public safety employees; counseling; wellness

Plain English Breakdown

The source distinguishes between wellness programs (authorized for LEAs) and crisis response services (allowed for state agencies), though both share similar confidentiality rules.

SB1400: Wellness and Crisis Support for Public Safety Workers

This law allows Arizona agencies to create wellness programs for employees and protects the privacy of their counseling sessions, with specific exceptions.

What This Bill Does

• Allows law enforcement agencies in Arizona to start wellness programs that include licensed counseling and crisis response services.
• Requires agencies creating these programs to write down clear policies and procedures.
• Makes records from wellness program activities confidential so they cannot be shared publicly or in court, unless specific exceptions apply.
• Protects communications during crisis response sessions with the same privacy rules as talks between a lawyer and client.
• Lists specific situations where private information can be released, such as when there is danger to someone's safety.

Who It Names or Affects

• Law enforcement agencies including police departments, sheriff offices, publicly funded law enforcement departments, and the Department of Public Safety.
• State agencies that employ public safety workers exposed to traumatic events or emotional experiences during employment.
• Employees who are law enforcement officers or civilian staff within these agencies.

Terms To Know

Wellness program

A plan created by a law enforcement agency to support the mental health and well-being of its employees through counseling, crisis services, training, or other resources.

Crisis response services

Support like consultation, risk assessment, referral, or on-site help provided by a critical incident stress management team or peer support team after a traumatic event occurs at work.

Designated person

A law enforcement officer or civilian employee who receives support from the wellness or crisis program.

Limits and Unknowns

• Confidentiality does not apply if an employee voluntarily testifies about what happened in a session.
• The privacy rules do not stop agencies from using anonymous data for research, statistics, or educational purposes.
• This law allows programs to be created but does not force every agency to start one immediately.

Official Summary Text

SB1400 - 572R - Senate Fact Sheet

Assigned to
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PASSED BY HOUSE

ARIZONA STATE SENATE

Fifty-Seventh
Legislature, Second Regular Session

AMENDED

FACT SHEET FOR
S.B. 1400

public safety
employees; counseling; wellness

Purpose

Authorizes wellness
programs for law enforcement agency (LEA) employees and crisis response
services programs for public safety employees, outlines requirements for the
programs and protects specified activities and communications from disclosure,
except as specified.

Background

�����������
Crisis response
services
include consultation, risk assessment, referral and on-site crisis
intervention services provided by a critical incident stress management team,
peer support team or peer support team member to a designated person (
A.R.S.
� 38-1111
).

����������� The state or a
political subdivision of the state must establish a program to provide public
safety employees who are exposed to specified traumatic events while on duty up
to 12 visits of licensed counseling, which may be provided through telehealth,
paid for by the employer. A
public safety employee
is eligible for
traumatic event counseling is: 1) a member of the Public Safety Personnel
Retirement System or Corrections Officer Retirement Plan; 2) a probation,
surveillance or juvenile detention officer who is employed by the state or a
political subdivision of the state; or 3) a 911 dispatcher in a primary or
secondary public safety answering point. A
public safety employee
does
not include peace officers or firefighters (
A.R.S. � 38-672
).

����������� There is no
anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this
legislation.

Provisions

Wellness
Programs

1.

Authorizes an LEA in Arizona to establish a wellness program to support
the mental health and well-being of the LEA's employees.

2.

Allows a wellness program to include:

a)

access
to licensed counseling;

b)

crisis
response services;

c)

training,
equipment and technology necessary for an employee to perform the employee's
job; and

d)

any
other support system.

3.

Requires an LEA that creates a wellness program to establish written
policies and procedures for the program.

4.

Asserts
that all records, opinions, conclusions and recommendations arising from any
aspect of the wellness program are confidential and privileged from disclosure,
except if:

a)

relevant information is disclosed in response to a claim made by the
holder of the privilege against an LEA related to any programs or services
provided by the program;

b)

the designated person waives the person's right to confidentiality;

c)

any communications or advice given within the program indicates clear
and present danger to the designated person or any other person;

d)

the communication or advice is made during the course of a criminal
investigation;

e)

the designated person violates any of the LEA'S policies and the
violation amounts to a violation of laws that is normally enforced by an LEA;
or

f)

the designated person who received crisis response services voluntarily
testifies, in which case the critical incident stress management team member or
peer support team member may be compelled to testify on the same subject.

5.

Stipulates
that the prescribed nondisclosure requirements do not restrict or limit the
right to discover or use in any civil action any evidence, document or record
that is subject to discovery independently of the proceedings of the wellness
program.

6.

Defines

licensed counseling
as counseling provided by a licensed mental health
professional.

7.

