Felony reports and subsequent sentencing (Indiana State Police)

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Indiana Access to Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:

I am seeking tabular (e.g., CSV-formatted) data based on the data the ISP reports to NIBRS. I request data on all level 1–4 felon incidents between 1980 and 2010. Please include, for each charge, the original charge (if it changed before sentencing), the date of the crime, the sentence delivered, the date of sentencing, whether a plea bargain reduced this sentence, any mandatory minimum sentencing laws that applied to the case, the relevant trial court case number, and any subsequent appellate case numbers.

Much of this information is public through court records, but accessing and compiling the data at a large scale would be infeasible. I am therefore requesting access to ISP's database. Please feel free to contact me by email or by phone at (808) 754-1922 to discuss what data are available.

As my primary purpose is to study government activities and make the raw data available, I request that fees be waived. There is an inherent public interest in these data and research. Appellate review is a fundamental part of due process. Laws that determine appellate procedure thus control defendants’ access to justice. By making these court records available, the Indiana government would allow researchers to advance a key public interest: understanding how judicial institutions relate to criminal sentencing outcomes.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 7 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Cole Tanigawa-Lau