Georgia § 49-5-44 - Penalties for unauthorized access to records; use of records in public and criminal proceedings.

§ 49-5-44. Penalties for unauthorized access to records; use of records in public and criminal proceedings.

Any person who authorizes or permits any person or agency not listed in Code Section 49-5-41 to have access to such records concerning reports of child abuse declared confidential by Code Section 49-5-40 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Any person who knowingly and under false pretense obtains or attempts to obtain records or reports of child abuse declared confidential by Code Section 49-5-40 or information contained therein except as authorized in this article or Code Section 19-7-5 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Records made confidential by Code Section 49-5-40 and information obtained from such records shall not be made a part of any record which is open to the public except that: A district attorney may use and make public that record or information in the course of any criminal prosecution for any offense which constitutes or results from child abuse; and The parties in a civil action may use and make public that record or information in the course of a civil action for childhood sexual abuse, as such term is defined in Code Section 9-3-33.1. (Ga. L. 1975, p. 1135, § 3; Ga. L. 1990, p. 1778, § 3; Ga. L. 2015, p. 689, § 6/HB 17.) The 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, in subsection (c), in the introductory language, substituted "shall not" for "may not" and added a colon at the end; added the paragraph (c)(1) designator, and in subsection (c)(1), substituted "A district" for "a district" at the beginning, and added "; and" at the end; and added paragraph (c)(2). Law reviews. - For article, "Practical Challenges to Representing Unaccompanied Children Before the Atlanta Immigration Court," see 22 Ga. St. Bar J. 35 (April 2017).