Child safety investigators would record interviews with children, if federal grants are enacted

The Department of Child Safety would record by audio or video any interview it conducts with a child during an investigation. This applies to department interviews with children as part of investigations of abuse or neglect reports. Recording is not required if the equipment malfunctions and the cause is not a failure to maintain it or supply it. Recording is also not required if the department lacks the equipment because of circumstances it could not reasonably have foreseen. A person charged with a crime involving child abuse or neglect cannot object to a missing recording, and the failure is not a reason to exclude a child's otherwise admissible statements.

The recording rule would take effect only if federal legislation providing grants to states for recording these interviews is enacted by December 31, 2036. This applies to the Department of Child Safety and its director. If such federal legislation is enacted, the director must apply for a grant each year until one is awarded. If a grant is received, the department must carry out the recording requirement. By December 31, 2036, the director must tell the Arizona Legislative Council in writing the date the condition was met, or that it was not met. The grant section ends after December 31, 2036.