Committee reports favorably on bill letting judges seek redaction of personal data, limits some medical examiner disclosures

The Judiciary Committee reported House Bill 662 favorably after a brief hearing in which sponsor Representative John Blanton described two privacy provisions: one allowing judges to request redaction of personally identifiable information held by government agencies, and a second limiting public access to certain medical examiner records, he said.

Representative John Blanton, state representative for the 90 Second District, told the committee the bill has two parts. "The first part covers our judges, both federal and state. It allows them to write and petition government entities to prevent them from releasing their personal information or immediate family members, I.e., names, date of birth, addresses, so forth," Blanton said. He said the responsibility to request redaction would rest with the judge and that agencies such as transportation and the secretary of state could be asked to withhold those data. Blanton added that if a judge chooses to publicly identify themselves in a way that reveals the information, "that nullifies their request" and the judge would need to submit a new request.

Blanton described the bill's second part as protecting certain records produced by medical examiners from public disclosure while preserving access for doctors and hospitals. He referenced an "unfortunate incident" in New York or New Jersey to explain the provision's intent to protect identifying information; he did not cite a specific statute or case.

Committee members adopted a committee substitute during the hearing that made a small change on page 3, line 12. The substitute subsequently removed the phrase "name, license number" from that location, according to the transcript of the session.

A motion to report the bill was made by Senator Nimas and seconded by Senator Carroll. The roll call produced recorded ayes from Senators Carroll, Deneen, Neal, Reid, Stivers, Thomas, Vice Chair Wheeler and Chair Storm; the committee reported House Bill 662 "favorably with the expression of opinion the same should pass," according to the transcript. No no votes, abstentions, or recusals were recorded in the transcript.

The bill’s text, as described at the hearing, places the burden on judges to request redaction from government entities and includes an exception allowing medical providers access to medical-examiner information for professional purposes. The transcript does not specify implementation mechanisms (for example, any filing procedure or required agency deadlines) or any fiscal impacts. The committee did not cite a statute or administrative rule that would be amended; the item in the record is identified only as House Bill 662, "an act relating to the personally identifiable information," per the sponsor's opening remarks.

The committee concluded its business after reporting the bill favorably.