HB2784 - 552R

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

Section 1. Title 13, chapter 38, article 3, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 13-3828, to read:

START_STATUTE13-3828. Sex offender management board; duties; report; immunity

A. The sex offender management board is established and consists of twenty-five members who reflect, to the extent possible, representation of urban and rural areas of this state and a balance of expertise in adult and juvenile issues that relate to sex offenders and who are appointed as follows:

1. The chief justice of the supreme court shall appoint the following members:

(a) One member who represents the judicial department.

(b) One member who is a superior court judge.

2. The director of the state department of corrections shall appoint one member who represents the state department of corrections.

3. The director of the department of administration shall appoint the following members:

(a) One member who represents the department of economic security and who has recognizable expertise in child welfare and case management.

(b) One member who represents the department of child safety.

(c) One member who is a provider of out-of-home placement services and who has recognizable expertise in providing services to juveniles who have committed sexual offenses.

4. The director of the department of public safety shall appoint the following members:

(a) One member who represents the highway patrol division in the department of public safety.

(b) Two members who are licensed mental health professionals and who have recognizable expertise in the treatment of adult sex offenders.

(c) Two members who are licensed mental health professionals and who have recognizable expertise in the treatment of juveniles who have committed sexual offenses.

(d) One member who is a victims' rights advocate lay person.

(e) One member who is a public defender and who has recognizable expertise related to sexual offenses.

(f) One member who represents law enforcement and who has recognizable expertise in addressing sexual offenses and victimization.

(g) Three members who are recognized experts in the field of sexual abuse and who can represent sexual abuse victims and victims' rights organizations.

(h) One member who is a clinical polygraph examiner.

(i) One member who is a criminal defense attorney and who has recognizable expertise related to sexual offenses.

(j) One member who is a county director of human or social services and who is appointed after consultation with a statewide group representing counties.

(k) Two members who are members of a board of supervisors in a county in this state or who are members of the governing council for a jurisdiction that is a contiguous city and county, one of whom represents an urban or suburban county, one of whom represents a rural county and who are appointed after consultation with a statewide group representing counties.

5. The director of the Arizona prosecuting attorneys' advisory council shall appoint one member who represents the interests of prosecuting attorneys and who has recognizable expertise in prosecuting sexual offenses.

6. The superintendent of public instruction shall appoint one member who is in the public school system and who has experience with juveniles who have committed sexual offenses.

B. The members shall elect a chairperson and vice chairperson from among the board members. The chairperson's and vice chairperson's term is two years. Board members may reelect a chairperson and vice chairperson.

C. Appointed Members serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority for a term of four years. Board members are not eligible to receive compensation but are eligible for reimbursement of expenses under title 38, chapter 4, article 2.

D. The board shall do all of the following:

1. develop, prescribe and revise, as appropriate, a standard procedure to evaluate and identify adult sex offenders, including adult sex offenders with developmental disabilities. The procedures shall provide for evaluating and identifying adult sex offenders, shall recommend management, monitoring and treatment based on existing research and shall incorporate the concepts of the risk-need-responsivity or another evidence-based correctional model.

2. Develop a procedure for evaluating and identifying, on a case-by-case basis, reliably lower-risk sex offenders whose risk to sexually reoffend may not be further reduced by participation in a treatment program that is implemented pursuant to paragraph 4 of this subsection.

3. Develop and implement methods of intervention for adult sex offenders. The methods must prioritize the physical and psychological safety of victims and potential victims and, if the methods do not reduce the safety of victims and potential victims, the methods must also be appropriate to the assessed needs of the particular offender.

4. develop, implement and revise, as appropriate, guidelines and standards to treat adult sex offenders, including adult sex offenders with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The guidelines and standards must incorporate the concepts of the risk-need-responsivity or another evidence-based correctional model. The guidelines and standards may be used in the treatment of offenders who are placed on probation, imprisoned in the state department of corrections or placed on community supervision. Programs implemented pursuant to the guidelines and standards must:

(a) Be as flexible as possible so that the programs may be accessed by each adult sex offender to prevent the offender from harming victims and potential victims.

