Clark program may have violated open-records law

Clark County

Discussion

September 9, 2007

By LARRY THOMAS The News and Tribune Sun Sep 09, 2007, 01:06 AM EDT

The Clark County Community Supervision Program likely violated state law by refusing to release the name of a client with whom a former employee is accused of having sex with, according to a lawyer familiar with the Access to Public Records Act.

On Aug. 30, The Evening News and The Tribune submitted a written request to program Director Ryan MacGregor, asking for documents relating to the employment and termination of case manager Larry Kehrwald. Some documents have been provided, but the name of Kehrwald’s alleged victim was blacked out of a copy provided to the newspapers.

On Thursday, a reporter verbally asked MacGregor for the woman’s name, but the request was denied after Clark Superior Court 1 Judge Vicki Carmichael — who chairs the Community Supervision Program’s board — instructed him not to release the information on the basis that there is a pending criminal investigation into Kehrwald’s conduct.

State law allows law-enforcement agencies the discretion to withhold information relating to pending investigations, but the Community Supervision Program does not appear to fit the definition for law-enforcement agencies provided in Indiana Code. It is the Clark County Sheriff’s Department that is working to determine whether Kehrwald committed a crime, not the Community Supervision Program.

In response to an e-mail from a reporter, Hoosier State Press Association attorney Steve Key wrote: “The records you seek are part of the factual basis for the employee’s termination and should be made available pursuant to the Access to Public Records Act. If they want to redact the name of the woman involved, they are going to have to cite statutory authority relevant to their agency. The investigatory records exception, as you correctly state, applies to law-enforcement agencies.”

On Friday morning, a letter was submitted to Carmichael asking her to reconsider her Thursday decision to deny releasing the woman’s name. If Carmichael still does not release the woman’s name, the newspapers could file a complaint with the Indiana Public Access Counselor and, ultimately, file suit in Clark Circuit Court.

The Evening News and The Tribune does not publish the names of the victims of crimes of a sexual basis unless they knowingly take steps to make their names known, such as agreeing to speak publicly regarding their experiences or filing civil suits seeking damages for having been victimized.

The newspapers have requested the name of Kehrwald’s alleged victim in order to access her criminal record for information such as her age, the community in which she lives and the charges on which she has been convicted that led to her becoming a client of the Community Supervision Program.

On Thursday, Clark County Sheriff’s Department Maj. Chuck Adams said detectives have interviewed the woman with whom Kehrwald allegedly had sex and that they have an interview scheduled with Kehrwald and his lawyer, Patrick Renn.

Adams said information from the department’s investigation could be forwarded to Prosecutor Steve Stewart within a few days of the interview with Kehrwald.

In Indiana, it is a Class C felony for a public servant to engage in sexual relations with someone subject to lawful detention. Official misconduct — the definition of which includes a public servant’s intentionally performing an act they are legally prohibited of performing — is a Class D felony.

Upon conviction, the imprisonment for a Class C felony can range from two to eight years, while imprisonment for a Class D felony can range from six months to three years.

Several sources close to the investigation have indicated that Kehrwald and the woman may have had sex in the Clark County Government Building, for which a charge of Class A misdemeanor indecent exposure could be applicable. That charge is punishable by up to a year in jail.