Highway Patrol asks lawmakers to let agencies withhold crash and sensitive body-camera images; trial group urges caution

The Senate Judiciary Committee heard competing testimony on Senate Bill 2083, a measure the North Dakota Highway Patrol requested to allow agencies to withhold or redact certain crash‑scene and body‑camera images.

The Highway Patrol’s chief of staff, Aaron Hummel, told the committee the bill would give agencies discretion to withhold or redact images that show people in highly vulnerable states — for example, seriously injured or deceased crash victims — and to protect minors and other sensitive images from public release.

Hummel said the change would close gaps in the current open‑records framework. “Body cams are catching a whole new aspect that law enforcement didn’t catch in the past,” he said, adding that modern software permits selective blurring or masking rather than withholding entire files. Hummel walked the panel through…