2005 Arizona Revised Statutes - Revised Statutes §11-483  Records maintained by county recorder; confidentiality; definitions

A. Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, in any county a peace officer, justice, judge, commissioner, public defender, prosecutor, victim of domestic violence or stalking or person who is protected under an order of protection or injunction against harassment may request that the general public be prohibited from accessing the unique identifier and the recording date contained in indexes of recorded instruments maintained by the county recorder and may request the recorder to prohibit access to that person's residential address and telephone number contained in instruments or writings recorded by the county recorder and made available on the internet.

B. A peace officer, justice, judge, commissioner, public defender, prosecutor, victim of domestic violence or stalking or person who is protected under an order of protection or injunction against harassment may request this action by filing an affidavit that states all of the following on an application form developed by the administrative office of the courts in agreement with an association of counties, an organization of peace officers and the motor vehicle division of the department of transportation:

1. The person's full legal name and residential address.

2. The full legal description and parcel number of the person's property.

3. The position the person currently holds and a description of the person's duties, except that a person who is a victim of domestic violence or stalking shall instead state that the person is a victim of domestic violence or stalking and shall attach documentation supporting the claim, including a true and correct copy of any of the following:

(a) Findings from a court of competent jurisdiction.

(b) Police reports.

(c) Medical records.

(d) Child protective services records.

(e) Domestic violence shelter records.

(f) School records.

4. The reasons the person reasonably believes that the person's life or safety or that of another person is in danger and that restricting access pursuant to this section will serve to reduce the danger.

5. The document locator number and recording date of each instrument for which the person requests access restriction pursuant to this section.

6. A copy of pages from each instrument that includes the document locator number and the person's full legal name and residential address or full legal name and telephone number.

C. If a peace officer, justice, judge, commissioner, public defender, prosecutor, victim of domestic violence or stalking or person who is protected under an order of protection or injunction against harassment is also requesting pursuant to section 11-484 that the general public be prohibited from accessing records maintained by the county assessor and county treasurer, the peace officer, justice, judge, commissioner, public defender, prosecutor, victim of domestic violence or stalking or person who is protected under an order of protection or injunction against harassment may combine the request pursuant to subsection B of this section with the request pursuant to section 11-484 by filing one affidavit. The affidavit and subsequent action by the appropriate authorities shall meet all of the requirements of this section and section 11-484.

D. The affidavit shall be filed with the presiding judge of the superior court in the county in which the affiant resides. To prevent a multiplicity of filings, a peace officer, public defender or prosecutor shall deliver the affidavit to the peace officer's commanding officer, or to the head of the prosecuting or public defender agency, as applicable, or that person's designee, who shall file the affidavits at one time. In the absence of an affidavit that contains a request for immediate action and that is supported by facts justifying an earlier presentation, the commanding officer, or the head of the prosecuting or public defender agency, as applicable, or that person's designee, shall not file affidavits more often than quarterly.

E. On receipt of an affidavit or affidavits, the presiding judge of the superior court shall file with the clerk of the superior court a petition on behalf of all requesting affiants. Each affidavit presented shall be attached to the petition. In the absence of an affidavit that contains a request for immediate action and that is supported by facts justifying an earlier consideration, the presiding judge may accumulate affidavits and file a petition at the end of each quarter.

F. The presiding judge of the superior court shall review the petition and each attached affidavit to determine whether the action requested by each affiant should be granted. If the presiding judge of the superior court concludes that the action requested by the affiant will reduce a danger to the life or safety of the affiant or another person, the presiding judge of the superior court shall order that the recorder prohibit access for five years to the affiant's residential address and telephone number contained in instruments or writings recorded by the county recorder and made available on the internet. If the presiding judge of the superior court concludes that the affiant or another person is in actual danger of physical harm from a person or persons with whom the affiant has had official dealings and that action pursuant to this section will reduce a danger to the life or safety of the affiant or another person, the presiding judge of the superior court shall order that the general public be prohibited for five years from accessing the unique identifier and the recording date contained in indexes of recorded instruments maintained by the county recorder and identified pursuant to subsection B of this section.

G. On motion to the court, if the presiding judge of the superior court concludes that an instrument or writing recorded by the county recorder has been redacted or sealed in error, that the original affiant no longer lives at the address listed in the original affidavit, that the cause for the original affidavit no longer exists or that temporary access to the instrument or writing is needed, the presiding judge may temporarily stay or permanently vacate all or part of the court order prohibiting public access to the recorded instrument or writing.

H. On entry of the court order, the clerk of the superior court shall file the court order and a copy of the affidavit required by subsection B of this section with the county recorder. No more than ten days after the date on which the county recorder receives the court order, the county recorder shall restrict access to the information as required by subsection F of this section.

I. If the court denies an affiant's request pursuant to this section, the affiant may request a court hearing. The hearing shall be conducted by the court in the county where the petition was filed.

J. The recorder shall remove the restrictions on all records restricted pursuant to this section by January 5 in the year after the court order expires.

K. To include subsequent recordings in the court order, the peace officer, justice, judge, commissioner, public defender, prosecutor, victim of domestic violence or stalking or person who is protected under an order of protection or injunction against harassment shall present to the county recorder at the time of recordation a certified copy of the court order. The recorder shall ensure that public access shall be restricted pursuant to subsection A of this section.

L. This section shall not be interpreted to restrict access to public records for the purposes of perfecting a lien pursuant to title 12, chapter 9, article 2.

M. This section does not prohibit access to the records of the county recorder by parties to the instrument, a title insurer, a title insurance agent or an escrow agent licensed by the department of insurance or the department of banking.

N. For the purposes of this section:

1. "Commissioner" means a commissioner of the superior court.

2. "Indexes" means only those indexes that are maintained by and located in the office of the county recorder, that are accessed electronically and that contain information beginning from and after January 1, 1987.

3. "Judge" means a judge of the United States district court, the United States court of appeals, the United States magistrate court, the United States bankruptcy court, the Arizona court of appeals, the superior court or a municipal court.

4. "Justice" means a justice of the United States or Arizona supreme court or a justice of the peace.

5. "Peace officer" means any person vested by law, or formerly vested by law, with a duty to maintain public order and make arrests.

6. "Prosecutor" means a county attorney, a municipal prosecutor, the attorney general or a United States attorney and includes an assistant or deputy United States attorney, county attorney, municipal prosecutor or attorney general.

7. "Public defender" means a federal public defender, county public defender, county legal defender or county contract indigent defense counsel and includes an assistant or deputy federal public defender, county public defender or county legal defender.

8. "Stalking" means the course of conduct prescribed in section 13-2923.

9. "Victim of domestic violence" means a person who is a victim of an offense defined in section 13-3601.