In Commissioner of Public Safety v. Freedom of Information Commission (FOIC), 301 Conn. 323 (2011), the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled unanimously (two justices filed a separate concurring opinion) that, under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), names and addresses of certain public employees may not be disclosed on a municipality’s motor vehicle grand list. The decision reversed an FOIC ruling (which was affirmed by the trial court) that had ordered North Stonington’s complete motor vehicle grand list to be disclosed.
The case involved two conflicting statutes. CGS § 12-55 requires the grand list to be available for public inspection, while § 1-217 prohibits public agencies from disclosing, under FOIA, the names and addresses of certain public employees. Reading the statutes together, the court concluded that “there is no ambiguity regarding a town assessor’s obligation not to disclose the home addresses…when making a grand list and its component data available for inspection.” The court pointed to CGS § 1-210(a), which generally provides for access to public records “except as otherwise provided by any federal law or state statute.”