(b) Include a continuing monitoring process and a continuum of treatment options that are available to an adult sex offender as the offender proceeds through the criminal justice system. Treatment options must be determined by a current risk assessment and evaluation and may include group counseling, individual counseling, family counseling, outpatient treatment, inpatient treatment, shared living arrangements or treatment in a therapeutic community.

(c) to the extent possible, be accessible to all adult sex offenders in the criminal justice system, including those offenders with behavioral, mental health and co-occurring disorders. The procedures for evaluation, identification, treatment and monitoring developed pursuant to this paragraph must be implemented only to the extent that monies are available for the programs.

5. Establish a committee to make recommendations to the board on revising the guidelines and standards developed pursuant to paragraph 4 of this subsection. At least eighty percent of the members of the committee must be approved treatment providers.

6. develop an annual plan to allocate monies deposited in the state general fund pursuant to section 13-3821, subsection Q and section 13-3824, subsection B. the board shall coordinate spending monies from the state general fund with any monies spent by the state department of corrections, the department of public safety or the judicial department to identify, evaluate and treat adult sex offenders and juveniles who have committed sexual offenses. The legislature shall appropriate monies from the state general fund in accordance with the plan.

7. consult on, approve and revise, as necessary, the sex offender community notification risk assessment. the board shall consider research on adult sex offender risk assessment and shall consider as one element the risk posed by an adult sex offender who suffers from psychopathy or a personality disorder that makes the person more likely to engage in sexually violent predatory offenses.

8. research, either through direct evaluation or through a review of relevant research articles and sex offender treatment empirical data, and analyze, through a comprehensive review of evidence-based practices, the effectiveness of the evaluation, identification and treatment policies and procedures for adult sex offenders that are developed pursuant to paragraph 4 of this subsection. This research shall specifically include reviewing and researching recidivism and factors that contribute to recidivism for sex offenders, the effective use of cognitive behavioral therapy to prevent recidivism, the use of polygraphs in treatment and the containment model for adult sex offender management and treatment and its effective application. The board shall revise the guidelines and standards for evaluation, identification and treatment, as appropriate, based on the results of the board's research and analysis. The board shall also develop and prescribe a system to implement the guidelines and standards that are developed pursuant to paragraph 4 of this subsection.

9. In collaboration with the state department of corrections, the judicial department and the board of executive clemency, develop and revise, as appropriate, criteria for measuring an adult sex offender's progress in treatment. The criteria shall assist the court and the board of executive clemency in determining whether an adult sex offender may appropriately be released from incarceration, whether the adult sex offender's level of supervision may be reduced or whether the adult sex offender may appropriately be discharged from probation or community supervision. At a minimum, the criteria must be designed to assist the court and the BOARD of executive clemency in determining whether the adult sex offender could be appropriately supervised in the community if the offender were released from incarceration, released to a reduced level of supervision or discharged from probation or community supervision. The criteria may not limit the decision-making authority of the court or the board of executive clemency.

10. in collaboration with the state department of corrections, the judicial department and the board of executive clemency, establish standards for community entities that provide supervision and treatment specifically designed for adult sex offenders who have developmental disabilities. At a minimum, the standards must determine whether an entity would provide adequate support and supervision to minimize any threat that the adult sex offender may pose to the community.

11. Research, analyze and make recommendations that reflect best practices for living arrangements for and the location of adult sex offenders within the community, including shared living arrangements. At a minimum, the board shall consider the safety issues raised by the location of sex offender residences, especially in proximity to public or private schools and child care facilities, and public notification of the location of sex offender residences. The board shall adopt and revise as appropriate the guidelines as it deems appropriate regarding the living arrangements and location of adult sex offenders and adult sex offender housing. The board shall accomplish the requirements specified in this paragraph within existing appropriations.

