AZ SB1475

School district governing boards must permanently prohibit students from participating in interscholastic activities if they have been convicted of, pleaded to, or admitted to certain serious criminal offenses, including aggravated assault with deadly weapons, sexual offenses, stalking, harassment involving sexually explicit conduct, domestic violence, and incest.

Students charged with or awaiting trial for any of the listed offenses must be temporarily prohibited from participating in school-sponsored interscholastic activities until charges are dismissed or they are found not guilty.

The prohibition applies to both adult criminal convictions and juvenile delinquent acts that would constitute the listed offenses if committed by an adult.

Schools must require students seeking to participate in interscholastic activities to certify on a form whether they have any qualifying convictions or admissions, including similar offenses from other jurisdictions.

The bill amends juvenile court records statutes to allow juvenile adjudications to be used for determining interscholastic activity eligibility, creating an exception to the general rule that juvenile dispositions cannot be used against individuals in non-criminal proceedings.