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SB1644 - 572R - S Ver
Senate Engrossed
mandatory reporting;
family court
State of Arizona
Senate
Fifty-seventh Legislature
Second Regular Session
2026
SENATE BILL 1644
AN
ACT
AMENDING SECTION 13-3620, ARIZONA REVISED
STATUTES; RELATING TO FAMILY OFFENSES.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it
enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section
1.
1. Section
13-3620, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE
13-3620.
Duty to report abuse, physical injury, neglect and denial or
deprivation of medical or surgical care or nourishment of minors; medical
records; exception; violation; classification; definitions
A. Any person who reasonably believes that a minor
is or has been the victim of physical injury, abuse, child abuse, a reportable
offense or neglect that appears to have been inflicted on the minor by other
than accidental means or that is not explained by the available medical history
as being accidental in nature or who reasonably believes there has been a
denial or deprivation of necessary medical treatment or surgical care or
nourishment with the intent to cause or allow the death of an infant who is
protected under section 36-2281 shall immediately report or cause reports
to be made of this information to a peace officer, to the department of child
safety or to a tribal law enforcement or social services agency for any Indian
minor who resides on an Indian reservation, except if the report concerns a
person who does not have care, custody or control of the minor, the report
shall be made to a peace officer only. A member of the clergy, a
Christian Science practitioner or a priest who has received a confidential
communication or a confession in that person's role as a member of the clergy,
as a Christian Science practitioner or as a priest in the course of the
discipline enjoined by the church to which the member of the clergy, the
Christian Science practitioner or the priest belongs may withhold reporting of
the communication or confession if the member of the clergy, the Christian
Science practitioner or the priest determines that it is reasonable and necessary
within the concepts of the religion.� This exemption applies only to the
communication or confession and not to personal observations the member of the
clergy, the Christian Science practitioner or the priest may otherwise make of
the minor. For the purposes of this subsection, "person"
means:
1. Any physician, physician's assistant,
optometrist, dentist, osteopathic physician, chiropractor, podiatrist,
behavioral health professional, nurse, psychologist, counselor or social worker
who develops the reasonable belief in the course of treating a patient.
2. Any peace officer, child welfare investigator,
child safety worker, member of the clergy, priest or Christian Science
practitioner.
3. The parent, stepparent or guardian of the minor.
4. School personnel, including substitute teachers,
domestic violence victim advocates or sexual assault victim advocates who
develop the reasonable belief in the course of their employment.
5. Any other person who has responsibility for the
care or treatment of the minor.
6. any of the following who are in a
family courtroom, including any person who is under contract or employed by any
of the following:
(
a
) A judicial
officer presiding over a family court matter.
(
b
) a member of
the judicial officer's staff.
(
c
) The clerk
of the court.
(
d
) a court
reporter.
(
e
) a sheriff's
deputy.
6.
7.
Any
person who is employed as the immediate or next higher level supervisor to or
administrator of a person who is listed in paragraph 1, 2, 4 or 5 of this
subsection and who develops the reasonable belief in the course of the
supervisor's or administrator's employment, except that if the supervisor or
administrator reasonably believes that the report has been made by a person who
is required to report pursuant to paragraph 1, 2, 4 or 5 of this subsection,
the supervisor or administrator is not required to report pursuant to this
paragraph.
7.
8.
Any
member of a school district governing board or charter school governing body.
B. A report is not required under this section
either:
1. For conduct prescribed by sections 13-1404
and 13-1405 if the conduct involves only minors who are fourteen,
fifteen, sixteen or seventeen years of age and there is nothing to indicate
that the conduct is other than consensual.
2. If a minor is of elementary school age, the
physical injury occurs accidentally in the course of typical playground
activity during a school day, occurs on the premises of the school that the
minor attends and is reported to the legal parent or guardian of the minor and
the school maintains a written record of the incident.
C. If a physician, psychologist or behavioral health
professional receives a statement from a person other than a parent,
stepparent, guardian or custodian of the minor during the course of providing
sex offender treatment that is not court ordered or that does not occur while
the offender is incarcerated in the state department of corrections or the
department of juvenile corrections, the physician, psychologist or behavioral
health professional may withhold the reporting of that statement if the
physician, psychologist or behavioral health professional determines it is
reasonable and necessary to accomplish the purposes of the treatment.
D. Reports shall be made immediately either
electronically or by telephone. The reports shall contain the
following information, if known:
1. The names and addresses of the minor and the
minor's parents or the person or persons having custody of the minor.
2. The minor's age and the nature and extent of the
minor's abuse, child abuse, physical injury or neglect, including any evidence
of previous abuse, child abuse, physical injury or neglect.
3. Any other information that the person believes
might be helpful in establishing the cause of the abuse, child abuse, physical
injury or neglect.
E. A health care professional who is regulated
pursuant to title 32 and who, after a routine newborn physical assessment of a
newborn infant's health status or following notification of positive toxicology
screens of a newborn infant, reasonably believes that the newborn infant may be
affected by the presence of alcohol or a drug listed in section 13-3401
shall immediately report this information, or cause a report to be made, to the
department of child safety. For the purposes of this subsection,
"newborn infant" means a newborn infant who is under thirty days of
age.
