Section 170-G:8-aa Court Review.
I. The commissioner or designee shall have 30 days in open cases and 60 days in closed cases from the date a written request for access to case records is received by the district office where the case records are or were located, to limit or deny access to the case records pursuant to RSA 170-G:8-a, II. Any decision by the commissioner or designee relative to access to case records shall be in writing and shall set forth the harm that may result to the child if the requested access is provided.
II. The party requesting access may present to the court with jurisdiction over the case giving rise to the request for access or, if the request for access does not arise in the context of an existing judicial proceeding, to the district court for the judicial district in which the person making the request resides, a written petition, duly verified, setting forth that the decision of the commissioner or designee is illegal or unreasonable in whole or in part and specifying the grounds upon which the decision is claimed to be illegal or unreasonable. Such petition shall be presented to the court within 60 days after the date of the written decision of the commissioner or designee.
III. Upon presentation of the petition, the court shall issue an order directed to the department prescribing the time within which return shall be made and served on the petitioner and the records and other documents to be provided to the court by the department. The return shall set forth concisely such facts as may be pertinent and material, show the grounds of the decision to be reviewed, and shall be verified. If an attorney or a guardian ad litem for the child named in the case record had been appointed to represent the child in the case giving rise to the request to access, the department shall provide such person with copies of its decision, the petition, and the department's response. Such attorney or guardian ad litem may participate in the judicial proceedings described in this section by filing a written response and participating in any hearings scheduled by the court pursuant to paragraph IV of this section. Nothing in this section shall require the appointment of an attorney or guardian ad litem to represent the interest of a child in the proceedings described in this section.
IV. The court shall review the petition, return, other responses, and records and shall hold a hearing on its own motion or if requested by the petitioner. Thereafter, the court shall issue such orders as may be appropriate. Costs shall not be allowed against the state unless it shall appear to the court that the department acted in bad faith or with malice in denying or limiting access to case records.
V. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this section, if the petitioner's request for access occurs in the context of an existing judicial proceeding, the court with jurisdiction over the case may establish time limitations different from those contained in this section to facilitate the disposition of the case.
Source. 1993, 355:9. 1995, 310:144, 175, eff. Nov. 1, 1995.