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work as “equals” in “unison” with politicians to write laws to govern your life. Big
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“conservative”
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Civil
Justice
Victim and Witness Address Confidentiality Act
was the corporate co-chair in
ghostwrite “model” bills to
Commerce,
be introduced
inInsurance,
state
2011?
Summary
and Economic
capitols
across the country.
Development
This Act would restrict the individuals who may have access to the addresses and phone
This agenda--underwritten
numbers of witnesses and victims to law enforcement and the prosecuting attorney.
by global
corporations-Education
Victim assistance organizations may be granted addresses and phone numbers with
includes major tax
approval of the prosecuting attorney. All others, including the defense counsel, need the
Energy, Environment,
consent of a witness or victim in order to have access to the address or phone number.
loopholes
for big industries
and Agriculture
The Act would also establish procedures for scheduling interviews between the defense
and the super rich,
counsel, victims, and witnesses.
proposals
to Relations
offshore U.S.
Federal
Model Legislation.
jobs and gut minimum
and Human
wage,Health
and efforts
to
Services
{Title, enacting clause, etc.}
weaken public health,
safety,International
and environmental
Relations
Section 1. {Title.} This Act may be cited as the Victim and Witness Address
Confidentiality Act.
protections. Although many
Public Safety and
of these bills have become
Elections
Section 2. {Definitions.} As used in this Act:
law, until now, their origin
(A) "Victim" means an individual who suffers direct or threatened physical, emotional, or
has been
largely
unknown.
Tax and
Fiscal
Policy
financial harm as the result of the commission of a crime, or an immediate family
With ALEC EXPOSED, the
member of a homicide victim or a minor victim.
Telecommunications
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forInformation
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(B) "Witness" means an individual who has witnessed the commission of a crime, or who
Technology
is otherwise called upon to cooperate by law enforcement officers or prosecutors in the
Americans will study the
investigation of a crime.
bills to understand the
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depth and breadth of how
Section 3. {Confidentiality of victim and witness addresses and
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Page
telephone numbers.} The residence and business addresses and telephone
big corporations
are
numbers of any victim of or witness to a crime shall be confidential. No report, paper,
changing the
legal
rules
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picture, photograph, court file, or other document that relates to a crime and contains
and undermining democracy
the residence or business address or telephone number of a victim or witness, and that
is in the custody or possession of any public officer or employee, including the
across the nation.

ALEC’s’Corporate Board
--in recent past or present

• AT&T Services, Inc.
• centerpoint360
• UPS
• Bayer Corporation
• GlaxoSmithKline
• Energy Future Holdings
• Johnson & Johnson
• Coca-Cola Company
• PhRMA
• Kraft Foods, Inc.
• Coca-Cola Co.
• Pfizer Inc.
• Reed Elsevier, Inc.
• DIAGEO
• Peabody Energy
• Intuit, Inc.
• Koch Industries, Inc.
• ExxonMobil
• Verizon
• Reynolds American Inc.
• Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
• Salt River Project
• Altria Client Services, Inc.
• American Bail Coalition
• State Farm Insurance
For more on these corporations,
search at www.SourceWatch.org.

prosecuting attorney, the police, and any clerks, officials, or employees of any state
court, shall be made available for public inspection, unless the residence and business
addresses and telephone numbers of victims and witnesses have been deleted. No such
public officer or employee shall disclose the residence or business address or telephone
number of such a victim or witness except to:

(A) the public officers and employees, including police, prosecutors, probation and
prison officers and employees, and court officials and employees, not to include counsel
for the defense, who are charged with the duty of investigating, prosecuting, or keeping
records relating to the crime or the defendant, or with performing any other act when
done pursuant to the lawful discharge of their duties;
(B) any government agency or entity that provides compensation or services to victims
or witnesses, or that investigates or adjudicates claims for such compensation or
services;
(C) any organization or group that has as its primary purpose the provision of
counseling, services, or other assistance to victims of crime, and that requires the
addresses or telephone numbers of victims to offer such services, and that is approved
for receipt of such information in accordance with the provisions of Section 8, except
that under no circumstances shall a victim's or witness' residence or business address or
telephone number be disclosed to entities who seek this information for commercial
purposes;
(D) any person or agency, upon written consent of the victim or witness or the parents,
spouse, or other person legally responsible for the care of the victim or witness except as
may otherwise be required or provided by the order of a court; or
(E) any person who, either prior to or after the trial of the case involving the victim or
witness, makes application to a court having jurisdiction over the alleged crime, and is
authorized by court order to receive such information. The court order shall issue only
after:
(1) the person making the application demonstrates to the satisfaction of the court that
good cause exists for disclosure to that person;
(2) the court is reasonably assured by the prosecuting attorney that the victim or
witness is known not to be at risk of personal harm resulting from the disclosure, or is

adequately protected from such risk; and

Exposed

By the Center for
Media and Democracy
www.prwatch.org

(3) notice has been given to the victim or witness affected by the order, or the parents,
spouse, or other person legally responsible for the care of that victim or witness, and to
the prosecuting attorney at least 120 hours before the signing of such order. The victim
or witness, or the parents, spouse, or other person legally responsible for the care of that
victim or witness, affected by the order may appeal to the appropriate court the decision
to order disclosure, and there shall be no disclosure until such appeal is heard and
decided.

