Senate Bill No. 272
(By Senator Boley)
____________
[Introduced February 16, 2009; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact §49-7-1 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to allowing the name and age of a
child, who has attained the age of ten years, and the offense
with which he or she is charged to be released to the general
public in cases in which the child has been found guilty of
juvenile delinquency for any offense which would be a
misdemeanor or felony if it was committed by an adult.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §49-7-1 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, 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 may 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
if the court
shall review such reviews the record or records for
relevancy and materiality to the issues in the proceeding.
and The
court may issue an order to limit the examination and use of the
records or any part
thereof of the records.
(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 those entities, including law-enforcement agencies and
prosecuting attorneys, having a need for
such the 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 the 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 may 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 may only be open to inspection pursuant to the provisions of
sections seventeen and eighteen, article five of this chapter.
(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 $1,000, 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 is liable for damages in the amount of $300
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 age of a child who has
attained the age of ten years, and the type of offense with which he or she is charged, may be released to the general public in
cases in which the child has been found guilty of juvenile
delinquency for any offense which would be a misdemeanor or felony
if it was committed by an adult.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to the allow the name and
age of a child who has attained the age of ten years, and the type
of offense with which he or she is charged, to be released to the
general public in cases in which the child has been found guilty of
juvenile delinquency for any offense which would be a misdemeanor
or felony if it was committed by an adult.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.