PRINTER'S NO. 2595
No. 1893 Session of 2005
INTRODUCED BY GRUCELA, BAKER, BELFANTI, BUNT, CALTAGIRONE,
CRAHALLA, CREIGHTON, DALLY, DeLUCA, DeWEESE, FABRIZIO,
FRANKEL, FREEMAN, GEIST, GEORGE, GOODMAN, HARHAI, HARPER,
HARRIS, HENNESSEY, JAMES, JOSEPHS, KAUFFMAN, KIRKLAND, LEACH,
McGEEHAN, MYERS, PETRARCA, RAMALEY, REICHLEY, ROONEY,
SCAVELLO, SIPTROTH, SHANER, SOLOBAY, STABACK, SURRA,
TANGRETTI, TIGUE, WALKO, WOJNAROSKI, YOUNGBLOOD, CURRY AND
PALLONE, JULY 28, 2005
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, JULY 28, 2005
AN ACT
1 Providing for reporting by victims of identity theft;
2 establishing the Identity Theft Registry and the Identity
3 Theft Passport Program; and further providing for the powers
4 and duties of the Attorney General.
5 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
6 hereby enacts as follows:
7 Section 1. Short title.
8 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Identity
9 Theft Reporting Act.
10 Section 2. Definitions.
11 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
12 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
13 context clearly indicates otherwise:
14 "Attorney General." The Attorney General of the
15 Commonwealth.
16 "Identity theft." A violation of 18 Pa.C.S. § 4120 (relating
1 to identity theft).
2 "Passport." An identity theft passport issued under section
3 5.
4 "Registry." The Identity Theft Registry established under
5 section 4.
6 "Victim." A person who believes that a violation of 18
7 Pa.C.S. § 4120 (relating to identity theft) has been committed
8 against him.
9 Section 3. Reporting by victims of identity theft.
10 (a) General rule.--A person who learns or reasonably
11 suspects that he has been the victim of identity theft may
12 contact the local law enforcement agency that has jurisdiction
13 over his actual residence, which shall make a police report of
14 the matter and provide the person with a copy of that report.
15 (b) Jurisdiction.--Notwithstanding the fact that
16 jurisdiction may lie elsewhere for investigation and prosecution
17 of a crime of identity theft, the local law enforcement agency
18 shall prepare the complaint and provide the complainant with a
19 copy of the complaint and may refer the complaint to a law
20 enforcement agency in that other jurisdiction.
21 (c) Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be
22 construed to interfere with the discretion of a local police
23 department to allocate resources for investigations of crimes. A
24 complaint filed under this section is not required to be counted
25 as an open case for the purpose of compiling open case
26 statistics or otherwise.
27 Section 4. Identity Theft Registry.
28 (a) Expedited judicial determination of innocence.--
29 (1) A person who reasonably believes that he is the
30 victim of identity theft may petition a court or the court,
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1 on its own motion or application of the prosecuting attorney,
2 may move for an expedited judicial determination of the
3 person's factual innocence, where:
4 (i) the perpetrator of the identity theft was
5 arrested or cited for or convicted of a crime under the
6 victim's identity;
7 (ii) a criminal complaint has been filed against the
8 perpetrator in the victim's name; or
9 (iii) the victim's identity has been mistakenly
10 associated with a record of criminal conviction.
11 (2) Any judicial determination of factual innocence made
12 pursuant to this section may be heard and determined on
13 declarations, affidavits, police reports or other material,
14 relevant and reliable information submitted by the parties or
15 ordered to be part of the record by the court.
16 (3) Where the court determines that:
17 (i) the petition or motion is meritorious; and
18 (ii) (A) there is no reasonable cause to believe
19 that the victim committed the offense for which the
20 perpetrator of the identity theft was arrested,
21 cited, convicted or subject to a criminal complaint
22 in the victim's name; or
23 (B) the victim's identity has been mistakenly
24 associated with a record of criminal conviction;
25 the court shall find the victim factually innocent of that
26 offense. If the victim is found factually innocent, the court
27 shall issue an order to certify its determination and provide
28 the victim with written documentation of the order.
29 (b) Deleting, sealing and labeling of records.--After a
30 court has issued a determination of factual innocence pursuant
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1 to this section, the court may order the name and associated
2 personal identifying information contained in court records,
3 files and indexes accessible by the public deleted, sealed or
4 labeled to show that the data is impersonated and does not
5 reflect the defendant's identity.
