Amends existing law to provide that certain decedent photos shall be exempt from disclosure and to provide an exception.

LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO Sixty-eighth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2026 IN THE SENATE SENATE BILL NO. 1250 BY JUDICIARY AND RULES COMMITTEE AN ACT1 RELATING TO RECORDS EXEMPT FROM DISCLOSURE; AMENDING SECTION 74-105, IDAHO2 CODE, TO PROVIDE THAT CERTAIN RECORDS SHALL BE EXEMPT FROM DISCLOSURE,3 TO PROVIDE AN EXCEPTION, AND TO DEFINE A TERM; AND DECLARING AN EMER-4 GENCY AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.5

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:6

SECTION 1. That Section 74-105, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby7 amended to read as follows:8 74-105. RECORDS EXEMPT FROM DISCLOSURE -- LAW ENFORCEMENT RECORDS,9 INVESTIGATORY RECORDS OF AGENCIES, EVACUATION AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLANS,10 WORKER'S COMPENSATION. The following records are exempt from disclosure:11 (1) Investigatory records of a law enforcement agency as defined in12 section 74-101(7), Idaho Code, under the conditions set forth in section13 74-124, Idaho Code.14 (2) Juvenile records of a person maintained pursuant to chapter 5,15 title 20, Idaho Code, except that facts contained in such records shall be16 furnished upon request in a manner determined by the court to persons and17 governmental and private agencies and institutions conducting pertinent18 research studies or having a legitimate interest in the protection, welfare19 and treatment of the juvenile who is thirteen (13) years of age or younger.20 If the juvenile is petitioned or charged with an offense that would be a21 criminal offense if committed by an adult, the name, offense of which the22 juvenile was petitioned or charged, and disposition of the court shall be23 subject to disclosure as provided in section 20-525, Idaho Code. Addi-24 tionally, facts contained in any records of a juvenile maintained pursuant25 to chapter 5, title 20, Idaho Code, shall be furnished upon request to any26 school district where the juvenile is enrolled or is seeking enrollment.27 (3) Records of the custody review board of the Idaho department of ju-28 venile corrections, including records containing the names, addresses and29 written statements of victims and family members of juveniles, shall be ex-30 empt from public disclosure pursuant to section 20-533A, Idaho Code.31 (4)(a) The following records of the department of correction:32 (i) Records of which the public interest in confidentiality, pub-33 lic safety, security and habilitation clearly outweighs the pub-34 lic interest in disclosure as identified pursuant to the authority35 of the state board of correction under section 20-212, Idaho Code;36 (ii) Records that contain any identifying information or any in-37 formation that would lead to the identification of any victims or38 witnesses;39 (iii) Records that reflect future transportation or movement of a40 prisoner;41

