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Committee hears sponsor testimony for bill to bar fees when people request video that depicts them
Summary
At a first hearing on Senate Bill 123, ranking member Hicks Hudson told the Senate Judiciary Committee the measure would stop law enforcement agencies from charging fees to prepare video records when the requester is depicted or a close family representative.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Manning convened a first hearing on Senate Bill 123, which would prohibit law enforcement from charging fees to prepare a video record for inspection or production when the requester is an individual known or presumed to be depicted in the footage or the requester is a spouse, parent or child of that individual. Ranking Member Hicks Hudson provided sponsor testimony in favor of the measure.
In her testimony, Ranking Member Hicks Hudson said the provision in current law that grew out of last general assembly’s House Bill 315 allows agencies to charge for ‘‘reviewing, blurring, or otherwise obscuring, redacting, uploading, or producing the video records,’’ including staff time and storage, and she argued that approach places an ‘‘exorbitant cost’’ on people who are depicted in recordings. Hudson said the change was added late in the prior session without public input and has a chilling effect on those seeking footage to defend themselves or identify possible wrongdoing.
Hudson acknowledged smaller agencies may face legitimate production costs but urged the committee to balance those administrative burdens against the ability of individuals depicted in videos to obtain footage. She told the committee: "The video footage is created using state and local funded equipment by the government. Workers are paid by the government…we need to be able to balance what has occurred by causing this, what I consider an exorbitant cost for those people who are depicted in the video." She said the bill aims to narrow the scope of who pays when the subject or their close family seeks their own image.
Chair Manning and committee members took no formal action at the hearing. There was no committee debate recorded on recordkeeping or specific fee‑calculation methodology during the sponsor testimony, and no vote was taken at the conclusion of the session.
The measure will remain under committee consideration; the chair closed the record and noted this was the first hearing on Senate Bill 123.
