Conn. Gen. Stat. § 1-215

This is the official text of Conn. Gen. Stat. § 1-215, part of Connecticut’s Gen. Stat — part of the compiled statutory law of Connecticut, published by the state as "Gen. Stat." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

Sec. 1-215. (Formerly Sec. 1-20b). Record of an arrest as public record. Prohibition on redaction. Exemptions. Disclosure of other law enforcement records. Notice to state's attorney. Applicability of section.

Official statutory text

(b) Notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes, and except as otherwise provided in this section, any record of the arrest of any person shall be a public record from the time of such arrest and shall be disclosed in accordance with the provisions of section 1-212 and subsection (a) of section 1-210 . No law enforcement agency shall redact any record of the arrest of any person, except for (1) the identity of witnesses, (2) the name, address or other identifying information of any victim of sexual assault under section 53a-70 , 53a-70a , 53a-71 , 53a-72a , 53a-72b or 53a-73a , voyeurism under section 53a-189a , injury or risk of injury, or impairing of morals under section 53-21 or family violence, as defined in section 46b-38a , or of an attempt thereof, (3) specific information about the commission of a crime, the disclosure of which the law enforcement agency reasonably believes may prejudice a pending prosecution or a prospective law enforcement action, or (4) any information that a judicial authority has ordered to be sealed from public inspection or disclosure. Any personal possessions or effects found on a person at the time of such person's arrest shall not be disclosed unless such possessions or effects are relevant to the crime for which such person was arrested.

(c) In addition, any other public record of a law enforcement agency that documents or depicts the arrest or custody of a person during the period in which the prosecution of such person is pending shall be disclosed in accordance with the provisions of subsection (a) of section 1-210 and section 1-212 , unless such record is subject to any applicable exemption from disclosure contained in any provision of the general statutes.

(d) Any law enforcement agency receiving a request for a record described in subsection (c) of this section shall promptly provide written notice of such request to the office of the state's attorney for the appropriate judicial district where the arrest occurred. The state's attorney for such district shall be afforded the opportunity to intervene in any proceeding before the Freedom of Information Commission concerning such request.

(e) The provisions of this section shall only be applicable to any record described in this section during the period in which a prosecution is pending against the person who is the subject of such record. At all other times, the applicable provisions of the Freedom of Information Act concerning the disclosure of such record shall govern.

Annotations to former section 1-20b:

Cited. 206 C. 449; 217 C. 153; Id., 193; 218 C. 256; Id., 757; 220 C. 225; 221 C. 217; Id., 300; Id., 393; Id., 482; Id., 549; 222 C. 621. Section provides for both a requirement of disclosure and a limit on the extent of that disclosure; it does not require full disclosure of arrest reports during pendency of a criminal prosecution. 227 C. 641. Cited. 228 C. 158; Id., 271.

Cited. 16 CA 49; 22 CA 316; 29 CA 821; 35 CA 111; 37 CA 589; 42 CA 402; 43 CA 133.

Cited. 42 CS 84; Id., 129; Id., 291.

Annotations to present section:

Section exclusively governs law enforcement agencies' disclosure obligations under the Freedom of Information Act during pending criminal prosecutions. 312 C. 513.

Police blotter information described in Subsec. (b)(1) must be publicly available at the time of the arrest and may not be redacted under Sec. 1-210(b)(3), but the additional information required by Subsec. (b)(2) may be exempted or redacted under Sec. 1-210(b)(3); agency was only required to disclose police blotter and one additional piece of information contained in Subsec. (b)(2). 137 CA 307; judgment affirmed, see 312 C. 513.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

Need a lawyer in Connecticut?

Find a Connecticut lawyer
About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.