2 (iv) Records gathered during the course of the presentence inves-1 tigation; and2 (v) Records of a prisoner as defined in section 74-101(10), Idaho3 Code, or probationer shall not be disclosed to any other prisoner4 or probationer.5 (b) Records, other than public expenditure records, related to pro-6 posed or existing critical infrastructure held by or in the custody7 of any public agency only when the disclosure of such information is8 reasonably likely to jeopardize the safety of persons, property or the9 public safety. Such records may include emergency evacuation, escape10 or other emergency response plans, vulnerability assessments, oper-11 ation and security manuals, plans, blueprints or security codes. For12 purposes of this paragraph, "system" includes electrical, computer13 and telecommunications systems, electric power (including produc-14 tion, generating, transportation, transmission and distribution), and15 heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. For purposes of this sub-16 section, "critical infrastructure" means any system or asset, whether17 physical or virtual, so vital to the state of Idaho, including its po-18 litical subdivisions, that the incapacity or destruction of such system19 or asset would have a debilitating impact on state or national economic20 security, state or national public health or safety, or any combination21 of those matters.22 (c) Records of the Idaho commission of pardons and parole shall be ex-23 empt from public disclosure pursuant to sections 20-1003 and 20-1005,24 Idaho Code. Records exempt from disclosure shall also include those25 containing the names, addresses and written statements of victims.26 (5) Voting records of the former sexual offender classification board.27 The written record of the vote to classify an offender as a violent sexual28 predator by each board member in each case reviewed by that board member29 shall be exempt from disclosure to the public and shall be made available30 upon request only to the governor, the chairman of the senate judiciary and31 rules committee, and the chairman of the house of representatives judiciary,32 rules and administration committee for all lawful purposes.33 (6) Records of the sheriff or Idaho state police received or maintained34 pursuant to sections 18-3302, 18-3302H and 18-3302K, Idaho Code, relating35 to an applicant or licensee, except that any law enforcement officer and law36 enforcement agency, whether inside or outside the state of Idaho, may access37 information maintained in the license record system as set forth in section38 18-3302K(16), Idaho Code.39 (7) Records of investigations prepared by the department of health and40 welfare pursuant to its statutory responsibilities dealing with the protec-41 tion of children, the rehabilitation of youth, adoptions and the commitment42 of mentally ill persons. For reasons of health and safety, best interests of43 the child or public interest, the department of health and welfare may pro-44 vide for the disclosure of records of investigations associated with actions45 pursuant to the provisions of chapter 16, title 16, Idaho Code, prepared by46 the department of health and welfare pursuant to its statutory responsibil-47 ities dealing with the protection of children, except any such records re-48 garding adoptions shall remain exempt from disclosure.49

3 (8) Records, including but not limited to investigative reports, re-1 sulting from investigations conducted into complaints of discrimination2 made to the Idaho human rights commission, unless the public interest in3 allowing inspection and copying of such records outweighs the legitimate4 public or private interest in maintaining confidentiality of such records.5 A person may inspect and copy documents from an investigative file to which6 he or she is a named party if such documents are not otherwise prohibited from7 disclosure by federal law or regulation or state law. The confidentiality of8 this subsection will no longer apply to any record used in any judicial pro-9 ceeding brought by a named party to the complaint or investigation, or by the10 Idaho human rights commission, relating to the complaint of discrimination.11 (9) Records containing information obtained by the manager of the Idaho12 state insurance fund pursuant to chapter 9, title 72, Idaho Code, from or on13 behalf of employers or employees contained in underwriting and claims for14 benefits files.15 (10) The worker's compensation records of the Idaho industrial commis-16 sion, provided that the industrial commission shall make such records avail-17 able:18 (a) To the parties in any worker's compensation claim and to the indus-19 trial special indemnity fund of the state of Idaho; or20 (b) To employers and prospective employers subject to the provisions of21 the Americans with disabilities act, 42 U.S.C. 12112, or other statu-22 tory limitations, who certify that the information is being requested23 with respect to a worker to whom the employer has extended an offer of24 employment and will be used in accordance with the provisions of the25 Americans with disabilities act, 42 U.S.C. 12112, or other statutory26 limitations; or27 (c) To employers and prospective employers not subject to the provi-28 sions of the Americans with disabilities act, 42 U.S.C. 12112, or other29 statutory limitations, provided the employer presents a written autho-30 rization from the person to whom the records pertain; or31 (d) To others who demonstrate that the public interest in allowing in-32 spection and copying of such records outweighs the public or private in-33 terest in maintaining the confidentiality of such records, as deter-34 mined by a civil court of competent jurisdiction; or35 (e) Although a claimant's records maintained by the industrial commis-36 sion, including medical and rehabilitation records, are otherwise ex-37 empt from public disclosure, the quoting or discussing of medical or re-38 habilitation records contained in the industrial commission's records39 during a hearing for compensation or in a written decision issued by the40 industrial commission shall be permitted; provided further, the true41 identification of the parties shall not be exempt from public disclo-42 sure in any written decision issued and released to the public by the in-43 dustrial commission.44 (11) Records of investigations compiled by the commission on aging in-45 volving vulnerable adults as defined in section 18-1505, Idaho Code, alleged46 to be abused, neglected or exploited.47 (12) Criminal history records and fingerprints as defined in section48 67-3001, Idaho Code, and compiled by the Idaho state police. Such records49 shall be released only in accordance with chapter 30, title 67, Idaho Code.50

