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HB2327 - 572R - S Ver
Senate Engrossed
House Bill
identifying
information; records; confidentiality
State of Arizona
House of Representatives
Fifty-seventh Legislature
Second Regular Session
2026
HOUSE BILL 2327
AN
ACT
amending sections 11-483 and 11-484,
arizona revised statutes; relating to records confidentiality.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it
enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 11-483, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE
11-483.
Records maintained by county recorder; confidentiality;
applicability; definitions
A. Notwithstanding any other provision of this
article, in any county an eligible person may request that the general public
be prohibited from accessing
the unique identifier and the
recording date
that person's identifying information that
is
contained in
indexes of
recorded instruments
THAT are
maintained by the county recorder
,
including any data that may be used directly or indirectly to identify that
person,
and may request the county recorder to prohibit access to that
person's identifying information
, including
that is contained in
any of the following:
1. That person's documents, instruments or writings
recorded by the county recorder.
2. If the person is a public official, the address
of a property held in trust by the public official.
B. An eligible person may request this action by
filing an affidavit that states all of the following on an application form
developed by the administrative office of the courts in agreement with an
association of counties, an organization of peace officers and the motor
vehicle division of the department of transportation:
1. The person's full legal name and residential
address.
2. The full legal description and parcel number of
the person's property.
3. Unless the person is the spouse of a peace
officer or the spouse or minor child of a deceased peace officer or the person
is a former public official or former judge, the position the person currently
holds and a description of the person's duties, except that an eligible person
who is protected under an order of protection or injunction against harassment
shall instead attach a copy of the order of protection or injunction against
harassment or an eligible person who is a participant in the address
confidentiality program shall instead attach a copy of the participant's current
and valid address confidentiality program authorization card issued pursuant to
section 41-163 and a statement of certification provided by the secretary
of state's office.
4. The reasons the person reasonably believes that
the person's life or safety or that of another person is in danger and that
restricting access pursuant to this section will serve to reduce the danger.
5. The document locator number and recording date of
each instrument for which the person requests access restriction pursuant to
this section.
6. A copy of pages from each instrument that
includes the document locator number and the person's identifying information,
including the person's full legal name and residential address or full legal
name and telephone number.
C. If an eligible person is also requesting pursuant
to section 11-484 that the general public be prohibited from accessing
records maintained by the county assessor and county treasurer, the eligible
person may combine the request pursuant to subsection B of this section with
the request pursuant to section 11-484 by filing one
affidavit. The affidavit and subsequent action by the appropriate
authorities shall meet all of the requirements of this section and section 11-484.
D. The affidavit shall be filed with the presiding
judge of the superior court in the county in which the affiant
resides. To prevent multiple filings, an eligible person who is a
peace officer, spouse of a peace officer, spouse or minor child of a deceased
peace officer, public defender, prosecutor, code enforcement officer,
corrections or detention officer, corrections support staff member or law
enforcement support staff member shall deliver the affidavit to the peace
officer's commanding officer, or to the head of the prosecuting, public
defender, code enforcement, law enforcement, corrections or detention agency,
as applicable, or that person's designee, who shall file the affidavits at one
time. In the absence of an affidavit that contains a request for immediate
action and that is supported by facts justifying an earlier presentation, the
commanding officer, or the head of the prosecuting, public defender, code
enforcement, law enforcement, corrections or detention agency, as applicable,
or that person's designee, shall not file affidavits more often than quarterly.
E. On receipt of an affidavit or affidavits, the
presiding judge of the superior court shall file with the clerk of the superior
court a petition on behalf of all requesting affiants. Each
affidavit presented shall be attached to the petition. In the
absence of an affidavit that contains a request for immediate action and that
is supported by facts justifying an earlier consideration, the presiding judge
may accumulate affidavits and file a petition at the end of each quarter.
