peace officers; cameras; disclosures; recordings.

SB1773 - 572R - I Ver

REFERENCE TITLE:
peace officers; cameras; disclosures; recordings.

State of Arizona

Senate

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

SB 1773

Introduced by

Senator
Gonzales

AN
ACT

amending title 38, chapter 8, Arizona
Revised Statutes, by adding article 4; relating to law enforcement officers.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

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

Section 1. Title 38, chapter 8, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended by adding article 4, to read:

ARTICLE 4. LAW
ENFORCEMENT OFFICER CAMERAS AND RECORDINGS

START_STATUTE
38-1181.

Definitions

In this article, unless the context otherwise
requires:

1. "Contact":

(
a
) Means an
interaction that is with an individual who is either inside or outside of a
motor vehicle and that is initiated by a peace officer, whether consensual or
nonconsensual, to enforce a law or for investigating a possible violation of a
law.

(
b
) Does not
include routine interactions with the public at the point of entry or exit from
a controlled area.

2. "Physical force" means
using physical techniques on or tactics, chemical agents or weapons against
another individual.

3. "Tamper" means to intentionally
damage, disable, dislodge or obstruct the sight or sound or otherwise impair
the functionality of a body-worn camera or to intentionally damage,
delete or fail to upload some or all portions of the video and audio of a body-worn
camera.
END_STATUTE

START_STATUTE
38-1182.

Peace officers; cameras; incident recording requirements;
exceptions; presumptions; certification suspension or revocation; retention
schedule; privacy interests; filing deadlines; notice

A. On or before July 1, 2028, each
local law enforcement agency in this state and the department of public safety
shall provide a body-worn camera for each peace officer who is employed by the
law enforcement agency or the department of public safety and who has contact
with the public.

B. Except as provided in subsection
C, D or E of this section, a peace officer shall wear and activate a body-worn
camera, or activate a dash camera if the peace officer's vehicle is equipped
with a dash camera, when responding to a call for service or during any contact
with the public.

C. A peace officer may turn off a
body-worn or dash camera:

1. To avoid recording personal
information that is not related to a case.

2. When working on an unrelated
assignment.

3. When there is a long break in the
incident or contact that is not related to the initial incident.

4. In an administrative, tactical or
management discussion that is not related to the initial incident.

D. A peace officer does not need to
wear or activate a body-worn camera if the peace officer is working undercover
or in a court room.

E. This section does not apply to a
peace officer or the staff who work in the jail of a local law enforcement
agency if the jail has video cameras except if performing a task that requires
the anticipated use of physical force, including during a cell extraction or if
using a restraint chair.

F. If a peace officer fails to
activate a body-worn camera or dash camera as required by this section, or
tampers with body-worn or dash camera footage or operation when required to
activate the camera, there is a permissive inference against the peace officer
in any investigation or legal proceeding, not including criminal proceedings,
that the missing footage would have reflected misconduct by the peace officer.�
If a peace officer fails to activate or reactivate the officer's body-worn camera
as required by this section, or tampers with body-worn camera or dash camera
footage or operation when required to activate the camera, any statement that
is sought to be introduced in a prosecution through the peace officer that is
related to the incident and that was not recorded because the peace officer
failed to activate or reactivate the body-worn camera as required by this
section, or if the statement was not recorded by other means, creates a
rebuttable presumption of inadmissibility.� Notwithstanding any other law, this
subsection does not apply if the body-worn camera or dash camera was not
activated due to a malfunction of the body-worn camera or dash camera and the
peace officer was not aware of the malfunction, or was unable to rectify it,
before the incident if the law enforcement agency's documentation shows that
the peace officer checked the functionality of the body-worn camera or dash
camera at the beginning of the peace officer's shift.

G. In addition to any criminal
liability or other penalty under the law, if a court, administrative law judge,
hearing officer or final decision in an internal investigation finds that a
peace officer intentionally failed to activate a body-worn camera or dash
camera or tampered with a body-worn camera or dash camera, except as allowed in
this section, the peace officer's employer shall impose discipline up to and
including termination to the extent allowed by the applicable constitutional and
statutory personnel laws and case law.

H. In addition to any criminal
liability or other penalty under the law, if a court, administrative law judge,
hearing officer or final decision in an internal investigation finds that a
peace officer intentionally failed to activate a body-worn camera or dash
camera or tampered with a body-worn camera or dash camera, except as allowed in
this section, with the intent to conceal unlawful or inappropriate actions or
obstruct justice, the Arizona peace officer standards and training board shall
suspend the peace officer's certification for at least one year. A
suspension pursuant to this subsection may be lifted within the period of the
suspension only if the peace officer is exonerated by a court.