F. Any person other than one required to report or
cause reports to be made under subsection A of this section who reasonably
believes that a minor is or has been a victim of abuse, child abuse, physical
injury, a reportable offense or neglect may report the information to a peace
officer or to the department of child safety, except if the report concerns a
person who does not have care, custody or control of the minor, the report
shall be made to a peace officer only.
G. A person who has custody or control of medical
records of a minor for whom a report is required or authorized under this
section shall make the records, or a copy of the records, available to a peace
officer, child welfare investigator or child safety worker investigating the
minor's neglect, child abuse, physical injury or abuse on written request for
the records signed by the peace officer, child welfare investigator or child
safety worker. Records disclosed pursuant to this subsection are
confidential and may be used only in a judicial or administrative proceeding or
investigation resulting from a report required or authorized under this
section.
H. When a report is received:
1. By a peace officer, the officer shall immediately
notify the department of child safety.
2. Notwithstanding any other statute, by the
department
of child safety
, the department shall
immediately notify a peace officer in the appropriate jurisdiction.
3. By a school resource
officer or school safety officer, the officer shall immediately notify a law
enforcement agency in the appropriate jurisdiction and shall submit to the
local law enforcement agency all information relating to the report for the
purposes of the law enforcement agency investigating the reported conduct.
I. Any person who is required to receive reports
pursuant to subsection A of this section may take or cause to be taken
photographs of the minor and the vicinity involved. Forensic interviews
or medical examinations, or both, of the involved minor may be performed.
J. A person who furnishes a report, information or
records required or authorized under this section, or a person who participates
in a judicial or administrative proceeding or investigation resulting from a
report, information or records required or authorized under this section, is
immune from any civil or criminal liability by reason of that action unless the
person acted with malice or unless the person has been charged with or is
suspected of abusing or neglecting the child or children in question.
K. Except for the attorney client privilege or the
privilege under subsection L of this section, no privilege applies to any:
1. Civil or criminal litigation or administrative
proceeding in which a minor's neglect, dependency, abuse, child abuse, physical
injury or abandonment is an issue.
2. Judicial or administrative proceeding resulting
from a report, information or records submitted pursuant to this section.
3. Investigation of a minor's child abuse, physical
injury, neglect or abuse conducted by a peace officer or the department of
child safety.
L. In any civil or criminal litigation in which a
child's neglect, dependency, physical injury, abuse, child abuse or abandonment
is an issue, a member of the clergy, a Christian Science practitioner or a
priest shall not, without his consent, be examined as a witness concerning any
confession made to him in his role as a member of the clergy, a Christian
Science practitioner or a priest in the course of the discipline enjoined by
the church to which he belongs. This subsection does not discharge a
member of the clergy, a Christian Science practitioner or a priest from the
duty to report pursuant to subsection A of this section.
M. If psychiatric records are requested pursuant to
subsection G of this section, the custodian of the records shall notify the
attending psychiatrist, who may excise from the records, before they are made
available:
1. Personal information about individuals other than
the patient.
2. Information regarding specific diagnosis or
treatment of a psychiatric condition, if the attending psychiatrist certifies
in writing that release of the information would be detrimental to the
patient's health or treatment.
N. If any portion of a psychiatric record is excised
pursuant to subsection M of this section, a court, on application of a peace
officer, child welfare investigator or child safety worker, may order that the
entire record or any portion of the record that contains information relevant
to the reported abuse, child abuse, physical injury or neglect be made
available to the peace officer, child welfare investigator or child safety
worker investigating the abuse, child abuse, physical injury or neglect.
O. A student who is
identified as a potential victim of a reportable offense may be interviewed
only as provided by the local county protocol that is adopted pursuant to
section 8-817.� This subsection does not prevent a school resource
officer or a school safety officer from either:
1. Receiving a voluntary report of a reportable
offense from a student who is an alleged victim.
2. Asking a student minimal follow-up
questions that are necessary and authorized by the county protocol.
P. A report to a school resource officer or a school
safety officer does not satisfy the reporting requirement prescribed by this
section.
Q. A person who violates this section is guilty of a
class 1 misdemeanor, except if the failure to report involves a reportable
offense, the person is guilty of a class 6 felony.
R. For the purposes of this section:
1. "Abuse" has the same meaning prescribed
in section 8-201.
2. "Child abuse" means child abuse
pursuant to section 13-3623.
3. "Neglect" has the same meaning
prescribed in section 8-201.
4. "Reportable offense" means any of the
following:
(a) Any offense listed in chapters 14 and 35.1 of
this title or section 13-3506.
(b) Surreptitious photographing, videotaping,
filming or digitally recording or viewing a minor pursuant to section 13-3019.
(c) Child sex trafficking pursuant to section 13-3212.
(d) Incest pursuant to section 13-3608.
(e) Unlawful mutilation pursuant to section 13-1214.
5. "School safety officer" has the same
meaning prescribed in section 15-514.
6. "Student" means a student who is
enrolled in a kindergarten program or any of grades one through twelve.
END_STATUTE