4 (13) Records furnished or obtained pursuant to section 41-1019, Idaho1 Code, regarding termination of an appointment, employment, contract or2 other insurance business relationship between an insurer and a producer.3 (14) Records of a prisoner or former prisoner in the custody of any state4 or local correctional facility, when the request is made by another prisoner5 in the custody of any state or local correctional facility.6 (15) Except as provided in section 72-1007, Idaho Code, records of the7 Idaho industrial commission relating to compensation for crime victims pur-8 suant to chapter 10, title 72, Idaho Code.9 (16) Records or information identifying a complainant maintained by the10 department of health and welfare pursuant to section 39-3556, Idaho Code,11 relating to certified family homes, unless the complainant consents in writ-12 ing to the disclosure or the disclosure of the complainant's identity is re-13 quired in any administrative or judicial proceeding.14 (17) Records of any certification or notification required by federal15 law to be made in connection with the acquisition or transfer of a firearm,16 including a firearm as defined in 26 U.S.C. 5845(a).17 (18) Records of the office of the state public defender and the office of18 the state appellate public defender containing information protected or ex-19 empted from disclosure under the rules adopted by the Idaho supreme court,20 attorney work product, attorney-client privileged communication, records21 containing confidential information from an individual about his criminal22 case or performance of his attorney, or confidential information about an23 inquiry into an attorney's fitness to represent indigent defendants.24 (19) Records and information received by the office of the state con-25 troller from any local government, state agency and department, or volunteer26 nongovernmental entity for purposes of entry into the criminal justice27 integrated data system pursuant to section 19-4803, Idaho Code, and all28 records created by persons authorized to research and analyze information29 entered into the criminal justice integrated data system, regardless of30 whether such records were previously exempted from disclosure or redacted31 pursuant to state or federal law or court order. This exemption does not32 apply to projects, reports, and data analyses approved for release by the33 data oversight council and issued by persons authorized to conduct research34 and analysis as set forth in chapter 48, title 19, Idaho Code. Records and35 information relating to the management of the criminal justice integrated36 data system shall not be exempt from disclosure except as otherwise provided37 in law.38 (20) Records that contain any identifying information or any informa-39 tion that could lead to the identification of any persons or entities that40 participate in or assist with an execution of a death sentence as described41 in section 19-2716A, Idaho Code.42 (21) Records, other than public expenditure records, relating to43 the nature, location, or function of cybersecurity devices, programs, or44 systems designed to protect computer, information technology, or communica-45 tions systems against terrorist or other attacks.46 (22) Any index, report, or records of any person arrested for, prose-47 cuted for, or convicted of a crime in this state who has successfully peti-48 tioned a court to have his records shielded from disclosure pursuant to sec-49 tion 67-3004(11), Idaho Code.50

5 (23) Any record of an unlawful detainer under section 6-303, Idaho Code,1 if shielded by the court pursuant to section 6-303A, Idaho Code.2 (24) Any photographs or images of a decedent taken as part of a coroner3 death investigation or law enforcement investigation regardless of whether4 such investigation is active or not; however, such photographs or images may5 be disclosed upon request to a decedent's next of kin once the coroner death6 investigation, law enforcement investigation, and criminal case, including7 all appeals and all civil proceedings related to the criminal case, are no8 longer active. As used in this subsection, "next of kin" means the closest9 living relative in the order of spouse, adult children, parents, siblings,10 and grandparents.11

SECTION 2. An emergency existing therefor, which emergency is hereby12 declared to exist, this act shall be in full force and effect on and after13 July 1, 2026.14