Proposal for state Sunshine Law adds exception for security

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri's homeland security adviser is proposing a new exception to the state's open records law that would keep secret any security information provided by private entities to state or local governments.

Security adviser Tim Daniel says the proposal merely would provide the same secrecy already afforded to government security plans or to private security plans that are shared with the federal Department of Homeland Security.

But advocates for the state Sunshine Law aren't immediately ready to sign off on what would be the state's 22nd exception to a law that is supposed to be liberally construed.

The proposal is expected to be considered during the legislative session that starts Jan. 7.

It was included in a draft report of legislative proposals discussed Tuesday by the Joint Committee on Terrorism, Bioterrorism and Homeland Security. The report also recommends placing Daniel's position in state law, as opposed to its current authorization under a governor's executive order.

The state's open records law applies only to governmental bodies, not to businesses and other private entities. But Daniel said some documents voluntarily provided by businesses to the state currently could be shared with the public under the Sunshine Law.

What Daniel wants to keep secret are documents detailing the daily and emergency security plans of businesses such as AmerenUE's Callaway Nuclear Plant near Fulton, or any materials describing the security technologies they use.

If the public had access to the information, "it would reveal or provide clues that a bad guy could use to defeat that technology," he said.

Daniel labels more than 65 private Missouri properties as "critical assets" that are potential terrorist targets, including the Callaway Nuclear Plant. The state is not currently collecting security information from those private entities, but might need to do so during a terrorist attack or natural disaster, he said.

Jean Maneke, a Sunshine Law attorney who has reviewed Daniel's proposal, expressed concern about adding another exception to the open records law.

In response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Legislature added three Sunshine Law exceptions in 2002. Those closed information about government security systems and structural plans; government computer and telecommunications operations that could lead to authorized access or disruptions; and government credit card numbers, personal identification numbers and access codes used in electronic transactions.

"The more exceptions there are to the law, the less information there is to the public," said Maneke, whose clients include the Missouri Press Association. "I don't like any more exceptions to the Sunshine Law as a matter of principal."

By closing private security information that is shared with the government, the state could prevent the public from serving as a watchdog or from identifying and solving private security problems, Maneke said.

A spokesman for AmerenUE said he was unfamiliar with the legislative proposal, which is expected to be sponsored by committee chairman Sen. John Griesheimer, R-Washington.

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On the Net:

Missouri homeland security: http://www.homelandsecurity.state.mo.us