12. On or before January 31, 2024, develop a data collection plan, including associated costs, in consultation with the research and evaluation professionals on the board and within the department of public safety. The board shall submit a report on the data collection plan to the judiciary committees of the House of Representatives and the senate, or any successor committees. On or before July 1, 2025, the board shall revise the guidelines and standards for approved providers that are developed pursuant to paragraphs 4 and 14 of this subsection to require evaluators, treatment providers and polygraph examiners to collect data pursuant to the data collection plan. If the board determines that it cannot revise the guidelines and standards by July 1, 2025, the board shall report to the judiciary committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate, or any successor committees, on the status of the report on or before January 31, 2025.

13. develop, prescribe and revise, as appropriate, a standard procedure to evaluate and identify juveniles who have committed sexual offenses, including juveniles with developmental disabilities. The procedure shall provide for evaluating and identifying juvenile offenders, shall recommend behavior management, monitoring, treatment and compliance and shall incorporate the concepts of the risk-need-responsivity or another evidence-based correctional model based on the knowledge that all unlawful sexual behavior poses a risk to the community and that certain juveniles may have the capacity to change their behavior with appropriate intervention and treatment. The board shall develop and implement methods of intervention for juveniles who have committed sexual offenses, which methods must have as a priority the physical and psychological safety of victims and potential victims and, as long as the methods do not reduce the safety of victims and potential victims, which are appropriate to the needs of the particular juvenile offender.

14. develop, implement and revise, as appropriate, guidelines and standards to treat juveniles who have committed sexual offenses, including juveniles with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The guidelines and standards must incorporate the concepts of the risk-need-responsivity or another evidence-based correctional model. The guidelines and standards may be used for juvenile offenders who are placed on probation or placed under the jurisdiction of the department of juvenile corrections. Programs implemented pursuant to the guidelines and standards must:

(a) Be as flexible as possible so that the programs may be accessed by each juvenile offender to prevent the juvenile from harming victims and potential victims.

(b) Include a continuing monitoring process and a continuum of treatment options that are available to a juvenile offender as the juvenile proceeds through the juvenile justice system. Treatment options may include group counseling, individual counseling, family counseling, outpatient treatment, inpatient treatment, shared living arrangements and treatment in a therapeutic community.

(c) To the extent possible, be accessible to all juveniles who have committed sexual offenses and who are in the juvenile justice system, including juveniles with behavioral, mental health or co-occurring disorders.

15. Establish a committee to make recommendations to the board To revise the guidelines and standards developed pursuant to paragraph 14 of this subsection. At least eighty percent of the members of the committee must be approved treatment providers.

16. research and analyze the effectiveness of the evaluation, identification and treatment procedures developed pursuant to paragraph 14 of this subsection for juveniles who have committed sexual offenses. The board shall revise the guidelines and standards for evaluation, identification and treatment, as appropriate, based on the results of the board's research and analysis. The board shall also develop and prescribe a system to implement the guidelines and standards that are developed pursuant to paragraph 14 of this subsection.

17. in collaboration with law enforcement agencies in this state, victim advocacy organizations, the department of education and the department of public safety, develop and revise, as appropriate, for use by schools educational materials regarding general information about adult sex offenders and juveniles who have committed sexual offenses, safety concerns related to the offenders and other relevant materials. The board shall provide the materials to the department of education, and the department of education shall make the materials available to schools in this state.

E. If sufficient monies are appropriated to the department of public safety, the board may request that individuals or entities that provide evaluation, treatment or polygraph services specifically to sex offenders that conform with the standards developed by the board pursuant to subsection D, paragraph 4 of this section submit to the board data and information as determined by the board. The board may use this data and information to evaluate the effectiveness of the guidelines and standards developed pursuant to this section for all of the following:

1. to evaluate the effectiveness of individuals or entities providing evaluation, treatment or polygraph services specifically to sex offenders.

2. For any other purpose consistent with this section.

F. Members of the board are immune from personal liability with respect to all actions that are taken in good faith and within the scope of the board's authority. END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Delayed repeal

Section 13-3828, Arizona Revised Statutes, as added by this act, is repealed from and after June 30, 2026.