HB 1547

This bill requires a criminal justice agency to share with a bona fide researcher all criminal justice data and records, including relevant personally identifying information and demographic information, held by that agency relating to any of the following:  Law enforcement stop, search, or seizure .  Warrant, arrest, or citation .  Participation in a pre-arrest or post-arrest diversion, specialty court, or other alternative resolution program .  Criminal charge, disposition, or sentence .  Pretrial or posttrial release from custody, or any terms or conditions of release .  Grant, order, change in the terms of, or termination of pretrial supervised release, probation, parole, or participation in correctional or rehabilitative programs .  Formal discipline, reclassification, or relocation of a person under criminal sentence or correctional control. "BONA FIDE RESEARCHER"" DEFINED As used in this bill, a ""bona fide researcher"" means an individual or organization who meets all of the following criteria:  Agrees that any personally identifiable information provided must be used only for research and statistical activities, and must not be transferred, revealed, or used for purposes other than research or statistical activities, and that reports or publications derived from this information must not identify specific individuals .  Certifies that the individual or organization has secured approval by their institutional review board for the research or statistical project that is the basis of the data access request .  If they are requesting access to any confidential, personally identifiable data, certifies that the individual or organization has security controls in place to prevent unauthorized access to any confidential, personally identifiable data, and that these controls have met the approval of their institutional review board . RELEASE OF RECORDS This bill requires a criminal justice agency to share with a bona fide researcher all criminal justice data and records, including relevant personally identifying information and demographic information, held by that agency that is subject to mandatory or discretionary disclosure to any member of the public under the public records law . However, a criminal justice agency may share with a bona fide researcher any other criminal justice data, records, or information, including relevant personally identifying information and demographic information, held by that agency that is responsive to a bona fide researcher's request. This bill clarifies that a release of criminal justice data, records, or information under the above provisions is not considered a release of data, records, or information to the public for the purposes of the public records law and does not waive the right to assert in the future that data, records, or information are excepted from disclosure under such law . This bill authorizes a criminal justice agency to assess reasonable fees, not to exceed actual costs, for the search, retrieval, and copying of criminal justice data, records, or information requested, and to waive such fees at their discretion. ""CRIMINAL JUSTICE AGENCY"" DEFINED As used in this bill, a ""c riminal justice agency"" means a court with criminal jurisdiction and a local, county, or state agency that performs an activity directly relating to the detection or investigation of crime; the apprehension, pretrial release, post-trial release, prosecuti on, correctional supervision, rehabilitation, evaluation, or treatment of accused persons or criminal offenders; or criminal identification activities or the collection, storage, or dissemination of arrest and criminal records inf ormation . REQUIRED GUIDANCE By January 1, 2027, this bill requires the attorney general to issue guidance to assist criminal justice agencies in complying with this bill, including a process for identifying and sharing criminal justice data, records, and information with bona fide researchers."