Indiana § 31-33-18-1.6 - "State legislator"

§ 31-33-18-1.6. "State legislator"

Sec. 1.6. (a) As used in this section, "state legislator" means:

(1) a member of the United States Congress representing Indiana; or

(2) a member of the general assembly;

acting in the member's official capacity.

(b) The department shall disclose information that:

(1) concerns alleged or actual child abuse or neglect; and

(2) is requested by a state legislator;

to the state legislator not later than twenty (20) business days after receiving the state legislator's request for the information.

(c) If requested by a state legislator under subsection (b), or as necessary to provide information responsive to the request of a state legislator under subsection (b), the department shall disclose to the state legislator:

(1) unredacted department records regarding the alleged or actual child abuse or neglect, including the safe system review regarding the child abuse or neglect investigation; and

(2) information regarding actions taken by other entities, including:

(A) child welfare agencies;

(B) guardians ad litem;

(C) court appointed special advocates; and

(D) court officers;

with regard to the alleged or actual child abuse or neglect;

including records or information that predate July 1, 2026.

(d) A state legislator to whom an unredacted record is disclosed under this section may not permit disclosure of the record to a third party except in the interest of a legitimate government purpose in protecting children from child abuse or neglect.

(e) The director or the director's designee may disclose information to the news media to confirm, clarify, correct, or supplement information concerning an alleged or actual occurrence of child abuse or neglect that has been made public by a source other than the department, if the disclosure is limited to factual information regarding the department's investigation of the alleged or actual occurrence of child abuse or neglect.

(f) Not later than five (5) business days, or ten (10) business days for complex cases, after receiving a request from the news media regarding the death of a child whose death is suspected to be the result of child abuse or neglect, the department shall release to the news media the following information, to the extent the information is known:

(1) The child's age.

(2) The child's gender.

(3) A summary of:

(A) the actions taken by the department concerning the child, including any investigation of alleged child abuse and neglect concerning the child that was conducted by the department before the child's death or that was ongoing at the time of the child's death; and

(B) any petition that was filed alleging that the child was a child in need of services, including the disposition of the petition.

(g) A record released under this section that has been redacted to exclude the information described in section 1.5(g) of this chapter is not confidential.

(h) This section shall be construed as broadly as possible consistent with other Indiana and federal law.

As added by P.L.84-2026, SEC.11.