Oregon Administrative Rules › Chapter 291 - DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS › Division 39 - RELEASE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION › Section 291-039-0015 - Request for Release of Information

Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 7, July 1, 2024
(1) Any person, including the news media, may
			 request information about Department programs, services, facilities, employees,
			 volunteers, inmates, and offenders.
(2) Each functional unit manager, in
			 consultation with the Communications Manager, will designate one or more
			 employees to serve as the public information officer(s). The functional unit
			 manager may perform this function if he/she desires.
(3) Upon request, information listed on the
			 Offender Public Information screen regarding inmates and offenders may be
			 released by the designated staff at Department facilities. Staff shall act in
			 their official capacity only when releasing this information.
(4) Inmate/offender photographs may be
			 released when the release will enlist public assistance in apprehending
			 fugitives from justice and/or the release will not interfere with other law
			 enforcement efforts. Employees, contractors, and authorized volunteers have a
			 responsibility to volunteer such inmate/offender related information to an
			 inmate's/offender's employer and other law enforcement agencies when, in their
			 professional judgment, the public's right to know outweighs the individual's
			 right to privacy, because public safety may be in jeopardy based on an analysis
			 of the inmate's/offender's actions or criminal history.
(5) Request for other than the routine
			 information listed above will be referred to the unit's public information
			 officer.
(6) If the information
			 request involves questions of Department policy, major issues or news
			 developments, the unit's public information officer will direct such requests
			 to the Director or the Communications Manager.
(7) If death or serious injury has occurred,
			 the names of inmate(s), offender(s), [and/] or victim(s) will not be released
			 until the next of kin have been notified and, where applicable, the cause of
			 death will not be released until the death certificate has been
			 signed.
(8) Inmate/offender
			 presentence reports are not public records. The presentence report, or any
			 reports based on the contents of that report, may be made available to the
			 victim by Department of Corrections employees in accordance with the provisions
			 in ORS 137.077.
(9) Request for information concerning a
			 current or former contractor(s) will be referred to the Department of
			 Corrections Purchasing Unit for response.
(10) Request for information concerning a
			 current or former employee(s) or volunteer(s) will be referred to the
			 Department's Human Resource Section for response. Employment reference checks
			 concerning a current or former employee(s) or volunteer(s) will be referred to
			 the supervisor of the current or former employee(s) or volunteer(s) for
			 response.
(11) Request for release
			 of records and copies of such records will be handled in accordance with the
			 Department's rule on Release of Public Records (OAR 291-037).
(12) No Department employee will issue an
			 official Department of Corrections press release, schedule an official press
			 conference, or hold an official media event without prior approval from the
			 Director or the Communications Manager.
(13) Employees shall not, without written
			 authorization from the Director or the Communications Manager, make written or
			 oral statements, in what he/she gives others reasonable grounds to believe to
			 be an official capacity, where the effect of such statements would be to impair
			 or diminish the security, supervision, discipline, or the orderly and effective
			 operation of any Department facility or program.
(14) Employees desiring to provide DOC public
			 information as defined in these rules that they wish to make public through the
			 news media must notify the functional unit's public information officer or the
			 Communications Manager before contacting news media
			 representative(s).
(15) Employees
			 who are not authorized to make public statements as official Department
			 representatives are not restricted in their access to the news media, but must
			 clearly specify in contacting the media that they are not official Department
			 representatives and are speaking solely on their own behalf rather than on
			 behalf of the Department.
(16)
			 Community Corrections:
(a) Community
			 corrections employees in counties have access to the statewide Corrections
			 Information System. Information listed on the Public Information screen
			 regarding inmates and offenders may be released. Staff shall act in their
			 official capacity only when releasing this information.
(b) If, in the interest of public safety,
			 information other than that listed should be released to an employer or law
			 enforcement agency, then that release of information must be documented in the
			 case file. Documentation must include the information released, the person or
			 agency who received the information, and the public safety reason for the
			 release.
(c) If a county employee
			 wishes to release inmate or offender information other than routine information
			 or information related to the protection of public safety, the county shall
			 receive approval from the Assistant Director for Community
			 Corrections.