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Jefferson County v. Montana Standard11/6/2003
t 523, 844 P.2d at 78; Bozeman Daily Chronicle , 260 Mont. at 227, 859 P.2d at 441. However, because we have determined that Sevalstad's privacy expectation was unreasonable under these circumstances, her individual privacy rights clearly do not exceed the merits of public disclosure in the instant case.
As a final matter, we note that although Sevalstad did not have a constitutionally protected privacy interest in her arrest information, the District Court took steps to protect her privacy, as well as the privacy interests of other unidentified individuals, when it conducted an in camera inspection of the information. In prior cases, we have concluded that it is proper for a district court to conduct such an in camera inspection in order to balance the privacy rights of all of the individuals involved in the case against the public's right to know. Bozeman Daily Chronicle , 260 Mont. at 229, 859 P.2d at 442; Lacy , 239 Mont. at 326, 780 P.2d at 189; Lincoln County Com'n , 27-28. Here, the in camera inspection revealed that no third party privacy considerations existed, as the only individuals involved in Sevalstad's arrest were officers acting within the course and scope of their employment. Accordingly, we need not contemplate any third party privacy interests on appeal.
Subsequent to its in camera inspection, the District Court ordered that Sevalstad's arrest information be released to Montana Standard under the following conditions: (1) Montana Standard was prohibited from copying or publishing the information; and (2) Sevalstad's social security number and driver's license number would be removed from the information before it was released. While we have concluded that Sevalstad does not have a protected privacy interest in her arrest information, we also conclude that Sevalstad does retain a privacy interest in other types of personal information not relevant to her status as a public official, such as her social security number and driver's license number. Thus, it was proper for the District Court to shield information that was not relevant to Sevalstad's status as a public official from public scrutiny.
As we noted above, Sevalstad's individual privacy rights in her arrest information do not exceed the merits of public disclosure of such information. Therefore, the District Court did not violate Sevalstad's constitutional right to privacy when it ordered that information regarding her arrest be released to Montana Standard.
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the District Court is affirmed.
JIM REGNIER
We Concur:
KARLA M. GRAY
PATRICIA COTTER
JOHN WARNER
JIM RICE
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