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House approves penalties for publishing law-enforcement officers' personal information
Summary
First substitute SB 31 (as amended) creates criminal penalties and civil damages for posting law-enforcement officers' home addresses, phone numbers or immediate-family information online and prohibits solicitation or sale of that data; House passed the substituted bill 70–2.
The House voted to pass first substitute Senate Bill 31, presented by Representative Ray, which targets online publication, solicitation and sale of law-enforcement officers' personal information. The sponsor described incidents where officers' private information has been posted online and said the bill provides criminal penalties for posting addresses, phone numbers and similar data about officers or their immediate families. The measure also creates civil damages and attorney-fee recovery and attempts to define "personal information" clearly.
Representative Ray described the bill as clarifying what constitutes personal information (addresses, telephone numbers, directions to a home) and said it would prohibit solicitation or sale of that information. After a short period for questions and waived summation, the House recorded 70 yes votes and 2 no votes to pass the substituted bill; the measure will return to the Senate for further consideration.
The bill addresses online privacy and safety concerns raised by legislators; the transcript does not record detailed opposition arguments, only the recorded vote.
