Modifications to Address Confidentiality Program

The bill modifies the address confidentiality program (program), which is intended to protect the confidentiality of the actual address of a relocated protected health-care worker or a relocated victim of domestic violence, a sexual offense, human trafficking, or stalking. The modifications to the program are:

• Expanding the requirement to use a substitute address for a program participant from applying only to government agencies to applying to private entities, upon request of the program participant;
• Removing work and school addresses from the definition of actual address, such that an actual address only covers a residential address;
• Allowing a program participant to apply with their actual address and either a telephone number or an email address, rather than requiring a telephone number;
• Clarifying that entities and agencies must use a substitute address in the place of the name of a school or employer or for a program participant's home-based business, if requested;
• Increasing the court fine applied to convictions for certain offenses, which is used to fund the program, from $28 to $33 and expanding this fine by applying it to convictions for sexual assault and municipal offenses for domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault, and human trafficking;
• Creating a process to allow program participants to shield real property records from public inspection; and
• Allowing a criminal justice official or government agency that has requested and been approved for expedited disclosure of a program participant's actual address to share the actual address with a law enforcement agency for the purpose of conducting a welfare check.

The bill also makes technical and conforming amendments.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)