REFERENCE TITLE: criminal justice case information; reporting

 

 

 

 

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-fourth Legislature

Second Regular Session

2020

 

 

 

HB 2634

 

Introduced by

Representatives Blackman: Bolick

 

 

AN ACT

 

amending title 41, chapter 17, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 41‑2202; relating to criminal justice information.

 

 

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

 


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

Section 1.  Title 41, chapter 17, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 41-2202, to read:

START_STATUTE41-2202.  Uniform criminal justice data collection; reporting requirements; public access; withholding of monies for noncompliance; definitions

A.  Beginning six months after the Effective Date of this section and every six months thereafter, the Attorney General and each county attorney shall make a report that includes the number of felony and misdemeanor cases that:

1.  Are charged by the respective prosecutor's office through an indictment or information or are filed directly with a court by a law enforcement agency.

2.  Are resolved by the respective prosecutor's office through a plea agreement and whether the defendant pleaded either:

(a)  guilty.

(b)  no contest.

3.  Are presented by the respective prosecutor for bench or jury trial consideration and whether the case ended with:

(a)  A finding of guilt.

(b)  A finding of guilty except insane.

(c)  An acquittal.

(d)  A dismissal based on a finding that the defendant is incompetent to stand trial.

(e)  A deadlocked jury.

(f)  A split decision.  If the jury splits the verdicts in a case, the prosecutor shall report the number of charges that ended in a finding of guilt and the number of charges that ended in an acquittal.

4.  A first time felony offender received a sentence of:

(a)  probation.

(b)  Less than one year of imprisonment.

(c)  One year or more but less than three years of imprisonment.

(d)  Three years or more but less than five years of imprisonment.

(e)  Five years or more but less than ten years of imprisonment.

(f)  Ten years or more of imprisonment.

(g)  death.

5.  A repetitive felony offender received a sentence of:

(a)  probation.

(b)  Less than one year of imprisonment.

(c)  One year or more but less than three years of imprisonment.

(d)  Three years or more but less than five years of imprisonment.

(e)  Five years or more but less than ten years of imprisonment.

(f)  Ten years or more of imprisonment.

(g)  death.

B.  For each individual case that is included in the report required by subsection A of this section, the office of the prosecutor of the case shall include all of the following:

1.  An anonymized unique Case Identifier that is created only for reporting purposes.

2.  A state identification number that is produced by the department of public safety.

3.  A unique Defendant Identifier that is created only for reporting purposes.

4.  The Defendant's age.

5.  The defendant's race as defined by the United States census bureau.

6.  The Defendant's ethnicity as defined by the United States census bureau.

7.  The defendant's gender.

8.  The Defendant's primary language.

9.  Whether the defendant is a person with a disability.

10.  The Incident date.

11.  The arrest or citation date.

12.  The county, city and major cross streets of the arrest or citation, if applicable.

13.  The originating agency identification number for the primary arresting agency or the agency that issued the citation.

14.  The direct complaint and indicted Charges listed for the defendant on the arresting agency paperwork, including the charge description, charge statute reference and charge SEVERITY classification.

15.  A list of all of the defendant's alleged prior felony charges, including the charge description, charge statute reference and charge SEVERITY classification.

16.  A list of all of the defendant's alleged prior felony convictions.

17.  The known Charges the arresting agency referred to the prosecutor.

18.  Whether the repetitive felony offender sentencing statute applied and, if applied, the repetitive sentencing category that was applied.

19.  Whether the defendant was eligible for a court-appointed attorney and the name of the court proceeding where the determination was made.

20.  the prosecutorial review date.

21.  The date for the filing of initial charges.

22.  The defendant's Initial Appearance date.

23.  The defendant's Arraignment date.

24.  Whether the charges were diversion eligible.

25.  Whether diversion was offered to the defendant and if offered:

(a)  the date of the diversion offer.

(b)  Whether the defendant accepted the DIVERSION offer.

(c)  Whether the defendant successfully completed diversion.

26.  Whether the charge was eligible for the death penalty.

27.  Whether the defendant was eligible for bail or bond.

28.  Whether the initial appearance release conditions that the prosecutor requested included a change of custody status.

29.  Whether the initial appearance release conditions that the prosecutor requested included global positioning system monitoring.

30.  The release conditions that the prosecutor requested, and if The Prosecutor requested a bail or bond, the amount requested.