Section 4. {Defense interviews.} Prior to trial, upon request of counsel for the

defendant to interview a victim or witness, the prosecuting attorney shall ensure that
the victim or witness sought to be interviewed is informed of that request and of the
right of the victim or witness to either grant or refuse that request. The prosecutor shall
ask if the victim or witness will consent to such an interview, and shall ensure that the
defense counsel is informed of the response of the victim or witness. If the victim or
witness consents to be interviewed, the prosecuting attorney shall so inform the defense
counsel, and shall offer to the victim or witness space for a meeting in the prosecuting
attorney's offices or, at the option of the prosecuting attorney, some other appropriate
neutral site. The prosecuting attorney shall not be required to but may attend the
meeting. The victim or witness shall be free to make other arrangements to contact or
meet with counsel for the defense, and the prosecuting attorney shall not interfere with
nor impede those arrangements. Nothing in this section shall be construed as
prohibiting defense counsel from contacting the victim or witness directly for the
purposes of interviewing the victim or witness, if the defense counsel has obtained
lawfully the address or telephone number of the victim or witness from a source other
than the prosecutor.

Section 5. {Disclosure of addresses and telephone numbers during
trial.} During a trial or hearing related to a criminal prosecution, the court shall require
that the residence and business addresses and telephone numbers of any victim of or
witness to the crime shall not be disclosed in open court, and that a victim or witness
shall not be required to provide the addresses or telephone numbers of the victim or
witness in response to defense or prosecution questioning, unless the court determines
that there is a clear need for such disclosure because the information is necessary and
relevant to the facts of the case or to the credibility of the witness. The burden to
establish the need and relevance for disclosure shall be on the defense or the party
seeking disclosure. Prior to ordering disclosure, the court also shall be reasonably
assured that the victim or witness is known not to be at risk of personal harm resulting
from the disclosure, or is adequately protected from such risk.

Section 6. {Other necessary restrictions.} The court having jurisdiction over

the alleged crime may order any restrictions upon the disclosures authorized in this Act
as it deems necessary and proper to preserve the confidentiality of the residence or
business address or telephone number of the victim or witness.

Section 7. {Public and media access; defense discovery; right to report.}
Nothing contained in this Act shall be construed to require the court to exclude the
public from any stage of the criminal proceeding or otherwise interfere with a
defendant's discovery rights, the public's right of access to governmental records, or the
right of news media to report information lawfully obtained.

Section 8. {Victim and witness service organizations.}
(A) The prosecuting attorney, or his designee, in the district in which a private victimservice organization makes a request for the addresses and telephone numbers of
victims and witnesses may authorize the release to the victim-service organization of
such information by the prosecutor's office, law enforcement agencies, or other public
officers or employees, if the prosecuting attorney concludes:
(1) the organization's primary and bona fide purpose is to provide services, counseling,
or other assistance to victims of crime;
(2) such services are of sufficient quality so that it will be in the best interests of victims
and/or witnesses to be offered such services by the organization; and
(3) the organization is not seeking the information for commercial purposes. Commercial
agencies or companies and for-profit organizations are not to be considered
organizations whose primary and bona fide purpose is to provide services, counseling, or
other assistance to victims of crime.
(B) A private victim-service organization that is denied access by the prosecuting
attorney or other designated official to the addresses and telephone numbers of victims
may request review by the state attorney general of the decision. The state attorney
general may order the release of addresses and telephone numbers of victims and
witnesses if in the opinion of the attorney general the organization meets the criteria set
forth in Subsection (A).
(C) Public and private victim-service agencies or organizations, and the employees or
volunteers who work for them, who are provided or otherwise obtain the addresses or
telephone numbers of a victim or witness of a crime shall keep such information
confidential. It shall be unlawful, except for purposes directly connected with the
provision of services to the victim or witness or with the administration of the agencies'
or organizations' programs or services, for any victim-service agency or organization, or
any person employed or affiliated with such agency or organization, either as an
employee, volunteer, or other worker, to disclose, solicit, receive, make use of, or
authorize or knowingly permit the use or disclosure of the addresses or telephone
numbers of the victim or witness, absent written consent of the victim or witness.

Section 9. {Severability clause.}
Section 10. {Repealer clause.}

Section 11. {Effective date.}
ALEC's Sourcebook of American State Legislation 1995

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