H. B. 3043
(By Delegate Varner)
[Introduced March 28, 2001; Referred to
the Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section one, article seven, chapter
forty-nine of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended; relating to exempting motor
vehicle accident reports from the provisions respecting
confidentiality of juvenile records.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section one, article seven, chapter forty-nine of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7. GENERAL PROVISIONS.
§49-7-1. Confidentiality of records.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter or by order
of the court, all records and information concerning a child or
juvenile which are maintained by the division of juvenile services,
the department of health and human resources, a child agency or facility, court or law-enforcement agency shall be kept
confidential and shall not be released or disclosed to anyone,
including any federal or state agency.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this
section or any other provision of this code to the contrary,
records concerning a child or juvenile, except adoption records,
juvenile court records and records disclosing the identity of a
person making a complaint of child abuse or neglect shall be made
available:
(1) Where otherwise authorized by this chapter;
(2) To:
(A) The child;
(B) A parent whose parental rights have not been terminated;
or
(C) The attorney of the child or parent;
(3) With the written consent of the child or of someone
authorized to act on the child's behalf; or
(4) Pursuant to an order of a court of record: Provided, That
the court shall review such record or records for relevancy and
materiality to the issues in the proceeding, and may issue an order
to limit the examination and use of the records or any part
thereof.
(c) In addition to those persons or entities to whom
information may be disclosed under subsection (b) of this section, information related to child abuse or neglect proceedings, except
information relating to the identity of the person reporting or
making a complaint of child abuse or neglect, shall be made
available, upon request, to:
(1) Federal, state or local government entities, or any agent
of such entities, including law-enforcement agencies and
prosecuting attorneys, having a need for such information in order
to carry out its responsibilities under law to protect children
from abuse and neglect;
(2) The child fatality review team;
(3) Child abuse citizen review panels;
(4) Multidisciplinary investigative and treatment teams; or
(5) A grand jury, circuit court or family law master, upon a
finding that information in the records is necessary for the
determination of an issue before the grand jury, circuit court or
family law master.
(d) In the event of a child fatality or near fatality due to
child abuse and neglect, information relating to such fatality or
near fatality shall be made public by the department of health and
human resources and to the entities described in subsection (c) of
this section, all under the circumstances described in that
subsection: Provided, That information released by the department
of health and human resources pursuant to this subsection shall not
include the identity of a person reporting or making a complaint of child abuse or neglect. For purposes of this subsection, "near
fatality" means any medical condition of the child which is
certified by the attending physician to be life-threatening.
(e) Except in juvenile proceedings which are transferred to
criminal proceedings, law-enforcement records and files concerning
a child or juvenile shall be kept separate from the records and
files of adults and not included within the court files.
Law-enforcement records and files concerning a child or juvenile
shall only be open to inspection pursuant to the provisions of
sections seventeen and eighteen, article five of this chapter:
Provided, That this section may not be interpreted to prevent law
enforcement agencies from completing and dispensing traffic
accident reports which include the names, addresses, driver's
license number and all other information required on such reports
notwithstanding the fact that a juvenile is referenced in such
report.
(f) Any person who willfully violates the provisions of this
section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof,
shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars, or confined in
the county or regional jail for not more than six months, or be
both fined and confined. A person convicted of violating the
provisions of this section shall also be liable for damages in the
amount of three hundred dollars or actual damages, whichever is
greater.
(g) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, or any
other provision of this code to the contrary, the name and identity
of any juvenile adjudicated or convicted of a violent or felonious
crime shall be made available to the public.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to exempt traffic accident
reports from the provisions respecting confidentiality of juvenile
records.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.