SB329INTRODUCED
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LPH7AW-1
By Senator Barfoot
RFD: Judiciary
First Read: 16-May-23
2023 Regular Session
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5 LPH7AW-1 05/16/2023 CNB (L)bm 2023-1979
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SYNOPSIS:
This bill creates the Judicial Privacy Act.
This bill would prohibit government agencies,
individuals, businesses, and associations from publicly
posting or displaying judge's or justice's personally
identifiable information on the Internet, provided they
have received a written request from the judge or
justice to refrain from doing so.
This bill would prohibit commercial data
collectors from knowingly selling, trading, licensing,
transferring, or purchasing judges' personally
identifiable information.
This bill would provide for a process for judges
and justices to request their personal information not
be made public.
This bill would also provide for penalties for
violations.
Section 111.05 of the Constitution of Alabama of
2022, prohibits a general law whose purpose or effect
would be to require a new or increased expenditure of
local funds from becoming effective with regard to a
local governmental entity without enactment by a 2/3
vote unless: it comes within one of a number of
specified exceptions; it is approved by the affected
entity; or the Legislature appropriates funds, or
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provides a local source of revenue, to the entity for
the purpose.
The purpose or effect of this bill would be to
require a new or increased expenditure of local funds
within the meaning of the amendment. However, the bill
does not require approval of a local governmental
entity or enactment by a 2/3 vote to become effective
because it comes within one of the specified exceptions
contained in the amendment.
A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
Relating to judges and justices; to prohibit government
agencies, individuals, businesses, and associations from
publicly posting or displaying judge's or justice's personally
identifiable information on the Internet, provided they have
received a written request from the judge or justice to
refrain from doing so; to prohibit commercial data collectors
from knowingly selling, trading, licensing, transferring, or
purchasing judges' personally identifiable information; to
provide for a process for a judge or justice to request their
personal information not be made public; to provide for
penalties for violations; and in connection therewith would
have as its purpose or effect the requirement of a new or
increased expenditure of local funds within the meaning of
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Section 111.05 of the Constitution of Alabama of 2022.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. This act shall be known as and may be cited
as the Judicial Privacy Act.
Section 2. As used in this section, the following terms
have the following meanings:
(1) DATA BROKER.
a. A commercial entity engaged in collecting,
assembling, or maintaining personal information concerning an
individual who is not a customer, client, or an employee of
that entity in order to sell the information or otherwise
profit from providing third-party access to the information.
b. The term does not include a commercial entity
engaged in any of the following activities:
1. Reporting, news-gathering, speaking, or other
activities intended to inform the public on matters of public
interest or concern.
2. Providing 411 directory assistance or directory
information services, including name, address, and telephone
number, on behalf of or as a function of a telecommunications
carrier.
3. Providing publicly available content via real-time
or near-real-time alert services for health or safety
purposes.
(2) GOVERNMENT AGENCY. An executive, legislative, or
judicial agency, department, board, commission, authority,
institution, or instrumentality of the federal government or
of a state or of a county, municipality, or other political
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subdivision of a state.
(3) IMMEDIATE FAMILY. A judicial officer's spouse,
child, parent, or any other relative of the judicial officer
or the judicial officer's spouse who lives in the same
residence.
(4) JUDICIAL OFFICER. Any individual who is currently
serving as, or has previously served as, any of the following:
a. Justice the Alabama Supreme Court.
b. Judge of the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals.
c. Judge of the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals.
d. Judge of an Alabama Circuit Court.
e. Judge of an Alabama District Court.
f. Judge of an Alabama Probate Court.
g. Judge of an Alabama Municipal Court.
(5) PERSON. Includes an individual, business, or
association.
(6) PERSONAL INFORMATION. Includes, but is not limited
to, all of the following:
a. Home address, including primary residence, secondary
residences, or an investment property.
b. Phone number, including a home number, a personal
cell number, a state-issued cell phone number, or a private
extension in the chambers of a judicial officer.
c. Personal email address.
d. Social Security number.
e. Date of birth.
f. Driver license number.
g. Bank account information.
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h. Credit or debit card information.
i. License plate number.
j. Name or address of a school or day care facility
attended by the judicial officer's immediate family.
k. A photograph of any vehicle that legibly displays
the license plate of the judicial officer.
l. A photograph of a residence of the judicial officer
that legibly displays the address of the residence.
m. Name or address of an employer of the judicial
officer's immediate family.
(7) PUBLICLY AVAILABLE CONTENT. Any written, printed,
or electronic document or record that is maintained,
controlled, or in possession of a government agency that may
be obtained by any individual or entity from the Internet,
from the government agency upon request either free of charge
or for a fee, or in response to a request under the Freedom of
Information Act.
(8) PUBLICLY POST OR DISPLAY. To communicate to another
or otherwise make available to the public.
Section 3. (a) Government agencies shall not publicly
post or display publicly available content that includes the
personal information of a judicial officer or his or her
immediate family, provided that the government agency has
received a written request in accordance with Section 6.
(b)(1) After a government agency has received a
written request, the government agency shall remove the
judicial officer's and his or her immediate family's personal
information from publicly available content within five
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business days of such receipt.
