62A-4a-412 - Reports and information confidential.
62A-4a-412. Reports and information confidential.
(1) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, reports made pursuant to this part, aswell as any other information in the possession of the division obtained as the result of a reportare private, protected, or controlled records under Title 63G, Chapter 2, Government RecordsAccess and Management Act, and may only be made available to:
(a) a police or law enforcement agency investigating a report of known or suspectedabuse or neglect;
(b) a physician who reasonably believes that a child may be the subject of abuse orneglect;
(c) an agency that has responsibility or authority to care for, treat, or supervise a minorwho is the subject of a report;
(d) a contract provider that has a written contract with the division to render services to aminor who is the subject of a report;
(e) except as provided in Subsection 63G-2-202(10), a subject of the report, the naturalparents of the child, and the guardian ad litem;
(f) a court, upon a finding that access to the records may be necessary for thedetermination of an issue before the court, provided that in a divorce, custody, or relatedproceeding between private parties, the record alone is:
(i) limited to objective or undisputed facts that were verified at the time of theinvestigation; and
(ii) devoid of conclusions drawn by the division or any of the division's workers on theultimate issue of whether or not a person's acts or omissions constituted any level of abuse orneglect of another person;
(g) an office of the public prosecutor or its deputies in performing an official duty;
(h) a person authorized by a Children's Justice Center, for the purposes described inSection 67-5b-102;
(i) a person engaged in bona fide research, when approved by the director of the division,if the information does not include names and addresses;
(j) the State Office of Education, acting on behalf of itself or on behalf of a schooldistrict, for the purpose of evaluating whether an individual should be permitted to obtain orretain a license as an educator or serve as an employee or volunteer in a school, limited toinformation with substantiated findings involving an alleged sexual offense, an alleged felony orclass A misdemeanor drug offense, or any alleged offense against the person under Title 76,Chapter 5, Offenses Against the Person, and with the understanding that the office must providethe subject of a report received under Subsection (1)(k) with an opportunity to respond to thereport before making a decision concerning licensure or employment;
(k) any person identified in the report as a perpetrator or possible perpetrator of abuse orneglect, after being advised of the screening prohibition in Subsection (2);
(l) except as provided in Subsection 63G-2-202(10), a person filing a petition for a childprotective order on behalf of a child who is the subject of the report; and
(m) a licensed child-placing agency or person who is performing a preplacementadoptive evaluation in accordance with the requirements of Sections 78B-6-128 and 78B-6-130.
(2) (a) A person, unless listed in Subsection (1), may not request another person to obtainor release a report or any other information in the possession of the division obtained as a resultof the report that is available under Subsection (1)(k) to screen for potential perpetrators of abuse
or neglect.
(b) A person who requests information knowing that it is a violation of Subsection (2)(a)to do so is subject to the criminal penalty in Subsection (4).
(3) (a) Except as provided in Section 62A-4a-1007 and Subsection (3)(b), the divisionand law enforcement officials shall ensure the anonymity of the person or persons making theinitial report and any others involved in its subsequent investigation.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, excluding Section 78A-6-317, butincluding this chapter and Title 63G, Chapter 2, Government Records Access and ManagementAct, when the division makes a report or other information in its possession available underSubsection (1)(e) to a subject of the report or a parent of a child, the division shall remove fromthe report or other information only the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of individualsor specific information that could:
(i) identify the referent;
(ii) impede a criminal investigation; or
(iii) endanger a person's safety.
(4) Any person who wilfully permits, or aides and abets the release of data orinformation obtained as a result of this part, in the possession of the division or contained on anypart of the Management Information System, in violation of this part or Sections 62A-4a-1003through 62A-4a-1007, is guilty of a class C misdemeanor.
(5) The physician-patient privilege is not a ground for excluding evidence regarding achild's injuries or the cause of those injuries, in any proceeding resulting from a report made ingood faith pursuant to this part.
(6) A child-placing agency or person who receives a report in connection with apreplacement adoptive evaluation pursuant to Sections 78B-6-128 and 78B-6-130:
(a) may provide this report to the person who is the subject of the report; and
(b) may provide this report to a person who is performing a preplacement adoptiveevaluation in accordance with the requirement of Sections 78B-6-128 and 78B-6-130, or to alicensed child-placing agency or to an attorney seeking to facilitate an adoption.
Amended by Chapter 3, 2008 General Session
Amended by Chapter 87, 2008 General Session
Amended by Chapter 299, 2008 General Session
Amended by Chapter 382, 2008 General Session