ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Fifty-sixth Legislature

Second Regular Session

House: HHS DPA 8-1-1-0

HB 2116: fatality review; information; access

Sponsor: Representative Willoughby, LD 13

Caucus & COW

Overview

Requires a law enforcement agency to provide unredacted reports to the state or local child fatality review (CFR) team or maternal mortality review program (MMR Program), unless the records might interfere with a pending criminal investigation or prosecution. Allows a member of the state or local CFR team or MMR Program to contact, interview or obtain information from a close contact or family member of a deceased child or mother with approval from the CFR team or MMR Program.

History

The state CFR team is established in the Arizona Department of Health Services (DHS). The CFR program was established to review all possible factors surrounding a child's death and identify ways of reducing preventable fatalities. State CFR team duties include encouraging and assisting in the development of local CFR teams, conducting an annual statistical report on the incidence and causes of child fatalities in Arizona and evaluating the incidence and causes of maternal fatalities associated with pregnancy in Arizona (CFRP Report 2023, and A.R.S. § 36-3501).

Maternal fatalities associated with pregnancy means the death of a woman while she is pregnant or within one year after the end of her pregnancy (A.R.S. § 36-3501).

A law enforcement agency with the approval of the prosecuting attorney may withhold investigative records that might interfere with a pending criminal investigation or prosecution. Additionally, all information and records acquired by the state team or local team are confidential and are not subject to subpoena, discovery or introduction into evidence in any civil or criminal proceedings, except that information, documents and records otherwise available from other resources are not immune from subpoena, discovery or introduction into evidence through those resources solely because they were presented to or reviewed by a team.

A member of the state or local CFR team is prohibited from contacting, interviewing or obtaining information by request or subpoena from a member of a deceased child's family, unless the member is a public officer or employee who may contact, interview or obtain information as part of the public officers or employee's other official duties.

State and local team meetings are closed to the public and are not subject to open meeting laws if the team is reviewing individual child fatality cases or cases of maternal fatalities association with pregnancy. All other meetings are open to the public (A.R.S. § 36-3503).

 

 

Provisions

1.   ☐ Prop 105 (45 votes) ☐ Prop 108 (40 votes) ☐ Emergency (40 votes) ☐ Fiscal NoteSpecifies that a law enforcement agency with the approval of the prosecuting attorney may withhold from release to the state or local CFR team or MMR Program any investigative records that might interfere with a pending criminal investigation or prosecution. (Sec. 1)

2.   Requires a law enforcement agency, on request, to provide unredacted reports to the chairperson of the state or local CFR team or MMR Program unless the investigative records interfere with a pending criminal investigation or prosecution. (Sec. 1)

3.   Allows a member of the state or local CFR team or MMR Program to contact, interview or obtain information from a close contact or family member of a deceased child or deceased mother. (Sec. 1)

4.   Requires the CFR team or MMR Program to approve any contact, interview or request before the person contacts, interviews or obtains information from the close contact or family member of a deceased child or mother. (Sec. 1)

5.   Applies prescribed confidentiality requirements to information and records acquired by the MMR Program. (Sec. 1)

6.   Specifies that MMR Program meetings are closed to the public and are not subject to open meeting laws if the MMR Program is reviewing cases of maternal fatalities associated with pregnancy, otherwise all other MMR Program meetings are open to the public.     (Sec. 1)

7.   Makes technical changes. (Sec. 1)

 

Amendments

Committee on Health & Human Services

1.   Removes the requirement that a law enforcement agency, on request, must provide unredacted reports to the chairperson of the state or local CFR team or MMR program.

2.   Allows a member's designee of the state CFR team, local CFR team, or MMR program to contact, interview or obtain information from a close contact or family member of a deceased child or mother pursuant to policies adopted by the state CFR team or MMR program.

3.   Requires the state CFR team or program to establish a process for approving any contact interview or request before the person contacts, interviews or obtains information from the close contact or family member of a deceased child or deceased mother.

4.   Instructs that policies adopted must require any individual engaging with a family member to be trained in trauma informed interview techniques and educated on support services available to the family member or close contact.

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8.                     HB 2116

9.   Initials AG/KT    Page 0 Caucus & COW

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