F. The presiding judge of the superior court shall
review the petition and each attached affidavit to determine whether the action
requested by each affiant should be granted. If the presiding judge
of the superior court concludes that the action requested by the affiant will
reduce a danger to the life or safety of the affiant or another person, the
presiding judge of the superior court shall order that the county recorder
prohibit access for five years to the affiant's identifying information,
including any of that person's documents, instruments or writings recorded by
the county recorder and made available on the internet. If the presiding judge
of the superior court concludes that the affiant or another person is in actual
danger of physical harm from a person or persons with whom the affiant has had
official dealings and that action pursuant to this section will reduce a danger
to the life or safety of the affiant or another person, the presiding judge of
the superior court shall order that the general public be prohibited for five
years from accessing
the unique identifier and the recording date
the person's identifying information
contained in
indexes of
recorded instruments maintained
by the county recorder and identified pursuant to subsection B of this section.
G. On motion to the court, if the presiding judge of
the superior court concludes that an instrument or writing recorded by the
county recorder has been redacted or sealed in error, that the original affiant
no longer lives at the address listed in the original affidavit, that the cause
for the original affidavit no longer exists or that temporary access to the
instrument or writing is needed, the presiding judge may temporarily stay or
permanently vacate all or part of the court order prohibiting public access to
the recorded instrument or writing.
H. On entry of the court order, the clerk of the
superior court shall file the court order and a copy of the affidavit required
by subsection B of this section with the county recorder. Not more than ten
days after the date on which the county recorder receives the court order, the
county recorder shall restrict access to the information as required by
subsection F of this section.
I. If the court denies an affiant's request pursuant
to this section, the affiant may request a court hearing. The
hearing shall be conducted by the court in the county where the petition was
filed.
J. The county recorder shall remove the restrictions
on all records restricted pursuant to this section by January 5 in the year
after the court order expires. The county recorder shall send by mail one
notice to either the health professional, election officer, public official,
former public official, peace officer, spouse of a peace officer, spouse or
minor child of a deceased peace officer, public defender, prosecutor, code
enforcement officer, corrections or detention officer, corrections support
staff member, law enforcement support staff member, employee of the department
of child safety or employee of adult protective services who has direct contact
with families in the course of employment or the employing agency of the peace
officer, public defender, prosecutor, code enforcement officer, corrections or
detention officer, corrections support staff member, law enforcement support
staff member or employee of adult protective services who was granted an order
pursuant to this section of the order's expiration date at least six months
before the expiration date. If the notice is sent to the employing agency, the
employing agency shall immediately notify the person who was granted the order
of the upcoming expiration date. The county recorder may coordinate with the
county assessor and county treasurer to prevent multiple notices from being
sent to the same person.
K. To include subsequent recordings in the court
order, the eligible person shall present to the county recorder at the time of
recordation a certified copy of the court order or shall provide to the county
recorder the recording number of the court order. The county
recorder shall ensure that public access is restricted pursuant to subsection A
of this section.
L. This section does not restrict access to public
records for the purposes of perfecting a lien pursuant to title 12, chapter 9,
article 2.
M. This section does not prohibit access to the
unredacted
records of the county recorder by parties to the
instrument, a law enforcement officer performing the officer's official duties
pursuant to subsection N of this section, a title insurer, a title insurance
agent or an escrow agent licensed by the department of insurance and financial
institutions.
N. A law enforcement officer is deemed to be
performing the officer's official duties if the officer provides a subpoena,
court order or search warrant for the records.
O. This section does not apply to an
eligible person's voter registration record.
O.
P.
For
the purposes of this section:
1. "Code enforcement officer" means a
person who is employed by a state or local government and whose duties include
performing field inspections of buildings, structures or property to ensure
compliance with and enforce national, state and local laws, ordinances and
codes.
2. "Commissioner" means a commissioner of
the superior court or municipal court.
3. "Corrections support staff member"
means an adult or juvenile corrections employee who has direct contact with
inmates.
4. "Election officer" means a state,
county or municipal employee who holds an election officer's certificate issued
pursuant to section 16-407.
5. "Eligible
person" means a health professional, election officer, public official,
former public official, peace officer, spouse of a peace officer, spouse or
minor child of a deceased peace officer, justice, judge, commissioner, hearing
officer, public defender, prosecutor, code enforcement officer, adult or
juvenile corrections officer, corrections support staff member, probation
officer, member of the commission on appellate court appointments, member of
the board of executive clemency, law enforcement support staff member, employee
of the department of child safety or employee of adult protective services who
has direct contact with families in the course of employment, national guard
member who is acting in support of a law enforcement agency, person who is
protected under an order of protection or injunction against harassment, person
who is a participant in the address confidentiality program pursuant to title
41, chapter 1, article 3 or firefighter who is assigned to the Arizona counter
terrorism information center in the department of public safety.
