department of Cultural Affairs.

3-42      4.  “Governmental entity” means:

3-43      (a) An elected or appointed officer of this state or of a political

3-44  subdivision of this state;

4-1  (b) An institution, board, commission, bureau, council,

4-2  department, division, authority or other unit of government of this

4-3  state or of a political subdivision of this state;

4-4  (c) A university foundation, as defined in NRS 396.405; or

4-5  (d) An educational foundation, as defined in NRS 388.750, to

4-6  the extent that the foundation is dedicated to the assistance of public

4-7  schools.] , the words and terms defined in sections 2 to 6, inclusive,

4-8  of this act, have the meanings ascribed to them in those sections.

4-9  Sec. 9.  NRS 239.010 is hereby amended to read as follows:

4-10      239.010  1.  [All] Except as otherwise provided in section 7

4-11  of this act, all public books and public records of a governmental

4-12  entity, the contents of which are not otherwise declared by law to be

4-13  confidential, must be open at all times during office hours to

4-14  inspection by any person, and may be fully copied or an abstract or

4-15  memorandum may be prepared from those public books and public

4-16  records. Any such copies, abstracts or memoranda may be used to

4-17  supply the general public with copies, abstracts or memoranda of the

4-18  records or may be used in any other way to the advantage of the

4-19  governmental entity or of the general public. This section does not

4-20  supersede or in any manner affect the federal laws governing

4-21  copyrights or enlarge, diminish or affect in any other manner the

4-22  rights of a person in any written book or record which is

4-23  copyrighted pursuant to federal law.

4-24      2.  A governmental entity may not reject a book or record

4-25  which is copyrighted solely because it is copyrighted.

4-26      3.  [A] Except as otherwise provided in section 7 of this act, a

4-27  person may request a copy of a public record in any medium in

4-28  which the public record is readily available. An officer, employee or

4-29  agent of a governmental entity who has custody of a public record

4-30  shall not refuse to provide a copy of that public record in a readily

4-31  available medium because he has already prepared or would prefer

4-32  to provide the copy in a different medium.

4-33      Sec. 10.  This act becomes effective upon passage and

4-34  approval.

 

4-35  H