6 (c) Order may be vacated.--A court that has issued a
7 determination of factual innocence pursuant to this section may,
8 at any time, vacate that determination if the petition, or any
9 information submitted in support of the petition, is found to
10 contain any material misrepresentation or fraud.
11 (d) Form to be developed.--The Supreme Court shall develop a
12 form for use in issuing an order pursuant to this section.
13 (e) Registry.--
14 (1) The Attorney General shall establish and maintain a
15 database, to be known as the Identity Theft Registry, of
16 individuals who have been victims of identity theft and that
17 have received determinations of factual innocence.
18 (2) The Attorney General shall provide a victim of
19 identity theft or his authorized representative access to the
20 database in order to establish that the individual has been a
21 victim of identity theft.
22 (3) Access to the database shall be limited to criminal
23 justice agencies, victims of identity theft and individuals
24 and agencies authorized by the victims.
25 (4) The Attorney General shall establish and maintain a
26 toll-free telephone number to provide access to information
27 contained in the database.
28 (5) In order for a victim of identity theft to be
29 included in the database, the victim must submit to the
30 Attorney General a court order obtained pursuant to any
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1 provision of law, a full set of fingerprints and any other
2 information prescribed by the Attorney General.
3 (6) On receipt of information under paragraph (5), the
4 Attorney General shall verify the identity of the victim
5 against any driver's license or other identification record
6 maintained by the Department of Transportation.
7 Section 5. Identity Theft Passport Program.
8 (a) Persons entitled to passport.--
9 (1) The Attorney General, in cooperation with any law
10 enforcement agency, may issue an identity theft passport to a
11 person who:
12 (i) is a victim of identity theft in this
13 Commonwealth;
14 (ii) has filed a police report citing that the
15 person is a victim of identity theft; or
16 (iii) has been declared factually innocent after
17 being charged with an identity theft offense and who
18 submits satisfactory evidence of the court-issued
19 declaration of factual innocence to the Attorney General.
20 (2) A victim who has filed a report of identity theft
21 with a law enforcement agency may apply for an identity theft
22 passport through any law enforcement agency. The law
23 enforcement agency shall send a copy of the police report and
24 the application to the Attorney General, who shall process
25 the application and supporting report and may issue the
26 victim an identity theft passport in the form of a card or
27 certificate.
28 (b) Presentation of passport.--
29 (1) A victim of identity theft may present the victim's
30 identity theft passport issued under subsection (a) to any of
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1 the following:
2 (i) a law enforcement agency to help prevent the
3 victim's arrest or detention for an offense committed by
4 someone other than the victim who is using the victim's
5 identity;
6 (ii) a creditor of the victim, to aid in the
7 creditor's investigation and establishment of whether
8 fraudulent charges were made against accounts in the
9 victim's name or whether accounts were opened using the
10 victim's identity; or
11 (iii) a consumer reporting agency, which shall
12 accept the passport as notice of a dispute and shall
13 include notice of the dispute in all future reports that
14 contain disputed information caused by identity theft.
15 (2) A law enforcement agency or creditor may, in its
16 sole discretion, accept an identity theft passport presented
17 by a victim to the law enforcement agency or creditor under
18 paragraph (1). A law enforcement agency or creditor may
19 consider the surrounding circumstances and available
20 information regarding the offense of identity theft
21 pertaining to the victim.
22 (3) An application made with the Attorney General under
23 subsection (a), including any supporting documentation, shall
24 be confidential and shall not be deemed a public record
25 subject to disclosure under the act of June 21, 1957
26 (P.L.390, No.212), referred to as the Right-to-Know Law.
27 (4) The Attorney General shall adopt regulations to
28 implement this section, which regulations shall include a
29 procedure by which the Attorney General shall assure that an
30 identity theft passport applicant has an identity theft claim
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1 that is legitimate and adequately substantiated.
2 Section 6. Regulations.
3 The Attorney General may promulgate any regulations necessary
4 to implement or administer this act.
5 Section 7. Enforcement.
6 The Attorney General shall enforce the provisions of this
7 act.
8 Section 8. Effective date.
9 This act shall take effect as follows:
10 (1) Section 4 shall take effect in 180 days.
11 (2) This section shall take effect immediately.
12 (3) The remainder of this act shall take effect in 60
13 days.
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