1     
LAW ENFORCEMENT PROTECTION AMENDMENTS

2     
2018 GENERAL SESSION

3     
STATE OF UTAH

4     
Chief Sponsor: Don L. Ipson

5     
House Sponsor: Lee B. Perry

6     

7     LONG TITLE
8     General Description:
9          This bill amends provisions relating to publicly available personal information of law
10     enforcement officers.
11     Highlighted Provisions:
12          This bill:
13          ▸     creates a process by which a law enforcement officer may have their own personal
14     information removed from publicly available state or local government sites;
15          ▸     requires that the law enforcement officer deliver copies of a form to the affected
16     state or local government agency;
17          ▸     provides that the ban on the information may remain in place for up to four years;
18     and
19          ▸     makes conforming and technical amendments.
20     Money Appropriated in this Bill:
21          None
22     Other Special Clauses:
23          None
24     Utah Code Sections Affected:
25     AMENDS:
26          53-18-102, as enacted by Laws of Utah 2017, Chapter 266
27          53-18-103, as enacted by Laws of Utah 2017, Chapter 266
28     

29     Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
30          Section 1. Section 53-18-102 is amended to read:
31          53-18-102. Definitions.
32          As used in this chapter:
33          (1) "Access software provider" means a provider of software, including client or server
34     software, or enabling tools that do any one or more of the following:
35          (a) filter, screen, allow, or disallow content;
36          (b) pick, choose, analyze, or digest content; or
37          (c) transmit, receive, display, forward, cache, search, subset, organize, reorganize, or
38     translate content.
39          (2) "Immediate family member" means a law enforcement officer's spouse, child [or
40     spouse of a child, sibling or spouse of a sibling, or], parent, or grandparent who resides with
41     the officer.
42          (3) "Interactive computer service" means the same as that term is defined in Subsection
43     47 U.S.C. 230(f).
44          (4) "Law enforcement officer" or "officer":
45          (a) means the same as that term is defined in Section 53-13-103;
46          (b) includes "correctional officers" as defined in Section 53-13-104; and
47          (c) refers only to officers who are currently employed by, retired from, or were killed in
48     the line of duty while in the employ of a state or local governmental law enforcement agency.
49          (5) "Personal information" means a law enforcement officer's or law enforcement
50     officer's immediate family member's address, telephone number, personal mobile telephone
51     number, pager number, personal email address, personal photograph, directions to locate the
52     law enforcement officer's home, or photographs of the law enforcement officer's or the officer's
53     immediate family member's home or vehicle.
54          (6) "Publicly post" or "publicly display" means to intentionally communicate or
55     otherwise make available to the general public.
56          Section 2. Section 53-18-103 is amended to read:
57          53-18-103. Internet posting of personal information of law enforcement officers --
58     Prohibitions.
59          (1) (a) A state or local governmental agency that has received the form described in
60     Subsection (1)(b) from a law enforcement officer may not publicly post on the Internet the
61     personal information of any law enforcement officer employed by the state or any political
62     subdivision [on the Internet unless the agency has obtained written permission from the officer
63     and has the written permission in the agency's possession].
64          (b) Each state or local government agency employing law enforcement officers shall:
65          (i) provide a form for an officer to request the removal or concealment of the officer's
66     personal information from the state or local government agencies' publicly accessible websites
67     and databases;
68          (ii) inform the officer how to submit a form under this section;
69          (iii) upon request, assist an officer in completing the form; and
70          (iv) include on any form a disclaimer informing the officer that by submitting a
71     completed form the officer may not receive official announcements affecting the officer's
72     property, including notices about proposed annexations, incorporation, or zoning
73     modifications.
74          (2) A county clerk, upon receipt of the form described in Subsection (1)(b) from a law
75     enforcement officer, completed and submitted under this section, shall:
76          (a) classify the law enforcement officer's voter registration record in the lieutenant
77     governor's statewide voter registration database developed under Section 20A-2-109 as a
78     private record; and
79          (b) classify the law enforcement officer's marriage licenses and marriage license
80     applications, if any, as private records.
81          (3) A county recorder, treasurer, auditor, or tax assessor, upon receipt of the form
82     described in Subsection (1)(b) from a law enforcement officer, completed and submitted under
83     this section, shall:
84          (a) provide a method for the assessment roll and index and the tax roll and index that
85     will block public access to the law enforcement officer's personal information; and
86          (b) provide to the law enforcement officer who submits the form a written disclaimer
87     informing the officer that the officer may not receive official announcements affecting the
88     officer's property, including notices about proposed annexations, incorporations, or zoning
89     modifications.
90          (4) A form submitted under this section remains in effect for the shorter of:
91          (a) four years from the date on which the form was signed by the officer, regardless of
92     whether the officer's qualifying employment is terminated during the four years; or
93          (b) one year after official notice of the law enforcement officer's death is transmitted by
94     the officer's immediate family or the officer's employing agency to all state and local
95     government agencies that are reasonably expected to have records containing personal
96     information of the deceased officer.
