a. Rules for active investigations.

There is authority for closure of the following records pertaining to active investigations:

(1) Records regarding pending criminal investigations. Stone v. Consolidated Publishing Co., 404 So. 2d 678, 681 (Ala. 1981) (establishing a precatory, not mandatory, exclusion).

(2) Information regarding witness identification and reports from such witnesses, at the discretion of the Police Department. Birmingham News Co. v. Deutcsh, CV 85-504-132 JDC (Cir. Ct. of Jefferson County, Ala., Equity Div., Aug. 19, 1986) (consent order).

(3) Search warrants, arrest warrants, supporting affidavits and depositions, until the search warrant or arrest warrant is executed and returned. 197 Op. Att’y Gen. Ala. 13 (Oct. 10, 1984).

(4) Prison incident reports with information regarding a pending criminal investigation. Allen v. Barksdale, 32 So. 3d 1264 (Ala. 2009).

(5) Autopsy reports that relate to a pending investigation. Op. Att'y Gen. Ala. No. 2007-015, 2006 Ala. AG LEXIS 142 (Dec. 4, 2006).

(6) National Fire Incident Reporting Systems forms that relate to a pending investigation. Op. Att'y Gen. Ala. No. 2006-134, 2006 Ala. AG LEXIS 97 (Aug. 17, 2006).

There is authority for public access to the following records of active investigations:

(1) Complaint reports, including the front side of incident/offense reports subject to the right of the sheriff to withhold or redact certain information on a case-by-case basis depending on the nature of the case, the status of the investigation, whether the victim would be subject to threats or intimidation, or when public disclosure would hinder the investigation. Washington County Publications v. Wheat, No. CV-99-94 (Cir. Ct. of Washington County, Ala., May 1, 2000); Op. Att’y Gen. Ala. No. 2000-197, 2000 Ala. AG LEXIS 112 (July 19, 2000); Op. Att’y Gen. Ala. No. 2000-004, 1999 Ala. AG LEXIS 89 (Oct. 7, 1999).  See also Birmingham News Co. v. Watkins, No. 38389 (Cir. Ct. of Jefferson County, Ala., Oct. 30, 1974) (based on First Amendment, not Alabama’s Public Records Law, with discretion for police department to withhold portions of reports or entire reports if and as necessary to prevent “actual interference” with law enforcement).

(2) Search and arrest warrants, with supporting affidavits and depositions, after a search warrant or arrest warrant is executed and returned. 197 Op. Att’y Gen. Ala. 13 (Oct. 10, 1984); see also Op. Att'y Gen. Ala. No. 2008-030, 2007 Ala. AG LEXIS 97 (Dec. 28, 2007).