31.  Whether the defendant's release was conditioned on bail or bond.

32.  Whether the defendant's bond was secured, unsecured or cash only.

33.  The Date that the bail or bond was imposed.

34.  The Amount of the bail.

35.  The defendant's Release conditions other than bail or bond, if ordered.

36.  The number of days that the defendant spent in pretrial detention.

37.  Whether a risk assessment or other algorithm-based or quantitative tool was used in determining whether to order pretrial detention and the amount of bail or bond, or both.

38.  If a risk assessment was conducted, the Name of the office or agency that conducted the risk assessment. 

39.  Whether the defendant was offered a plea agreement and if offered:

(a)  The Date that the plea agreement was offered.

(b)  Whether the plea agreement included a time limit or deadline to accept the plea agreement.

(c)  the terms of all plea agreements offered, including:

(i)  Whether the plea agreement included an offer to dismiss a charge.

(ii)  The felony classifications for each dismissed charge.

(iii)  The Charges included in the plea agreement.

(iv)  The felony classifications for the charges included in the plea agreement.

(v)  Whether the plea agreement involved a charge that was not part of the conviction.

(vi)  any specific Penalties.

(d)  Whether the defendant accepted or rejected the plea agreement.

(e)  Whether the court accepted or rejected the plea agreement.

(f)  Whether discovery was offered to the defendant before a plea agreement was offered.

40.  The Date discovery was disclosed to the defendant or the defendant's attorney.

41.  The Disposition of each charge of the case, including:

(a)  Whether The Case or charges were dismissed by or on motion of the prosecutor and the reason for dismissal.

(b)  All charges of which the defendant was convicted, if any.

(c)  If the defendant was convicted, whether the conviction occurred by plea, jury trial or bench trial.

(d)  If the case was dismissed by a judge, the reason for dismissal.

(e)  If the case or any charges were rejected for prosecution.

(f)  If no charge was filed.

42.  The Disposition date.

43.  The type of Sentence imposed, including prison, supervised probation or unsupervised probation.

44.  The length of the Sentence.

45.  The terms of any Supervision that was imposed, including standard or intensive probation and electronic monitoring.

46.  Whether the defendant was placed on Probation following a prison sentence.

47.  Whether the court imposed a Fine.

48.  Whether the court imposed any fees.

49.  Whether the court waived or modified any surcharges on any imposed fines or fees.

50.  The final fine amount owed, if any.

51.  The final restitution amount owed, if any.

52.  Whether the conviction required the forfeiture of any property.

C.  Beginning six months after the Effective Date of this section and every six months thereafter, the attorney general and each county attorney that prosecutes any of the following charges shall make a report For each applicable individual charge, including any PREPARATORY offenses under title 13, chapter 10, that includes the drug type and weight in grams or pounds of the drugs involved, except that If the arresting officer did not record a specific weight, the information may include the words, "NOT COLLECTED":

1.  Possession or use of marijuana.

2.  Possession or use of a dangerous drug.

3.  Possession or use of a narcotic drug.

4.  Possession or use of a prescription-only drug.

5.  Possession for sale of marijuana.

6.  Possession for sale of a dangerous drug.

7.  Possession for sale of a narcotic drug.

8.  Possession of equipment or chemicals, or both, for the purpose of manufacturing a dangerous drug.

9.  Possession of equipment or chemicals, or both, for the purpose of manufacturing a narcotic drug.

10.  Manufacturing a dangerous drug.

11.  Manufacturing a narcotic drug.

12.  Administering a dangerous drug to another person.

13.  Administering a narcotic drug to another person.

14.  Obtaining or procuring the administration of a dangerous drug by fraud, deceit, misrepresentation or subterfuge.

15.  Obtaining or procuring the administration of a narcotic drug by fraud, deceit, misrepresentation or subterfuge.

16.  Transporting for sale, importing into this state or offering to transport for sale or import into this state, selling, transferring or offering to sell or transfer marijuana.

17.  Transporting for sale, importing into this state or offering to transport for sale or import into this state, selling, transferring or offering to sell or transfer a dangerous drug.

18.  Transporting for sale, importing into this state or offering to transport for sale or import into this state, selling, transferring or offering to sell or transfer a narcotic drug.

D.  The prosecutor may not leave any blank responses in the reports that are required under subsections A, B and C of this section and shall use the following words if information is not available for a report:

1.  "Not Collected" For any data that is missing from a report because the office failed to obtain or report the data.

