PHOENIX — Legislation designed to shield public officials from threats has no enforcement mechanism to ensure that they actually live where they claim.
Senate Bill 1061, now awaiting action by Gov. Katie Hobbs, is designed to allow elected officials to have the same protections now afforded judges, prosecutors and domestic violence victims to shield their addresses on public records. Sen. T.J. Shope, R-Coolidge, said increasing personal threats against lawmakers and others makes such an option necessary.
Only thing is, once someone becomes an elected official and opts in, any public records of what they claim as their primary residence would disappear. And those are the records that challengers — or anyone else — can use to determine if legislators actually meet the state constitutional requirements that they reside in the district they represent.