6. "Former public official" means a person
who was duly elected or appointed to Congress, the legislature or a statewide
office, who ceased serving in that capacity and who was the victim of a
dangerous offense as defined in section 13-105 while in office.
7. "Health
professional" means an individual who is licensed pursuant to title 32,
chapter 13, 15, 17, 19.1, 25 or 33.
8. "Hearing officer" means a hearing
officer who is appointed pursuant to section 28-1553.
9. "Indexes" means only
those indexes that are maintained by and located in the office of the county
recorder, that are accessed electronically and that contain information
beginning from and after January 1, 1987.
9. "Identifying information":
(
a
) Means any
recorded data or information that alone or in connection with other records has
the capability of uniquely identifying, tracing or authenticating any of the
following:
(
i
) a specific
individual.
(
ii
) A specific
individual's ownership interest in an entity.
(
iii
) A trust
in which a specific individual is a trustee, trustor or beneficiary.
(
b
) Includes:
(
i
) A full
name, maiden name or alias.
(
ii
) Government-issued
identifiers.
(
iii
) Biometric
identifiers.
(
iv
) Unique
digital or device identifiers.
(
v
) Sensitive
personal data.
(
vi
) Any other
information that reasonably enables identification through analysis, correction
or linkability.
(
c
) does not
include:
(
i
) A parcel
number.
(
ii
) The legal description of a property.
(
iii
) A property address.
(
iv
) any other
property identifier.
10. "Judge" means a judge or former judge
of the United States district court, the United States court of appeals, the
United States magistrate court, the United States bankruptcy court, the United
States immigration court, the Arizona court of appeals, the superior court or a
municipal court.
11. "Justice" means a justice of the
United States or Arizona supreme court or a justice of the peace.
12. "Law enforcement support staff member"
means a person who serves in the role of an investigator or prosecutorial
assistant in an agency that investigates or prosecutes crimes, who is integral
to the investigation or prosecution of crimes and whose name or identity will
be revealed in the course of public proceedings.
13. "Peace officer":
(a) Means any person vested by law, or formerly
vested by law, with a duty to maintain public order and make arrests.
(b) Includes a federal law enforcement officer or
agent who resides in this state and who has the power to make arrests pursuant
to federal law.
14. "Prosecutor" means a current or former
county attorney, municipal prosecutor, attorney general or United States
attorney and includes a current or former assistant or deputy United States
attorney, county attorney, municipal prosecutor or attorney general.
15. "Public defender" means a federal
public defender, county public defender, county legal defender or county
contract indigent defense counsel and includes an assistant or deputy federal
public defender, county public defender or county legal defender.
16. "Public
official" means a person who is duly elected or appointed to Congress, the
legislature, a statewide office or a county, city or town office.
END_STATUTE
Sec. 2. Section 11-484, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE
11-484.
Records maintained by county assessor and county treasurer;
redaction; applicability; definitions
A. Notwithstanding any other provision of this
article, in any county an eligible person may request that the general public
be prohibited from accessing that person's identifying information, including
any data that may be used to directly or indirectly identify that
person, that is included in
any of the following:
1. That person's documents, instruments, writings
and information maintained by the county assessor and the county treasurer.
2. If the person is a public official, the address
of a property held in trust by the public official.
B. An eligible person may request this action by
filing an affidavit that states all of the following on an application form
developed by the administrative office of the courts in agreement with an
association of counties, an organization of peace officers and the motor
vehicle division of the department of transportation:
1. The person's full legal name and residential
address.
2. The full legal description and parcel number of
the person's property.
3. Unless the person is the spouse of a peace
officer or the spouse or minor child of a deceased peace officer or the person
is a former public official or former judge, the position the person currently
holds and a description of the person's duties, except that an eligible person
who is protected under an order of protection or injunction against harassment
shall attach a copy of the order of protection or injunction against harassment
or an eligible person who is a participant in the address confidentiality
program shall instead attach a copy of the participant's current and valid
address confidentiality program authorization card issued pursuant to section
41-163 and a statement of certification provided by the secretary of
state's office.
