Georgia § 30-5-7 - Confidentiality of public records; reasonable access; redaction in certain circumstances.

§ 30-5-7. Confidentiality of public records; reasonable access; redaction in certain circumstances.

All records pertaining to the abuse, neglect, or exploitation of disabled adults or elder persons in the custody of the department shall be confidential; and access thereto by persons other than the department, the director, or the district attorney shall only be by valid subpoena or order of any court of competent jurisdiction. The following persons or agencies shall have reasonable access to such records concerning reports of elder, disabled adult, or resident abuse: A prosecuting attorney in this state or any other state or political subdivision thereof, or the United States, who may seek such access in connection with official duty; Police or any other law enforcement agency or law enforcement personnel of this state or any other state who are conducting an investigation into any criminal offense involving a report of known or suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation of disabled adults or elder persons; Agencies participating in joint investigations at the request of and with the department, or conducting separate investigations of abuse, neglect, or exploitation within an agency's scope of authority, unless such records are wholly owned by the federal government; and Coroners or medical examiners in suspicious death investigations. Any individual who made a report according to Code Section 30-5-4 can make a request to the department to know if the report or reports made by that individual have been received, whether an investigation was opened or not, and whether the investigation is still open or has been closed, and the department will respond in writing within five business days with this information, but no other case information will be released. Any time that the record is released pursuant to this Code section, other than to law enforcement or to the district attorney or pursuant to a court order for unredacted records, the name and identifying information of the individual who made the report shall be redacted. Records or portions of records of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of disabled adults or elder persons in the custody of the department may be released to members of an Adult Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation Multidisciplinary Team established pursuant to Code Section 30-5-11 for reasonable use in furtherance of the purposes authorized in this Code section. (Ga. L. 1981, p. 1320, § 7; Ga. L. 1997, p. 700, § 2; Ga. L. 1999, p. 562, § 7; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, § 2-14/HB 228; Ga. L. 2013, p. 524, § 1-8/HB 78; Ga. L. 2018, p. 602, § 3/HB 635.) The 2018 amendment, effective July 1, 2018, designated the existing provisions of this Code section as subsection (a); deleted the former second sentence of subsection (a), which read: "Nothing in this Code section shall be construed to deny agencies participating in joint investigations at the request of and with the department, or conducting separate investigations of abuse, neglect, or exploitation within an agency's scope of authority, or law enforcement personnel who are conducting an investigation into any criminal offense in which a disabled adult or elder person is a victim from having access to such records."; and added subsections (b) through (e). Cross references. - Reporting of abuse or exploitation of residents of long-term care facilities, § 31-8-80 et seq. Editor's notes. - Ga. L. 1999, p. 562, § 1, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "This Act shall be known and may be cited as the 'Crimes Against Elderly Act of 1999'."