peace officer violence victims' rights

SB1323 - 572R - I Ver

REFERENCE TITLE:
peace officer violence victims' rights

State of Arizona

Senate

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

SB 1323

Introduced by

Senators
Ortiz: Kuby;� Representatives Aguilar, Liguori

AN
ACT

amending title 13, chapter 40, Arizona
Revised Statutes, by adding section 13-4444; relating to victims' rights.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Title 13, chapter 40, Arizona
Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 13-4444, to read:

START_STATUTE
13-4444.

Peace officer violence victims' bill of rights; notice; victim
advocate; independent nonprofit legal and advocacy organization; definitions

A. To preserve and protect the rights
of victims of peace officer violence and the victim's family to justice and due
process, a peace officer violence victim and the victim's family have the right
to:

1. Be treated with fairness, respect
and dignity and to be free from intimidation, harassment and abuse following an
injury or death resulting from a peace officer interaction.

2. Free access to legal and community
support following a critical incident.

3. Delay or refuse an interview,
deposition or other discovery request from an investigative agency without fear
of intimidation or retaliation. A victim's family may not be
questioned by investigators or peace officers for at least twenty-four
hours following a critical incident.

4. Be free from an investigator's
false or misleading information and opinion before the investigation is
concluded.

5. Have all conversations with and
updates from an investigative agency in the preferred language of the victim or
the victim's family, or both. An investigative agency shall make an
interpreter or multilingual representative available within one hour after a
critical incident and for the duration of the investigation for a non-English
speaking victim, the victim's family and any witnesses.

6. Have free, quick and unredacted
access to information, materials and findings that are relevant to the victim's
injury or death, with an opportunity to review the information, materials and
findings for up to forty-eight hours before the information is made
publicly available. Unedited and unredacted body-worn camera footage, incident
reports, bystander footage and surveillance video shall be shared with the
victim's family within seventy-two hours after the critical
incident. The victim and the victim's family shall be provided with
an opportunity to review any documents and footage forty-eight hours
before the information is released to the media or the public. The
victim and the victim's family have the right to request that any images of the
victim be blurred before a document or footage is publicly released.

7. Have free, quick and unredacted
access to all employment files of the peace officer or peace officers involved
in the critical incident, including disciplinary history, use of force history,
complaint history, personnel files, Arizona peace officer standards and
training board files and training history. The victim, the victim's
family and the victim's attorney, if any, shall be provided, free of charge and
without submitting a public records request, with access to the name, photograph,
disciplinary records, complaint records and use of force records of the peace
officer or peace officers involved in the critical incident within seventy-two
hours after the critical incident.

8. Be informed of, present at and, on
request, heard at all investigative and disciplinary proceedings where the
peace officer or peace officers involved in the critical incident have the
right to be present.

9. Be notified of any investigative
milestones and outcomes on the investigation's completion at least twenty-four
hours before the public is notified. The victim's family shall be
provided with free access to the complete and unredacted investigative file
from all investigative agencies without submitting a public records request
after the investigation is completed. Investigators and victim
advocates shall respond within twenty-four hours to a question from the
victim or the victim's family. The independent victim advocate shall provide
monthly updates to the victim and the victim's family on the status of the
investigation.

10. Petition the county attorney who
has jurisdiction to reopen a case against the peace officer or peace officers
involved in the critical incident if the county attorney does not initiate a
charge against the peace officer or peace officers. A victim whose
case has been closed and the victim's family have the opportunity to reopen a
case without the case being referred from the investigating law enforcement
agency. The process for reopening a case must be clearly written and
shared with the victim and the victim's family when criminal charges are not
filed against the peace officer or peace officers involved in the critical
incident.

11. Have any personal belongings that
were logged as evidence authorized for release within twenty-four hours
after the criminal investigation into the peace officer or peace officers is
closed or within ninety days after the critical incident, whichever occurs
first. Personal belongings that are not logged as evidence must be
released within fourteen days after the critical incident. The
victim and the victim's family must be given a complete list of all personal
belongings that have been logged as evidence.

12. Access supportive services and
restitution that are paid for by the municipality where the critical incident
occurred. The victim, the victim's family and any witnesses have the
right to free wraparound support services, including trauma care and mental
health care.

13. Discuss and participate in any
policy changes and reform efforts in the police department. The
victim and the victim's family shall have the opportunity to give input on
policy changes and reform efforts at the police department or any other entity
that is involved with the investigation.

B. The governing body of each
municipality shall establish a victim advocate role, independent of the police
department. The victim advocate shall report to the scene of a
critical incident to connect the victim, the victim's family and any witnesses
with appropriate services.

C. A victim's family shall be
notified immediately following any physical harm caused to the victim by a
peace officer. Any identifying information and the health status of
the victim and details regarding the critical incident may not be publicly
released until the victim's family is informed. The victim's
identifying information and health status may be released twenty-four hours
after the critical incident if every possible attempt to reach the victim's
family has been exhausted. The police department may not publicly
share the details of the critical incident that could shape the public
narrative about the incident, including what preceded the incident and what
happened during the incident, until the victim or the victim's family, or both,
has had an opportunity to review any body-worn camera footage and
incident reports.

D. A police report and all
investigative material shall refer to individuals who experience police
violence as victims and not as suspects. Any form that is currently
in use on the effective date of this section shall be changed to refer to
individuals who experience peace officer violence as victims.

E. A municipality or police
department may not publicly release false, misleading or incomplete information
about a critical incident or the victims of peace officer violence.

F. Notwithstanding any other law, a
peace officer who is involved in a shooting or in-custody death must be
permanently removed from any law enforcement role and the peace officer's
pension must be permanently withheld. Following a critical incident,
the role of the peace officer or peace officers involved shall be reviewed and
removal shall be considered.

G. This state shall fully fund an
independent nonprofit legal and advocacy organization to provide legal counsel
and healing support services following a critical incident to victims of peace
officer violence or the victim's family, or both.� The services shall be
provided free of charge and shall include a peace officer misconduct attorney,
legal advocate, trauma recovery service provider and other support that is
independent of the police department and the municipality. The victim
or the victim's family, or both, shall also be provided with access to an
independent medical examination or autopsy, or both.

H. Before speaking to an investigator
or a peace officer, the victim of a critical incident, the victim's family and
any witnesses to the critical incident shall have the opportunity to speak with
and be joined by legal counsel, an independent victim advocate and a family
member of the victim's choice. Each investigative agency shall
establish a clear and written explanation of the following, which may be
provided through a victim advocate or legal advocate, or both:

1. The critical incident
investigation process.

2. What the victim, the victim's
family and any witnesses might expect to occur throughout the investigative
process.

3. Information about the victim's and
the victim's family's rights.

I. For the purposes of this section:

1. "Critical incident"
means an interaction between a peace officer and a civilian that results in
physical injury to or the death of the civilian.

2. "Victim" means a person
who experiences injury or death resulting from a peace officer interaction,
regardless of the status or outcome, or both, of the criminal investigation,
civil investigation and disciplinary action that are taken by the peace
officer's police department.

3. "Victim's family" means
the victim's partner, child, parent, sibling or other lawful representative.
END_STATUTE