Commissioner of Public Safety v. Freedom of Information Commission; Tax Assessor of the Town of North…

Summary

The court held that the statutory prohibition on disclosing protected public officials’ and employees’ residential addresses applies to motor-vehicle grand lists and the component data supplied to town assessors. The later statutory amendment did not moot the appeals because the court could still provide practical relief, and the amendment did not itself resolve whether the address information was protected. The court reversed the trial court’s dismissal of the administrative appeals and remanded with direction to sustain them. NORCOTT, J., concurring, agreed with the result but concluded that the statutory scheme was ambiguous and that legislative history supported the same interpretation.