The Shrinking Pool of Public Information.
Today I went down the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Warrants Office to learn if there were any outstanding warrants for particular individual. I was politely told by the clerk that I could only have the information if I was the person in question or accompanied by the person in question.
Meanwhile in Tuolomne County, not only is that kind of information readily accessible by the public, it is available on line with mugshots.
What is it that the Sacramento County Sheriff hopes to accomplish by severely limiting this kind of information?
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I thought that information was legally available to anyone willing to identify themselves and pay administrative costs to get it. Isn’t it covered under the Freedom of Information Act? Would it help to file an official complaint?
I’ve been looking into this throughout the afternoon and it seems to vary by county. Most say you can come into their office and get the information. Others maintain a most wanted web page with outstanding warrant information. Some might have bench warrants available.
A FOIA request would take to long in many cases and therefore be of little value.