Defines
a
licensed mental health professional
as a licensed individual who
specializes in trauma and crisis, uses evidence-based treatment options and is:

a)

a licensed psychiatrist, psychologist or physician assistant;

b)

a licensed mental health professional who holds either a master's or
doctoral degree related to the mental health profession; or

c)

a licensed mental health nurse practitioner or psychiatric clinical
nurse specialist.

8.

Defines
an
LEA
as a municipal police department, a county sheriff's office, a
publicly funded law enforcement department and the Department of Public Safety.

Crisis
Response Services Programs

9.

Allows
a state agency to establish a crisis response services program to provide
support to public safety employees who have been in or exposed to a traumatic
event or an emotional experience during employment.

10.

Requires any crisis response
services communication to remain confidential.

11.

Prohibits the disclosure of
any crisis response services communication to any individual who was not
present at the crisis response services session, except if any of the following
occurs and the communication is not otherwise privileged:

a)

the designated person waives the person's right to confidentiality;

b)

any communications or advice given within the program indicates clear
and present danger to the designated person or any other person;

c)

the communication or advice is made during the course of a criminal
investigation;

d)

the designated person violates any of the LEA's policies and the
violation amounts to a violation of laws that is normally enforced by an LEA;
or

e)

the designated person who received crisis response services voluntarily
testifies, in which case the critical incident stress management team member or
peer support team member may be compelled to testify on the same subject.

12.

Requires
a crisis response services designated person to hold a privilege from
disclosure of any crisis response services communication in any disciplinary,
civil or criminal proceeding, unless the communication contains information
excluded from the nondisclosure requirement.

13.

Subjects
crisis response services communication that holds a privilege from disclosure
to the same protections as attorney-client privilege.

14.

Asserts
that the outlined crisis response services counseling program and nondisclosure
requirements do not prohibit:

a)

the
state agency using or sharing anonymous data for research, statistical analysis
or educational purposes;

b)

a
state agency employee's disclosure of an observation of a crisis response
services designated person outside of a crisis response services counseling
session that is not contained in any crisis response services communication; or

c)

a
state agency law enforcement officer's disclosure of knowledge about a crisis
response services designated person that is not gained from crisis response
services communication.

15.

Defines

crisis response services
communication
as:

a)

any
oral or written crisis response services communication made during, or during
the application for, a counseling session; or

b)

any
communication by a crisis response services designated person regarding the
contents of a crisis response services counseling session to another crisis
response services member, staff member of a crisis response services program or
the supervisor of a crisis response services program.

16.

Defines
a

crisis response services counseling
session

as any counseling formally provided through a crisis response services program
between a crisis response services member and one or more public safety
employee.

Miscellaneous

17.

Defines
a
designated person
as a law enforcement officer or civilian employee of
an LEA.

18.

Defines

crisis response services
.

19.

Becomes
effective on the general effective date.

Amendments Adopted by
Committee of the Whole

1.

Modifies the services that may be included in a wellness program by
replacing:

a)

access
to mental health counseling with access to licensed counseling; and

b)

crisis
counseling with crisis response services.

2.

Replaces peer support with crisis response services which includes
renaming the peer support counseling programs as the crisis response services
programs.

3.

Exempts prescribed wellness program proceedings and records and crisis
response services communication from being confidential and privileged from
disclosure under outlined conditions.

4.

Removes the exemption from confidentiality and nondisclosure
requirements for wellness program proceedings and records and crisis response
services communication that contain:

a)

a
threat of suicide or a plan to carry out a suicide attempt;

b)

a
threat of imminent and serious bodily harm or death to a victim; or

c)

an
admission of any criminal conduct or any information that is required to be
disclosed by law, including information related to the abuse or neglect of a
child or venerable adult.

5.

Defines terms.

6.

Removes defined terms.

7.

Makes technical and conforming changes.

Amendments Adopted by the
House of Representatives

�

Requires crisis response services communication that is exempt from
nondisclosure requirements to not be otherwise privileged.

Senate Action
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House
Action

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Prepared by Senate Research

April 21, 2026

KJA/KM/hk

Current Bill Text

Chapter 0173 - 572R - H Ver of SB1400

House Engrossed
Senate Bill

public safety
employees; counseling; wellness

State of Arizona

Senate

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

CHAPTER 173

SENATE BILL 1400

AN
ACT

Amending title 38, chapter 8, article 1, Arizona
Revised Statutes, by adding section 38-1121; amending title 41, chapter 4,
article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 41-710.04; relating to
public safety employees.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

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

Section
1.
1. Title
38, chapter 8, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding
section 38-1121, to read:

START_STATUTE
38-1121.

