(a) Purpose. This rule allows the use of recording devices in a courtroom, subject to specified requirements and limitations. A court must use reasonable means to inform the public of the provisions of this rule.

(b) Definitions. The following definitions apply in this rule. A term defined in the singular includes the plural.

(c) Request to Cover a Proceeding. Except as provided in paragraphs (h) and (i) of this rule, a person who wishes to use a recording device during a proceeding must submit a written or electronic request to cover the proceeding, as follows.

(d) Denial or Limitation of Coverage. A properly submitted request for coverage should generally be approved, but a judge may deny or may limit the request as provided in this paragraph. A judge's decision on a coverage request, or on an objection to coverage, is reviewable only by special action.

(e) Manner of Coverage. The judge will preserve the dignity of the proceeding by designating the placement of equipment and personnel for photographing, recording, or broadcasting the proceeding, and all equipment and personnel will be restricted to the designated area. Recording devices may not be moved about the courtroom while court is in session. All persons and affiliated individuals engaged in the coverage must avoid conduct or dress that may disrupt or detract from the dignity of the proceeding. The judge may order a restriction or cessation of coverage during a proceeding in furtherance of the interests of justice.

(f) Equipment. A person must not install, move, or take recording equipment, other than a personal audio recorder, from the courtroom during a proceeding. A person must hide wiring as much as possible, and wiring must not cause an inconvenience or a hazard. A person may connect equipment used to provide coverage to an existing courtroom electronic system, if possible, but a person must not connect equipment to a court's digital recording system without the judge's express approval. A person must not bring flash devices, strobe lights, or other artificial lights of any kind into the courtroom If a person wishes to use additional standard light fixtures or higher wattage light bulbs, additional microphones, or other modifications or improvements concerning lighting or sound, the person must submit this information in the request under paragraph (c). The judge may direct whatever modifications or improvements are deemed necessary, but the judge may not require use of public funds to make or to maintain any such modifications or improvements. Microphones, cameras, and other equipment used for coverage must be as unobtrusive as recording devices in general use in the community where the courtroom is located, and must not produce distracting sounds or otherwise disrupt the proceeding.

(g) Number of Recording Devices; Pooling. A request submitted under paragraph (c) may ask the judge to approve audio coverage, video camera coverage, or coverage by still camera. The presumptive limits are one microphone and recording device for audio coverage, or one video camera and one still camera, but the judge conducting the proceeding has discretion to approve a person's request to use additional recording devices. If a judge approves requests by more than one person to cover a proceeding, those persons must pool their resources to limit recording devices in the courtroom to the number approved by the judge. Those persons have the responsibility to settle their own disputes, to facilitate pooling as necessary, and to implement procedures that meet the approval of the assigned judge prior to any coverage and without disruption to the court.

(h) Personal Audio Recorders; Required Notice to the Court. A person may use a personal audio recorder during a proceeding, but the person must notify the judge or the judge's staff prior to using the device. A person who uses a personal audio recorder is not required to submit a request under paragraph (c) of this rule, but a person who wishes to record or broadcast the audio portion of a proceeding with a device that is not on the person must do so. The use of a personal audio recorder must not be obtrusive, distracting, or otherwise prohibited, and use is subject to the prohibitions of paragraph (k) of this rule.

(i) Approving Use of a Recording Device for Celebratory or Ceremonial Proceedings, or While Court is Not in Session. Notwithstanding other provisions of this rule, a person may verbally request, and a judge may verbally approve, use of a recording device in a courtroom to photograph or to record a celebratory or ceremonial proceeding. If a person wishes to use a recording device in any courtroom when that courtroom is not in session, prior to using the device, the person must obtain the express permission of the presiding judge of that jurisdiction or an office of the court authorized by the presiding judge to approve requests under this paragraph.

(j) Recording Not Admissible as Evidence. No video, photograph, or audio reproduction of a judicial proceeding that is obtained pursuant to this rule may be used to modify or supplement the official court record of that proceeding, nor is it admissible at that or any subsequent proceeding unless it is offered for another purpose allowed under the Arizona Rules of Evidence.

(k) Prohibitions. A person is not permitted to photograph, record, or broadcast a proceeding in the following circumstances:

(l) Other Governing Law. A person whose request under paragraph (c) of this rule has been approved may photograph, record in, or broadcast from, locations in a courthouse other than a courtroom as provided in Supreme Court Rule 122.1. The law generally applicable to inclusion or exclusion of the press or the public at court proceedings or during the testimony of a particular witness applies to persons who submit a request or notice under this rule. Nothing in this rule alters the obligation of any attorney to comply with the provisions of the Arizona Rules of Professional Conduct governing trial publicity.