Human Trafficking Exception to APRA Disclosures (H 5878)

This legislation would exempt from disclosure any police records if releasing them could purportedly reveal the "identity of a suspect who may have been a victim of human trafficking" or someone who might qualify to use an affirmative defense after being charged with prostitution offenses. While we appreciated the intent behind this bill, we opposed this legislation on the basis of a number of concerns, but that it creates a dangerous exception to the principle that arrest reports should be a matter of public record. Additionally, identities of human trafficking victims in any police records would easily fall within the exemptions already in place in APRA for the confidentiality of law enforcement records. This legislation died in committee.