I. In addition to any criminal
liability or other penalty under the law, if a court, administrative law judge,
hearing officer or final decision in an internal investigation finds that a
peace officer intentionally failed to activate a body-worn camera or dash
camera or tampered with a body-worn camera or dash camera, except as allowed in
this section, with the intent to conceal unlawful or inappropriate actions or
obstruct justice in an incident that results in a civilian death, the Arizona peace
officer standards and training board shall permanently revoke the peace
officer's certification.� A revocation pursuant to this subsection may be
overturned only if the peace officer is exonerated by a court.

J. A local law enforcement agency and
the department of public safety shall establish and follow a retention schedule
for body-worn camera and dash camera recordings that complies with the rules
and directions adopted by the Arizona state library, archives and public
records.

K. For any incident that involves a complaint of
peace officer misconduct by another peace officer, a civilian or a nonprofit
organization, through notice to the law enforcement agency involved in the
alleged misconduct, the local law enforcement agency or the department of
public safety shall release all unedited video and audio recordings of the
incident, including recordings made from body-worn cameras, dash cameras or
otherwise collected through investigation, to the public within twenty-one
days after the local law enforcement agency or the department of public safety
receives the complaint of misconduct.

L. All video and audio recordings
that depict a death caused by a peace officer must be provided on request to
the victim's spouse, parent, legal guardian, child, sibling, grandparent,
grandchild, significant other or other lawful representative and the requesting
person shall be notified of the person's right to receive and review the
recording at least seventy-two hours before public disclosure of the video or
audio recording.�

M. Notwithstanding any other
provision in this section, any video recording that raises a substantial
privacy interest for a criminal defendant, a victim, a witness, a juvenile or
an informant shall be redacted or blurred to protect the substantial privacy
interest while still allowing public release, including a video recording that
depicts any of the following:

1. Nudity.

2. A sexual assault.

3. A medical emergency.

4. Any private medical information.

5. A mental health crisis.

6. A victim interview.

7. A minor, including any images or
information that might undermine the requirement to keep certain juvenile
records confidential.

8. Any personal information other
than the name of any person not arrested, cited, charged or issued a written
warning, including a government-issued identification number, date of birth,
address or financial information.

9. Significantly explicit and
gruesome bodily injury, unless the injury was caused by a peace officer.

10. The interior of a home or
treatment facility.

N. Unredacted footage may not be
released without the written authorization of the victim or, if the victim is
deceased or incapacitated, the written authorization of the victim's next of
kin. A person who is seventeen years of age or younger is considered
incapacitated unless legally emancipated.

O. If redaction or blurring is
insufficient to protect the substantial privacy interest, the local law
enforcement agency or the department of public safety, on request, shall
release the video to the victim or, if the victim is deceased or incapacitated,
to the victim's spouse, parent, legal guardian, child, sibling, grandparent,
grandchild or significant other or other lawful representative within twenty
days after receipt of the complaint of misconduct. In cases in which
the recording is not released to the public pursuant to this subsection, the
local law enforcement agency shall notify the person whose privacy interest is
implicated, if contact information is known, within twenty days after receipt
of the complaint of misconduct and inform the person of the person's right to
waive the privacy interest.

P. A witness, victim or criminal
defendant may waive in writing the individual privacy interest that may be
implicated by a public release of the recording.� On receipt of a written
waiver of the applicable privacy interest, accompanied by a request for
release, the law enforcement agency may not redact or withhold release to
protect that privacy interest.

Q. Any video recording that would
substantially interfere with or jeopardize an active or ongoing investigation
may be withheld from the public, except that the video recording shall be
released not later than forty-five days after the date of the misconduct
allegation. If release of a video recording is delayed pursuant to
this subsection, the prosecuting attorney shall prepare a written explanation
of the interference or jeopardy that justifies the delayed release,
contemporaneous with the refusal to release the video recording. On
release of the video recording, the prosecuting attorney shall release the
written explanation to the public.

R. If criminal charges have been
filed against a party to the incident and that party wishes to file a
constitutional objection to the release of the video recording in the pending
criminal case, that party must file the objection before the twenty-one-day
period expires. Only in cases in which there is a pending criminal
investigation or prosecution of a party to the incident, the twenty-one-day
period begins from the date of appointment of counsel, the filing of an entry
of appearance by counsel or the election to proceed pro se by the
defendant in the criminal prosecution made on the record before a
judge. If the defendant elects to proceed pro se in the criminal
case, the court shall advise the defendant of the twenty-one-day deadline for
the defendant to file any constitutional objection to the release of the video
recording in the pending criminal case as part of the court's
advisement. The court shall hold a hearing on any objection not
later than seven days after it is filed and issue a ruling not later than three
days after the hearing.
END_STATUTE

Sec. 2.
Effective date

This act is effective from and after
December 31, 2026.