AZ SB1183

Law enforcement officers may not interrogate juveniles under 15 years old unless a public defender or court-appointed counsel is first appointed to represent them during the custodial interrogation at no cost to the juvenile.

All oral, written, or sign language statements made by a juvenile during custodial interrogation must be electronically recorded in their entirety and remain substantially accurate and unaltered.

Electronic recordings of custodial interrogations cannot be destroyed or altered until the final disposition of the juvenile's case.

Exceptions to recording requirements include statements made in open court, spontaneous statements not in response to questions, statements during routine suspect processing, out-of-state interrogations, federal interrogations, and statements used only for impeachment.

The public defender's duties are expanded to include representing juveniles under 15 during custodial interrogations, though this representation does not make the public defender the attorney of record unless reappointed for subsequent criminal proceedings.