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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 123
February Session, 2022
LCO No. 826
Referred to Committee on COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN
Introduced by:
(KID)
AN ACT EXPANDING ELIGIBILITY FOR THE ADDRESS
CONFIDENTIALITY PROGRAM.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 54-240 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2022): 2
As used in this chapter: 3
(1) "Address confidentiality program" or "program" means the 4
program established pursuant to this chapter; 5
(2) "Agency" has the same meaning as "public agency" or "agency", as 6
provided in section 1-200; 7
(3) "Application assistant" means a person authorized by the 8
Secretary of the State to assist applicants in the completion of 9
applications for program participation; 10
(4) "Authorized personnel" means an employee in the office of the 11
Secretary of the State who has been designated by the Secretary of the 12
State, or an employee of an agency who has been designated by the chief 13 Raised Bill No. 123
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executive officer of such agency, to process and have access to records 14
pertaining to a program participant, including, but not limited to, voter 15
registration applications, voting records and marriage records; 16
(5) "Certification card" means a card issued by the Secretary of the 17
State pursuant to section 54-240d; 18
(6) "Confidential address" means a program participant's address or 19
addresses as listed on such participant's application for program 20
participation that are not to be disclosed, including such participant's 21
residential address in this state and work and school addresses in this 22
state, if any; 23
(7) "Family violence" has the same meaning as provided in section 24
46b-38a; 25
(8) "Injury or risk of injury to a child" means any act or conduct that 26
constitutes a violation of section 53-21; 27
(9) "Kidnapping" means any act that constitutes a violation of section 28
53a-92, 53a-92a, 53a-94 or 53a-94a; 29
[(9)] (10) "Law enforcement agency" means the office of the Attorney 30
General, the office of the Chief State's Attorney, the Division of State 31
Police within the Department of Emergency Services and Public 32
Protection or any municipal police department; 33
[(10)] (11) "Marriage records" means an application for a marriage 34
license, an issued marriage license, a license certificate or other 35
documents related thereto; 36
[(11)] (12) "Program address" means the post office box number and 37
fictitious street address assigned to a program participant by the 38
Secretary of the State; 39
[(12)] (13) "Program participant" or "participant" means any person 40
certified by the Secretary of the State to participate in the address 41
confidentiality program; 42 Raised Bill No. 123
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[(13)] (14) "Record" has the same meaning as "public records or files" 43
as provided in section 1-200; 44
[(14)] (15) "Sexual assault" means any act that constitutes a violation 45
of section 53a-70b of the general statutes, revision of 1958, revised to 46
January 1, 2019, or section 53a-70, 53a-70a, 53a-71, 53a-72a, 53a-72b or 47
53a-73a; [and] 48
[(15)] (16) "Stalking" means any act that constitutes a violation of 49
section 53a-181c, 53a-181d or 53a-181e; and 50
(17) "Trafficking in persons" means any act that constitutes a violation 51
of section 53a-192a. 52
Sec. 2. Section 54-240a of the general statutes is repealed and the 53
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2022): 54
(a) There shall be an address confidentiality program established in 55
the office of the Secretary of the State to provide a substitute mailing 56
address for any person who wishes to keep such person's residential 57
address confidential because of safety concerns and (1) has been a victim 58
of (A) family violence, (B) injury or risk of injury to a child, (C) 59
kidnapping, (D) sexual assault, [or] (E) stalking, [and who wishes to 60
keep such person's residential address confidential because of safety 61
concerns] or (F) trafficking in persons, or (2) filed a petition or had a 62
petition filed on such person's behalf for the termination of parental 63
rights that was granted pursuant to section 45a-717. 64
(b) The Secretary of the State shall adopt regulations, in accordance 65
with the provisions of chapter 54, to carry out the provisions of this 66
chapter. Such regulations may include, but need not be limited to, 67
provisions for applications for participation in the address 68
confidentiality program, certification of program participants, 69
certification cancellation, agency use of program addresses, forwarding 70
of program participants' mail, voting by program participants and 71
recording of vital statistics for program participants. 72 Raised Bill No. 123
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Sec. 3. Section 54-240c of the general statutes is repealed and the 73
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2022): 74
The Secretary of the State shall certify an applicant or the person on 75
whose behalf an application is made as a program participant if the 76
application is filed in the manner and on the application form prescribed 77
by the Secretary of the State and includes: 78
(1) A statement made under penalty of false statement, as provided 79
in section 53a-157b, that [(A)] the applicant or the person on whose 80
behalf the application is made (A) is a victim of (i) family violence, (ii) 81
injury or risk of injury to a minor, (iii) kidnapping, (iv) sexual assault, 82
[or] (v) stalking, or (vi) trafficking in persons, or (B) filed a petition or 83
had a petition filed on such applicant or person's behalf for the 84
termination of parental rights that was granted pursuant to section 45a-85
717, and [(B)] (C) the applicant fears for the [applicant's safety, for the 86
safety of the applicant's children, for the safety of the person on whose 87
behalf the application is made, or for the] safety of the applicant, the 88
applicant's children, the person on whose behalf the application is made 89
or the children of the person on whose behalf the application is made; 90
(2) Documentation supporting the statement made pursuant to 91
subdivision (1) of this section; 92
(3) A designation of the Secretary of the State as the agent of the 93
applicant or the person on whose behalf the application is made for 94
service of process and for receipt of first class mail; 95
(4) The residential address in this state, the work and school 96
addresses in this state, if any, and the phone number or numbers, if 97
available, that are to remain confidential, but which may be used by the 98
Secretary of the State or authorized personnel to contact the applicant 99
or the person on whose behalf the application is made; and 100
(5) The application preparation date, the applicant's signature and the 101
signature of the application assistant who assisted the applicant in 102
completing the application. 103 Raised Bill No. 123
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This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2022 54-240
Sec. 2 July 1, 2022 54-240a
Sec. 3 July 1, 2022 54-240c
Statement of Purpose:
To permit victims of kidnapping and human trafficking and children
who are the subject of petitions to terminate parental rights granted by
the court to participate in the address confidentiality program
established in the office of the Secretary of the State.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]