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ESPN: Notre Dame police have ‘core powers of the state’

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – An attorney for ESPN says the powers of the University of Notre Dame’s campus police mirror those wielded by other Indiana police departments and that its officers are therefore subject to the same laws of disclosure.

ESPN wants the police department to release information about the arrest of athletes on campus.

ESPN attorney Maggie Smith told the state Supreme Court Tuesday that the ability of university police to arrest and apprehend are “the core powers of the state,” meaning the department must comply with state public records laws.

Notre Dame attorney Peter Rusthoven argued that those laws don’t apply because Notre Dame is a private institution without government functions.

He pointed out that Indiana’s public access counselor has found three times that private universities’ police records aren’t subject to Indiana’s records laws.