4. The reasons the person reasonably believes that
the person's life or safety or that of another person is in danger and that
redacting the person's identifying information, including the residential
address and telephone number, will serve to reduce the danger.
C. If an eligible person is also requesting pursuant
to section 11-483 that the general public be prohibited from accessing
records maintained by the county recorder, the eligible person may combine the
request pursuant to subsection B of this section with the request pursuant to
section 11-483 by filing one affidavit. The affidavit and subsequent
action by the appropriate authorities shall meet all of the requirements of
this section and section 11-483.
D. The affidavit shall be filed with the presiding
judge of the superior court in the county in which the affiant
resides. To prevent multiple filings, an eligible person who is a
peace officer, spouse of a peace officer, spouse or minor child of a deceased
peace officer, public defender, prosecutor, code enforcement officer,
corrections or detention officer, corrections support staff member or law
enforcement support staff member shall deliver the affidavit to the peace
officer's commanding officer, or to the head of the prosecuting, public
defender, code enforcement, law enforcement, corrections or detention agency,
as applicable, or that person's designee, who shall file the affidavits at one
time. In the absence of an affidavit that contains a request for immediate
action and that is supported by facts justifying an earlier presentation, the
commanding officer, or the head of the prosecuting, public defender, code
enforcement, law enforcement, corrections or detention agency, as applicable,
or that person's designee, shall not file affidavits more often than quarterly.
E. On receipt of an affidavit or affidavits, the
presiding judge of the superior court shall file with the clerk of the superior
court a petition on behalf of all requesting affiants. Each
affidavit presented shall be attached to the petition. In the
absence of an affidavit that contains a request for immediate action and that
is supported by facts justifying an earlier consideration, the presiding judge
may accumulate affidavits and file a petition at the end of each quarter.
F. The presiding judge of the superior court shall
review the petition and each attached affidavit to determine whether the action
requested by each affiant should be granted. If the presiding judge
of the superior court concludes that the action requested by the affiant will
reduce a danger to the life or safety of the affiant or another person, the
presiding judge of the superior court shall order the redaction of the
affiant's identifying information, including any of that person's documents,
instruments, writings and information maintained by the county assessor and the
county treasurer. The redaction shall be in effect for five years.
G. On motion to the court, if the presiding judge of
the superior court concludes that an instrument or writing maintained by the
county assessor or the county treasurer has been redacted or sealed in error,
that the original affiant no longer lives at the address listed in the original
affidavit, that the cause for the original affidavit no longer exists or that
temporary access to the instrument or writing is needed, the presiding judge
may temporarily stay or permanently vacate all or part of the court order
prohibiting public access to the instrument or writing.
H. On entry of the court order, the clerk of the
superior court shall file the court order and a copy of the affidavit required
by subsection B of this section with the county assessor and the county
treasurer.� Not more than ten days after the date on which the county assessor
and the county treasurer receive the court order, the county assessor and the
county treasurer shall restrict access to the information as required by
subsection F of this section.
I. If the court denies an affiant's request pursuant
to this section, the affiant may request a court hearing. The
hearing shall be conducted by the court in the county where the petition was
filed.
J. The county assessor and the county treasurer
shall remove the restrictions on all records that are redacted pursuant to this
section by
January 5 in the year after the court
order expires. The county assessor
or the county treasurer
shall send by mail one notice to either the health professional, election
officer, public official, former public official, peace officer, spouse of a
peace officer, spouse or minor child of a deceased peace officer, public defender,
prosecutor, code enforcement officer, corrections or detention officer,
corrections support staff member, law enforcement support staff member,
employee of the department of child safety or employee of adult protective
services who has direct contact with families in the course of employment or
the employing agency of the peace officer, public defender, prosecutor, code
enforcement officer, corrections or detention officer, corrections support
staff member, law enforcement support staff member or employee of adult
protective services who was granted an order pursuant to this section of the
order's expiration date at least six months before the expiration date.� If the
notice is sent to the employing agency, the employing agency shall immediately
notify the person who was granted the order of the upcoming expiration
date. The county assessor or county treasurer may coordinate with
the county recorder to prevent multiple notices from being sent to the same
person.
