The Arizona legislature is considering a law change that would prohibit the disclosure of certain records with personal victim information. Under this proposal, a judge would have to approve the release of those records.

Maricopa County Attorney’s office spokesman Jerry Cobb says house bill 2383 is intended to protect crime victims’ privacy.  But he acknowledges it hasn’t been much of a problem for the office. 

“We haven’t been challenged in decisions that we’ve made here to protect the identity of victims and witnesses in those types of records.” Cobb said. “But we want the legal certainty that we have recourse to take those types of decisions to have a judge evaluate if in fact we are ever challenged."

Arizona law already allows government agencies to redact this type of personal identifying information from public records.