2.  "To be Determined" For any data that is missing from the report because the requested data has not been obtained as of the date of the report.

3.  "Not applicable" For any data that does not apply to the specific case.

4.  "Refused" For any data that the individual chose not to provide.

5.  "MISSING" for any data that is missing.

E.  The director of the Arizona criminal justice commission is designated as the central collection point for criminal justice data reports.  The Arizona criminal justice commission shall determine the method for each county attorney and the attorney general to transmit the reports prescribed by subsections A, B and C of this section to the attorney general.  The director or the appointed members on the commission, or both, shall review and consolidate the data within sixty days after receiving the data or at the next scheduled commission board meeting following the receipt of the data.  The Arizona criminal justice commission shall calculate the overall recidivism rate of all prisoners who are released from prison for five, ten and fifteen years after the prisoner's release.  Recidivism shall be separately calculated by reconviction, reincarceration and rearrest.  The director of the Arizona criminal justice commission shall submit the commission's recommendations, the recidivism rates and the consolidated data report ten calendar days after the sixtieth day or ten calendar days after the commission board adjourns to the governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, the president of the senate the minority leader in the house of representative and the minority leader in the senate.  The Arizona criminal justice commission shall ensure that the reporting is completed in a uniform and consistent manner.

F.  Beginning January 1, 2021 and every six months thereafter, each county attorney shall transmit the reports prescribed by subsections A, B and C of this section to the Arizona criminal justice commission.

G.  Beginning January 1, 2021 and every six months thereafter, the Arizona criminal justice commission shall publish the reports prescribed by subsections A, B and C of this section, including the aggregate and case-level data required for the reports, on the Arizona criminal justice commission's website in a modern, open, electronic format that is machine‑readable, machine-searchable and readily accessible to the public. The published reports may not contain individualized or identifying personal information about any person who is arrested or prosecuted.

H.  Beginning January 1, 2021 and every six months thereafter, Each county attorney shall make publicly available on each county attorney's website the aggregate and case-level data included in the reports prescribed by subsections A, B and C of this section. The data must include the date that the information was collected.

I.  Beginning January 1, 2021, each county attorney and public defender’s office shall annually publish the following information on the office's website:

1.  The number of attorneys on the office's staff.

2.  The number of cases assigned per year per attorney.

3.  The number of attorneys who worked for the office in a temporary or contract capacity during the previous calendar year.

4.  the number of paralegals and administrative staff who are employed by the office.

5.  The Number of investigators who are used by the office during the previous calendar year, whether on staff or otherwise.

6.  the total expenses for compensation of experts who are used by the office during the previous calendar year, whether on staff or otherwise, including the use of an expert who is a police officer or who works for a police agency.

J.  Notwithstanding any other law, if the Attorney General determines that a county attorney is not complying with this section, the Attorney General shall compel compliance by withholding the distribution to the county attorney of monies that the Attorney General administers.  the attorney general may restore funding only after the county attorney fully complies with this Section and provides the required information from the date of noncompliance through the current date and after the Attorney General completes a compliance review and certifies that the county attorney is in compliance.

K.  For the purposes of this section:

1.  "Case" means all the charges that are associated with the same defendant and that are filed in court on the same date, except that a case involving multiple defendants is counted separately for each codefendant.

2.  "Charge" means a criminal accusation by a prosecutor's office that a person committed an act in violation of an ordinance, citation, summary or statute defining an offense and includes accusations brought by ticket, citation, information, complaint, indictment or other charging instrument.

3.  "Consideration" means a jury is empaneled and sworn in to consider the charges or, in the case of a bench trial, at least one witness testifies.

4.  "Disposition" means the conclusion of the prosecution of any charge by a plea of no contest, diversion, dismissal, dismissal as part of a plea agreement, declination of prosecution, conviction as part of a plea agreement, conviction at trial, acquittal or any other means. 

5.  "Prosecutor" means the attorney general, deputy attorney general, County attorney or Deputy County Attorney.

6.  "Unique defendant Identifier" means a randomly generated anonymized number that is assigned in place of the defendant's name or case number and that follows the individual across cases. END_STATUTE

Sec. 2.  Legislative intent

It is the intent of the legislature to implement a model for uniform criminal justice data collection by requiring each county attorney and the attorney general to report complete, accurate and timely data about their respective criminal prosecutions and to make this information available to the public.  The legislature finds that implementing a uniform criminal justice data collection model is an important state interest and promotes criminal justice data transparency.