Relating to public library requirements for materials harmful to minors, and providing civil and criminal penalties, and including effective date and applicability provisions

The bill requires the public library to maintain parental consent in the public library’s records for as long as the parental consent remains valid. The bill prohibits a public library from performing certain acts related to allowing a minor access to material harmful to minors, informing parents of the parent’s rights under the bill, and retaliating against a parent or patron who exercises rights under the bill. The bill requires a public library to verify that an individual attempting to obtain material harmful to minors is an individual years of age or older or a minor whose parent has provided parental consent to access material harmful to minors prior to disseminating material harmful to minors. The bill details what a parental consent form from a public library must contain. Parental consent is valid for a period of one calendar year from the date of a parent’s signature on a parental consent form unless the parent revokes the parental consent earlier. A minor is considered to have restricted access to material harmful to minors until the minor obtains parental consent to access the material. The library must maintain a system to identify whether a minor has restricted access or if the minor has parental consent to access material harmful to minors. The bill requires a public library to review the materials in the public library’s possession and classify the materials as general access or harmful to minors. The bill requires material that is presumptively harmful material to be classified as harmful to minors unless the public library documents, in writing, a determination that the material has serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors in a manner that is sufficient to rebut the presumption that the material is material harmful to minors. The bill requires classifications of a material to be documented by the public library and retained for a period of at least five consecutive calendar years. The bill requires material classified as harmful to minors to be shelved in a public library as detailed in the bill. The bill requires an adult section of a public library to meet certain specifications as detailed in the bill. The bill requires a public library’s catalog system to identify material classified as harmful to minors, prevent a minor from placing holds on or checking out materials the minor has not been given parental consent to access, and alert library staff when a minor without parental consent attempts to access materials the minor has not been given parental consent to access. The bill allows a parent of a minor patron of a public library to submit a written request for reconsideration of a public library’s classification of specific material as general access instead of harmful to minors, or a public library’s determination that specific material has serious value for minors that is sufficient enough to rebut the presumption the material is material harmful to minors. The bill requires a public library to establish a reconsideration procedure as described in the bill. During the time a reconsideration request is under review by a public library or the public library’s board of trustees, the bill allows the public library to temporarily reclassify the material subject to the reconsideration request as harmful to minors. A parent may appeal a public library’s decision for a reconsideration request the parent submitted to the public library’s board of trustees. The bill requires a public library board of trustees reviewing the appeal of a public library’s decision for a reconsideration request to perform certain actions as detailed in the bill. A board of trustees’ decision shall be final for purposes of administrative review but shall not preclude a parent from seeking judicial review or pursuing civil remedies under the bill. The bill allows a parent of a minor to bring a civil action against a public library, public library board of trustees, or library employee who violates the bill. A court may award any combination of civil damages of not less than $1,000 but not more than $10,000; actual damages, including damages for emotional distress, if the actual damages are greater than the civil damages that would otherwise be awarded; injunctive relief; declaratory relief; reasonable attorney fees; and punitive damages if the violation was willful or reckless. An action for civil damages under the bill must be brought within two years of the date the parent knew or reasonably should have known of the violation. The bill waives sovereign immunity and governmental immunity for civil claims under the bill. These waivers of immunity only apply to claims under the bill and do not constitute a general waiver of immunity. A public library, public library board of trustees, public library director, or public library employee may not assert sovereign immunity, governmental immunity, or qualified immunity as a defense to a civil claim under the bill. The bill makes a public library board of trustees vicariously liable for violations committed by a library employee acting within the scope of the library employee’s employment, and a city or county operating a public library vicariously liable for violations committed by the public library, public library board of trustees, or public library employees. The bill allows a person to hold a library employee who willfully violates the bill personally liable. The bill allows a library director who fails to implement policies and procedures required by the bill to be held personally liable for resulting violations. The bill makes it a criminal offense for a person to willfully disseminate material harmful to minors to a minor if the person knows that the minor does not have parental consent to access the material harmful to minors; willfully assists a minor in circumventing the parental consent requirements of the bill with the intent to enable the minor to access material harmful to minors; willfully provides false information to a parent to prevent the parent from exercising rights under the bill; or willfully destroys, conceals, or falsifies records required by the bill with the intent to obstruct enforcement of the bill. A first offense is a serious misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment of up to one year, a fine not less than $500 but not more than $2,500, or both. A second or subsequent offense is an aggravated misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment of up to two years, a fine not less than $1,000 but not more than $10,000, or both. If a public offense under the bill involves a pattern of disseminating material harmful to minors to multiple minors, or if the offender holds a position of trust or authority over minors, the offense shall be classified one level higher than otherwise provided. The county attorney of the county where a violation occurred shall have authority to prosecute violations under the bill. The attorney general may prosecute a violation under the bill if a county attorney declines to prosecute the violation or if the violation involves multiple counties. The bill allows a person to file a complaint with a county attorney alleging a violation of the bill. The county attorney shall investigate and determine whether prosecution is warranted. The bill creates a means of asserting good-faith immunity as detailed in the bill. Beginning one calendar year after the date of the bill’s enactment, the bill requires the state librarian to submit an annual report to the general assembly that summarizes the implementation of the bill by public libraries; the number of materials classified as harmful to minors statewide; the number of parental consent authorizations on file with a public library; the number of reconsideration requests filed within the immediately preceding calendar year and the outcomes of the reconsideration requests; the enforcement actions or litigation initiated under the bill within the immediately preceding calendar year; and recommendations the state librarian has for legislative improvements of the bill’s provisions. The bill details several factors for how the bill shall be interpreted. The bill requires the state librarian to issue guidance relating to the bill’s requirements to each public library as detailed in the bill within calendar days of the bill’s effective date; to develop and distribute model policies and forms to public libraries as detailed in the bill; and to offer training to public library directors, public library boards of trustees, and public library employees on the bill’s requirements within calendar days of the bill’s effective date.17.22 become applicable days after the bill’s effective date.25 become applicable 180 days after the bill’s effective date. The bill takes effect upon enactment.