K. This section does not apply to an
eligible person's voter registration record.
K.
L.
For
the purposes of this section:
1. "Code enforcement officer" means a
person who is employed by a state or local government and whose duties include
performing field inspections of buildings, structures or property to ensure
compliance with and enforce national, state and local laws, ordinances and
codes.
2. "Commissioner" means a commissioner of
the superior court or municipal court.
3. "Corrections support staff member"
means an adult or juvenile corrections employee who has direct contact with
inmates.
4. "Election officer" means a state,
county or municipal employee who holds an election officer's certificate issued
pursuant to section 16-407.
5. "Eligible person" means a health
professional, election officer, public official, former public official, peace
officer, spouse of a peace officer, spouse or minor child of a deceased peace
officer, justice, judge, commissioner, hearing officer, public defender,
prosecutor, code enforcement officer, adult or juvenile corrections officer,
corrections support staff member, probation officer, member of the commission
on appellate court appointments, member of the board of executive clemency, law
enforcement support staff member, employee of the department of child safety or
employee of adult protective services who has direct contact with families in
the course of employment, national guard member who is acting in support of a
law enforcement agency, person who is protected under an order of protection or
injunction against harassment, person who is a participant in the address
confidentiality program pursuant to title 41, chapter 1, article 3, or
firefighter who is assigned to the Arizona counter terrorism information center
in the department of public safety.
6. "Former public official" means a person
who was duly elected or appointed to Congress, the legislature or a statewide
office, who ceased serving in that capacity and who was the victim of a
dangerous offense as defined in section 13-105 while in office.
7. "Health professional" means an
individual who is licensed pursuant to title 32, chapter 13, 15, 17, 19.1, 25
or 33.
8. "Hearing officer" means a hearing
officer who is appointed pursuant to section 28-1553.
9. "Identifying
information":
(
a
) Means any
recorded data or information that alone or in connection with other records has
the capability of uniquely identifying, tracing or authenticating any of the
following:
(
i
) a specific individual.
(
ii
) A specific
individual's ownership interest in an entity.
(
iii
) A trust
in which a specific individual is a trustee, trustor or beneficiary.
(
b
) Includes:
(
i
) A full name, maiden name or alias.
(
ii
) Government-issued identifiers.
(
iii
) Biometric
identifiers.
(
iv
) Unique
digital or device identifiers.
(
v
) Sensitive
personal data.
(
vi
) Any other
information that reasonably enables identification through analysis, correction
or linkability.
(
c
) Does not
include:
(
i
) A parcel
number.
(
ii
) The legal
description of a property.
(
iii
) A
property address.
(
iv
) any other
property identifier.
9.
10.
"Judge"
means a judge or former judge of the United States district court, the United
States court of appeals, the United States magistrate court, the United States
bankruptcy court, the United States immigration court, the Arizona court of appeals,
the superior court or a municipal court.
10.
11.
"Justice"
means a justice of the United States or Arizona supreme court or a justice of
the peace.
11.
12.
"Law
enforcement support staff member" means a person who serves in the role of
an investigator or prosecutorial assistant in an agency that investigates or
prosecutes crimes, who is integral to the investigation or prosecution of
crimes and whose name or identity will be revealed in the course of public
proceedings.
12.
13.
"Peace
officer":
(a) Means any person vested by law, or formerly
vested by law, with a duty to maintain public order and make arrests.
(b) Includes a federal law enforcement officer or
agent who resides in this state and who has the power to make arrests pursuant
to federal law.
13.
14.
"Prosecutor"
means a current or former county attorney, municipal prosecutor, attorney
general or United States attorney and includes a current or former assistant or
deputy United States attorney, county attorney, municipal prosecutor or attorney
general.
14.
15.
"Public
defender" means a federal public defender, county public defender, county
legal defender or county contract indigent defense counsel and includes an
assistant or deputy federal public defender, county public defender or county
legal defender.
15.
16.
"Public
official" means a person who is duly elected or appointed to Congress, the
legislature, a statewide office or a county, city or town office.
END_STATUTE