The House Judiciary Committee adopted an H-6 substitute to House Bill 4397, the Elected Officials Protection Act, and reported the bill with recommendation (clerk announced 11 ayes, 0 nays). The substitute would allow certain personal identifying information of current and former elected officials to be redacted from public records and to be subject to administrative request procedures.

Committee sponsors said the bill is designed to protect the personal information and physical security of elected members of the Michigan Legislature, statewide elected officials (including governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and secretary of state), members of the U.S. Congress from Michigan, and former governors. The sponsor explained the bill will follow an administrative process similar to that described for judicial protections and indicated that the Department of Technology, Management and Budget (DTMB) would have a role in processing requests; sponsors also noted that trailer bills may be necessary to address specific disclosure forms.

Members sought clarifications about how the measure would interact with campaign finance, election disclosure, and other statutory disclosure obligations. Representative Carter asked how the bill would work with existing election laws; sponsors said the measure will have implementing language and follow administrative processes. Representative Johnson and Representative Breen emphasized that the bill does not invalidate concerns raised by public commenters about probate or guardianship issues, and that those issues would be addressed separately.

The committee adopted the H-6 substitute and reported HB 4397 with recommendation. The clerk recorded the roll and the motion prevailed; the committee discussed further implementation steps by administrative offices but did not finalize detailed procedures during the hearing.