28-454

28-454. Records maintained by department of
transportation; redaction; definitions

A. Notwithstanding sections 28-447 and 28-455, an eligible person may request that
persons be prohibited from accessing the person's residential address and telephone
number contained in any record maintained by the department.

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 department:

1. The person's full legal name and residential address.

2. 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.

3. 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 residential address and
telephone number from the department's public records will serve to reduce the danger.

C. The affidavit shall be filed with the presiding judge of the superior court in
the county in which the affiant resides. To prevent a multiplicity of filings, an
eligible person who is a peace officer, 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, 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, code enforcement, law enforcement, corrections or detention
agency, as applicable, or that person's designee, shall not file affidavits more often
than quarterly.

D. On receipt of an affidavit or affidavits, the presiding judge of the superior
court shall cause to be filed 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.

E. 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. The presiding judge of the superior court shall order the redaction of the
residence address and telephone number from the public records maintained by the
department if the judge concludes that this action will reduce a danger to the life or
safety of the affiant or another person.

F. On entry of the court order, the clerk of the superior court shall file the
court order with the department. No more than one hundred fifty days after the date the
department receives the court order, the department shall redact the residence addresses
and telephone numbers of the affiants listed in the court order from the public records
of the department. The residence addresses and telephone numbers shall not be disclosed
and are not part of a public record.

G. 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.

H. On motion to the court, if the presiding judge of the superior court concludes
that a residential address or telephone number has been sealed in error or that the cause
for the original affidavit no longer exists, the presiding judge may vacate the court
order prohibiting public access to the residential address or telephone number.

I. Notwithstanding sections 28-447 and 28-455, the department shall not release a
photograph of a peace officer if the peace officer has made a request as prescribed in
this section that persons be prohibited from accessing the peace officer's residential
address and telephone number in any record maintained by the department.

J. This section does not prohibit the use of a peace officer's photograph that is
either:

1. Used by a law enforcement agency to assist a person who has a complaint against
an officer to identify the officer.

2. Obtained from a source other than the department.

K. 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. "Corrections support staff member" means an adult or juvenile corrections
employee who has direct contact with inmates.

3. "Eligible person" means a peace officer, justice, judge, commissioner, public
defender, prosecutor, code enforcement officer, adult or juvenile corrections officer,
corrections support staff member, probation officer, member of the board of executive
clemency, law enforcement support staff member, 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 or firefighter who is assigned to the Arizona
counterterrorism center in the department of public safety.

4. "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.

5. "Prosecutor" means a county attorney, a municipal prosecutor or the attorney
general and includes an assistant or deputy county attorney, municipal prosecutor or
attorney general.