Law enforcement agency; wellness program; confidentiality;
definitions

A. A law enforcement agency in this
state may establish a wellness program to support the mental health and
well-being of the law enforcement agency's employees. the wellness
program may include all of the following:

1. access to
licensed
counseling.

2. crisis response SERVICES.

3. training, equipment and technology
necessary for an employee to perform the employee's job.

4. Any other support systems.

B. If a law enforcement agency
creates a wellness program for the law enforcement agency's employees, the law
enforcement agency shall establish WRITTEN policies and procedures for the
program.

C. all proceedings, records,
opinions, conclusions and recommendations arising from any aspect of the
wellness program pursuant to this section are confidential and privileged from
disclosure except
if any of the following
occur:

1. The
designated person waives the person's right to CONFIDENTIALITY.

2. relevant INFORMATION
is disclosed in response to a claim made by the holder of the
PRIVILEGE against a law enforcement agency related to any programs or services
provided by the wellness program.

3. Any
communications or advice given within the program indicates clear and present
danger to the designated person or to any other person.

4. The communication or advice is
made during the course of a criminal investigation.

5. The designated person violates any
of the law enforcement agency's policies and the violation amounts to a
violation of laws that is normally enforced by a law enforcement agency.

6. The designated person who received
crisis response services voluntarily testifies, in which case the critical
incident stress management team member or peer support team member may be
compelled to testify on the same subject.

D. This section does not restrict or
limit the right to discover or use in any civil action any evidence, document
or record that is subject to discovery INDEPENDENTLY of the proceedings of the
wellness program.

E. For the purposes of this section
:

1. "Crisis response
services" has the same meaning PRESCRIBED in section 38-1111.

2. "Designated
person" means a law enforcement officer or a CIVILIAN employee of a law
ENFORCEMENT agency.

3. "Law enforcement agency"
means a municipal police department, a county SHERIFF'S office, a publicly
funded law enforcement department and the department of public safety.

4. "Licensed counseling"
means counseling provided by a licensed mental health professional.

5. "Licensed mental health
professional" has the same meaning PRESCRIBED by section 38-672.
END_STATUTE

Sec.
2.
2. Title
41, chapter 4, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding
section 41-710.04, to read:

START_STATUTE
41-710.04.

Crisis response services program; confidential communications;
definitions

A. An agency in this state May
establish a
crisis response services program to provide
support to public safety employees who have been in or exposed to
a traumatic
event or an emotional experience in
the course of employment.

B. Any
crisis response services communication shall remain confidential and
may not be disclosed to any individual who was not present at the
crisis response services session, except
if any
of the following
occurs and the communication is not
otherwise privileged:

1. The designated person waives the
person's right to CONFIDENTIALITY.

2. Any communications or advice given
within the program indicates clear and present danger to the designated person
or to any other person.

3. The communication or advice is
made during the course of a criminal investigation.

4. The designated person violates any
of the agency's policies and the violation amounts to a violation of laws that
is normally enforced by a law ENFORCEMENT agency.

5. The designated person who received
crisis response services voluntarily testifies, in which case the critical
incident stress management team member or peer support team member may be
compelled to testify on the same subject.

C. A
crisis
response services
designated person shall hold a
privilege from disclosure of any
crisis response services
communication in any disciplinary proceeding or any civil or criminal
proceeding unless it contains information exempted pursuant to subsection B of
this section. Under this privilege, the
crisis response
services communication is subject to the same protections as attorney-client
privilege.

D. This
section does not prohibit any of the following:

1. The agency using or sharing
anonymous data for research, statistical analysis or educational purposes.

2. An agency employee's disclosure of
an observation of a
crisis response services designated
person outside of a
crisis response services counseling
session that is not contained in any
crisis response
services communication.

3. An agency law enforcement
officer's disclosure of knowledge about a
crisis response
services designated person that is not gained from
crisis
response services communication.

E. For the purposes of this section:

1. "Crisis response
services" has the same meaning PRESCRIBED in section 38-1111.

2. "
Crisis
response services communication" means any oral or written
crisis response services communication made in the course of, or
application for, a counseling session or any communication by a
crisis response services DESIGNATED person regarding the contents of a

crisis response services counseling session to another
crisis response services member,
staff member of
a
crisis response services program or the supervisor of a

crisis response services program.

3. "
crisis
response services counseling session" means any counseling formally
provided through a
crisis response services program
between a
Crisis response services member and one or more
public safety employees.

4. "Designated person"
means a law enforcement officer or a CIVILIAN employee of a law ENFORCEMENT
agency.

END_STATUTE

APPROVED BY THE GOVERNOR JUNE 19, 2026.

FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE JUNE 22, 2026.