For the Defense - Vol. 6 Issue 3 - 17

CHRIA Applies to Requests Made to " Criminal Justice
Agencies "
CHRIA " governs the dissemination of information by
criminal justice agencies. " 1
CHRIA defines a criminal
justice agency as any governmental entity whose
principal function is the administration of criminal
justice.2
If an entity is not a
This includes local and municipal police
departments, the Pennsylvania State Police, state and
local prosecutors, parole boards, correctional facilities,
and courts with criminal jurisdiction.3
" criminal justice agency, " CHRIA's restrictions regarding
disseminating information do not apply to it.
To determine whether an entity comes within this
definition, courts consider the entity's (or person's)
official duties and responsibilities, and their relationship
to law enforcement activities. For example, in Hoffman
v. Borough of Macungie, the Commonwealth Court
determined that a mayor is a member of a criminal
justice agency for purposes of access to CHRIA material
based on " his statutory rights and duties " and the
fact that the mayor " maintains a supervisory status
within the Police Department and is entitled to most
information gathered and maintained by the Police
Department to the same extent as any officer within
the Department. " 4
Applying this same analysis, courts have concluded
that county or local governments as a whole,5
courts
with exclusively civil jurisdiction, government entities
that have no authority over the operations of criminal
justice agencies (such as a police review board6
the Pennsylvania Auditor General7
litigation8
or
), and parties to
are not criminal justice agencies within the
meaning of CHRIA.
CHRIA Divides Information Held by Criminal Justice
Agencies into Three Categories
CHRIA creates three categories of information:
(1) public records; (2) criminal history record
information; and (3) protected information, including
law enforcement-gathered intelligence, investigative,
and treatment information. Each category has distinct
rules
regarding when disclosure
prohibited.
1. Public Records
CHRIA defines court dockets and their equivalents,
police blotters, press releases, and information
contained within them as public records.9
Public records
are not subject to CHRIA's protections or restrictions on
disclosure.10
Accordingly, public records held by criminal
justice agencies must be provided freely upon request.
2. Criminal History Record Information
CHRIA defines " criminal history record information "
is
permitted
or
However, when a criminal justice agency is producing
criminal history record information to an individual or
non-criminal justice agency, it must withhold criminal
history record information that was expunged,21
subject to a court order limiting disclosure,22
is
or relates
to proceedings that are no longer pending, that began
more than three years ago, and which did not result
in a conviction.23
This material can be redacted from a
larger record containing other criminal history record
information, and the remaining record produced.24
A criminal justice agency's failure to withhold
these portions of criminal history record information
violates CHRIA and can result in administrative
Vol. 6, Issue 3 l For The Defense 17
as information collected by a criminal justice agency
concerning an individual and " arising from the initiation
of a criminal proceeding, consisting of identifiable
descriptions, dates and notations of arrests, indictments,
criminal informations, or other formal criminal charges
and any dispositions arising therefrom. " 11
Criminal
history record information does not include identifying
information, such as a name or date of birth, when it is
contained in court records or other public documents,
like a police blotter.12
Importantly, an individual can
only have criminal history record information after
he is arrested or criminal proceedings are initiated
against him.13
Accordingly, identifying information
of individuals who are interviewed as witnesses
or suspected of a crime but never arrested is not
covered by CHRIA. However, such information may be
considered
from disclosure to non-criminal justice agencies and
individuals, as detailed below.
CHRIA provides that criminal history record
information may be provided upon request14
of
an individual or non-criminal justice agency, such
as by subpoena or discovery request.
The statute
provides that a police department " shall " provide
this information, and Pennsylvania courts have held
that, under certain circumstances, similar disclosure
obligations also apply to other criminal justice agencies,
such as prosecutors.15
In Commonwealth v. Copeland,
the Superior Court made clear that the district
attorney must provide the government's witnesses'
criminal history record information to the defense,
consistent with CHRIA, and the government's discovery
obligations.16
The district attorney argued that the
defendant should have sought the witness's criminal
history record information from the police, rather
than the prosecutor. The court disagreed, holding that
CHRIA's instruction that police departments " shall "
provide criminal history record information only placed
an affirmative duty on departments and did not bar
the district attorney from also providing it.17
The court
also held that then-Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal
Procedure 30518
and Brady v. Maryland19
compelled the
district attorney to provide the criminal history record
information of government witnesses.20
investigative material, which is protected
For the Defense - Vol. 6 Issue 3

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