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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh Legislature, Second Regular Session
public safety employees; counseling; wellness
Purpose
Authorizes law enforcement agencies to establish employee wellness and peer support programs (wellness programs) and provides confidentiality protections with outlined required disclosures.
Background
The state or a political subdivision of the state must establish a program to provide public safety employees who are exposed to specified traumatic events while on duty up to 12 visits of licensed counseling, which may be provided through telehealth, paid for by the employer. A public safety employee who is eligible for traumatic event counseling if the employee: 1) is a member of the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System or Corrections Officer Retirement Plan; 2) a probation, surveillance or juvenile detention officer who is employed by the state or a political subdivision of the state; or 3) a 911 dispatcher in a primary or secondary public safety answering point. A public safety employee does not include peace officers or firefighters (A.R.S. § 38-672).
A law enforcement officer is either: 1) an individual who is certified by the Arizona Peace officer Standards and Training Board, other than a person employed by a multi-county water conservation district; or 2) a detention officer or correction officer, other than a probationary employee, who is employed by the state or a political subdivision of the state. A peer support team member is any individual who has completed training that is provided by a licensed mental health professional through a recognized organization that offers peer support training or critical incident stress management training and who is part of: 1) a law enforcement crisis response team; 2) a probation officer crisis response team; 3) a firefighter crisis response team; or 4) an emergency medical provider crisis response team (A.R.S. § 38-1111).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
1. Allows a law enforcement agency in Arizona to establish a wellness program to support the mental health and well-being of the law enforcement agency's employees and may include:
a) access to mental health counseling;
b) crisis counseling;
c) training, equipment and technology necessary for an employee to perform the employee's job; and
d) any other support systems.
2. Requires a law enforcement agency that creates a wellness program for the law enforcement agency's employees to establish written policies and procedures for the program.
3. Specifies that all proceedings, records, opinions, conclusions and recommendations arising from any aspect of the wellness program are confidential and privileged from disclosure.
4. Exempts, from the confidentiality and privilege, the disclosure of relevant information in response to a claim made by the holder of the privilege against a law enforcement agency related to any programs or services provided by the wellness program.
5. Exempts, from the confidentiality and privilege, if a participant's communication in the wellness program contains:
a) a threat of suicide or a plan to carry out a suicide attempt, except for any peer support communication in which the participant solely shares that the participant is experiencing suicidal thoughts;
b) a threat of imminent and serious physical and bodily harm or death to a clearly identified or reasonably identifiable victim;
c) information related to the abuse or neglect of a child or a vulnerable adult that is required to be reported;
d) an admission of any criminal conduct; or
e) information that is required to be disclosed by law.
6. Stipulates that any evidence, document or record that is subject to discovery independently of the proceedings of the wellness program may not be limited or restricted from discovery or use in any civil action.
7. Allows a law enforcement agency to establish a peer support counseling program to provide support to public safety employees who have been in or exposed to an emotionally traumatic experience during employment.
8. Requires any peer support communication to remain confidential and prohibits disclosure to any individual who was not present at the peer support counseling session or peer support communication, except when the peer support communication contains any of the following:
a) a threat of suicide or a plan to carry out a suicide attempt, not including any peer support communication in which the participant solely shares that the participant is experiencing suicidal thoughts;
b) a threat of imminent and serious bodily harm or death to a clearly identified or reasonably identifiable victim;
c) information related to the abuse or neglect of a child or a venerable adult that is required to be reported;
d) an admission of any criminal conduct; or
e) any information that is required to be disclosed by law.
9. Requires a peer support participant to hold a privilege from disclosure of any peer support communication in any disciplinary, civil or criminal proceeding, unless the information contains any information exempt from confidentiality, as outlined.
10. Subjects peer support communication to the same protections as attorney-client privilege.
11. Asserts that requirements relating to confidentiality and privilege do not prohibit:
a) an agency using or sharing anonyms data for research, statistical analysis or educational purposes;
b) an agency employee's disclosure of an observation of a peer support participant that is not contained in peer support communication; or
c) an agency law enforcement officer's disclosure of knowledge about a peer support participant that is not gained from peer support communication.
12. Defines a law enforcement agency as a municipal police department, a county sheriff's office, a publicly funded law enforcement department and the Department of Public Safety.
13. Defines peer support communication as any oral or written communication made during, or during the application for, a peer support counseling session or any communication by a peer support participant regarding the contents of a peer support counseling session to another peer support specialist, staff member of a peer support counseling program or the supervisor of a peer support specialist.
14. Defines peer support counseling session as any counseling formally provided through a peer support counseling program between a peer support specialist and one or more public safety employees.
15. Defines peer support specialist as a public safety employee who is designated by the agency to provide peer support counseling and who has received training in both peer support counseling and in providing emotional and moral support to public safety employees who have been in or exposed to an emotionally traumatic experience in the course of employment.
16. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
Prepared by Senate Research
February 2, 2026
KJA/KM/hk