(2) After the government agency has removed the
judicial officer's and his or her immediate family's personal
information from publicly available content, the governmental
agency shall not publicly post or display the personal
information. Additionally, the judicial officer's and his or
her immediate family's personal information shall confidential
and not be considered a public record for purposes of Article
3 of Chapter 11 of Title 40, Code of Alabama 1975, unless the
government agency has received consent from the judicial
officer to make the personal information a public record.
(c) If a government agency fails to comply with a
written request to refrain from disclosing personal
information, the judicial officer may bring an action seeking
injunctive or declaratory relief in any court of competent
jurisdiction.
Section 4. (a) A person shall not publicly post or
display on the Internet the personal information of a judicial
officer or his or her immediate family, provided the judicial
officer has made a written request to the individual,
business, or association that it refrain from disclosing the
judicial officer's or his or her immediate family's personal
information in accordance with Section 6.
(b) Subsection (a) shall not apply to any of the
following:
(1) The display on the Internet of personal information
of a judicial officer or the immediate family if the
information is relevant to and displayed as part of a news
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story, commentary, editorial, or other speech on a matter of
public concern.
(2) Personal information that a judicial officer
voluntarily publishes on the Internet.
(3) Personal information received from a federal or
state government source, or from an employee or agent of the
state or federal government.
(c) After a person has received a written request from
a judicial officer to protect the privacy of the personal
information of the judicial officer and his or her immediate
family, the person shall have 72 hours after the receipt of
such request to remove the personal information from the
Internet.
(d) After a person has received a written request from
a judicial officer, that person shall ensure that the judicial
officer's and his or her immediate family member's personal
information is not made available on any website or subsidiary
website controlled by that person.
(e) After receiving a written request from a judicial
officer, no person shall transfer the judicial officer's or
his or her immediate family's personal information to any
other person.
(f)(1) If a person fails to comply with a written
request to refrain from disclosing personal information, the
judicial officer may bring an action seeking injunctive or
declaratory relief in any court of competent jurisdiction.
(2) If the court grants injunctive or declaratory
relief, the person responsible for the violation shall be
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required to pay the judicial officer's court costs and
reasonable attorney's fees.
Section 5. (a) It shall be unlawful for a data broker
to knowingly sell, license, trade for consideration, or
purchase the personal information of a judicial officer or his
or her immediate family.
(b)(1) If a data broker violates this section, the
judicial officer may bring an action seeking injunctive or
declaratory relief in any court of competent jurisdiction.
(2) If the court grants injunctive or declaratory
relief, the data broker responsible for the violation shall be
required to pay the judicial officer's court costs and
reasonable attorney's fees.
Section 6. (a) No government agency or person shall be
found to have violated any provision of this act if the
judicial officer fails to submit a written request calling for
the protection of his or her personal information.
(b) A written request shall be valid if the judicial
officer satisfies either of the following:
(1) Sends a written request directly to a government
agency or person.
(2) Sends a request to the Administrative Office of
Courts on a form developed and maintained by the Alabama
Administrative Office of Courts. The Alabama Administrative
Office of Courts shall use that form to notify government
agencies of a judicial officer's request to remove his or her
personal information and his or her immediate family. Every
three months, the Alabama Administrative Office of Courts
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shall provide a list to the appropriate officer with
supervisory authority for a government agency of all judicial
officers who have submitted a written request to it. The
officer shall promptly provide a copy of the list to all
government agencies under his or her supervision. Receipt of
the written request list compiled by the Alabama
Administrative Office of Courts by a government agency shall
constitute a written request to that agency for the purposes
of this act.
(c) A representative from the judicial officer's
employer may submit a written request on the judicial
officer's behalf if the judicial officer gives written consent
to the representative and the representative agrees to furnish
a copy of that consent when a written request is made. The
representative shall submit the written request as provided in
subsection (b).
(d) A judicial officer's written request shall specify
all of the following:
(1) What personal information shall be kept private.
(2) The identity of the officer's immediate family and
indicate that the personal information of these family members
shall also be excluded to the extent that it could reasonably
be expected to reveal the personal information of the judicial
officer.
(3) If a judicial officer wishes to identify a
secondary residence or an investment property as a home
address, the designation shall be made in the written request.
(e) A judicial officer's written request is valid until
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the judicial officer provides the government agency,
individual, business, or association with written permission
to release private information. A judicial officer's written
request expires on his or her death.
Section 7. (a) It is unlawful for a person to knowingly
publicly post on the Internet the personal information of a
judicial officer or the judicial officer's immediate family if
the individual knows or should have known that publicly
posting the personal information poses an imminent and serious
threat to the health and safety of the judicial officer or the
judicial officer's immediate family, and the violation is a
proximate cause of bodily injury or death of the judicial
officer or a member of the judicial officer's immediate
family.
(b) A violation of this section is a Class C felony.
Section 8.Provided that the employee of a government
agency has complied with the conditions set forth in Sections
3 through 6, it is not a violation of this section if an
employee of a government agency publishes personal
information, in good faith, on the website of the government
agency in the ordinary course of carrying out public
functions.
Section 9. Although this bill would have as its purpose
or effect the requirement of a new or increased expenditure of
local funds, the bill is excluded from further requirements
and application under Section 111.05 of the Constitution of
Alabama of 2022, because the bill defines a new crime or
amends the definition of an existing crime.
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Section 10. This act shall become effective on the
first day of the third month following its passage and
approval by the Governor, or its otherwise becoming law.
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