97          (5) Notwithstanding Subsection (4), the law enforcement officer, or the officer's
98     immediate family if the officer is deceased, may rescind the form at any time.
99          [(2)] (6) An individual may not [knowingly], with intent to frighten or harass a law
100     enforcement officer, publicly post on the Internet the personal information of any law
101     enforcement officer [or of the officer's immediate family members] knowing the person is a
102     law enforcement officer [or that the person is the immediate family member of a law
103     enforcement officer].
104          (a) A violation of this Subsection (2) is a class B misdemeanor.
105          (b) A violation of this Subsection (2) that results in bodily injury to the officer, or a
106     member of the officer's immediate family, is a class A misdemeanor.
107          (c) Each act against a separate individual in violation of this Subsection (2) is a
108     separate offense. The defendant may also be charged separately with the commission of any
109     other criminal conduct related to the commission of an offense under this Subsection (2).
110          [(3)] (7) (a) A business or association may not publicly post or publicly display on the
111     Internet the personal information of any law enforcement officer if that officer has, either
112     directly or through an agent designated under Subsection (3)(c), provided to that business or
113     association a written demand to not disclose the officer's personal information.
114          (b) A written demand made under this Subsection (3) by a law enforcement officer is
115     effective for four years beginning on the day the demand is delivered, regardless of whether or
116     not the law enforcement officer's employment as an officer has terminated during the four
117     years.
118          (c) A law enforcement officer may designate in writing the officer's employer or a
119     representative of any voluntary professional association of law enforcement officers to act on
120     behalf of the officer and as the officer's agent to make a written demand pursuant to this
121     chapter.
122          (d) (i) A business or association that receives a written demand from a law enforcement
123     officer under Subsection (3)(a) shall remove the officer's personal information from public
124     display on the Internet, including the removal of information provided to cellular telephone
125     applications, within 24 hours of the delivery of the written demand, and shall ensure that the
126     information is not posted again on the same Internet website or any other Internet website the
127     recipient of the written demand maintains or exercises control over.
128          (ii) After receiving the law enforcement officer's written demand, the person, business,
129     or association may not publicly post or publicly display on the Internet, the personal
130     information of the law enforcement officer.
131          (iii) This Subsection (3)(d) does not prohibit a telephone corporation, as defined in
132     Section 54-2-1, or its affiliate or other voice service provider, including providers of
133     interconnected voice over Internet protocol service as defined in 47 C.F.R. 9.3, from
134     transferring the law enforcement officer's personal information to any person, business, or
135     association, if the transfer is authorized by federal or state law, regulation, order, terms of
136     service, or tariff, or is necessary in the event of an emergency, or to collect a debt owed by the
137     officer to the telephone corporation or its affiliate.
138          (iv) This Subsection (3)(d) does not apply to a telephone corporation or other voice
139     service provider, including providers of interconnected voice over Internet protocol service,
140     with respect to directories or directories listings to the extend the entity offers a nonpublished
141     listing option.
142          [(4)] (8) (a) A law enforcement officer whose personal information is made public as a
143     result of a violation of Subsection [(3)] (7) may bring an action seeking injunctive or
144     declarative relief in any court of competent jurisdiction.
145          (b) If a court finds that a violation has occurred, it may grant injunctive or declarative
146     relief and shall award the law enforcement officer court costs and reasonable attorney fees.
147          (c) If the defendant fails to comply with an order of the court issued under this
148     Subsection [(4)] (8), the court may impose a civil penalty of not more than $1,000 for the
149     defendant's failure to comply with the court's order.
150          [(5)] (9) (a) A person, business, or association may not solicit, sell, or trade on the
151     Internet the personal information of a law enforcement officer, if the dissemination of the
152     personal information poses an imminent and serious threat to the law enforcement officer's
153     safety or the safety of the law enforcement officer's immediate family and the person making
154     the information available on the Internet knows or reasonably should know of the imminent
155     and serious threat.
156          (b) A law enforcement officer whose personal information is knowingly publicly
157     posted or publicly displayed on the Internet may bring an action in any court of competent
158     jurisdiction. If a jury or court finds that a defendant has committed a violation of Subsection
159     [(5)] (9)(a), the jury or court shall award damages to the officer in the amount of triple the cost
160     of actual damages or $4,000, whichever is greater.
161          [(6)] (10) An interactive computer service or access software is not liable under
162     Subsections [(3)] (7)(d)(i) and [(5)] (9) for information or content provided by another
163     information content provider.
164          [(7)] (11) Unless a state or local government agency receives a completed form directly
165     from the law enforcement officer [requests that certain information be removed or protected
166     from disclosure in accordance with Section 63G-2-302, a county recorder] in accordance with
167     Subsection (1), a state or local government official who makes information available for public
168     inspection in accordance with [Section 17-21-19] state law is not in violation of this chapter.




Legislative Review Note
Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel