South Carolina § 63-11-550 - Confidentiality of records and information.

§ 63-11-550. Confidentiality of records and information.

(A) All reports and information collected pursuant to this article maintained by the South Carolina Guardian ad Litem Program, or a county Guardian ad Litem Program operating pursuant to Section 63-11-500(B) or by a guardian ad litem, are confidential. A person who disseminates or permits the unauthorized dissemination of the information is guilty of contempt of court and, upon conviction, may be fined or imprisoned, or both, pursuant to Section 63-3-620. The appointed guardian ad litem may share reports and information collected with the county's Guardian ad Litem Program staff, the Guardian ad Litem Division, and the State Child Advocate.

(B) The name, address, and other identifying characteristics of a person named in a report determined to be judicially unfounded must be destroyed one year from the date of the determination. The name, address, and other identifying characteristics of any person named in a report determined to be judicially indicated must be destroyed seven years from the date that the guardian ad litem formally is relieved of responsibility as guardian ad litem by the family court.

(C) The director of the South Carolina Guardian ad Litem Program or the director's designee, or the chief administrator of a county guardian ad litem program operating pursuant to Section 63-11-500(B), may disclose to the media information contained in child protective services records, if disclosure is limited to discussion of the program's activities in handling the case. The program may incorporate into its discussion of the handling of the case any information placed in the public domain by other public officials, a criminal prosecution, the alleged perpetrator or the attorney for the alleged perpetrator, or other public judicial proceedings. For purposes of this subsection, information is considered "placed in the public domain" when it has been reported in the news media, is contained in public records of a criminal justice agency, is contained in public records of a court of law, or has been the subject of testimony in a public judicial proceeding.

HISTORY: 2008 Act No. 361, SECTION 2; 2008 Act No. 288, SECTION 2; 2009 Act No. 37, SECTION 2, eff June 2, 2009; 2025 Act No. 8 (H.3654), SECTION 2, eff April 28, 2025.

Effect of Amendment

The 2009 amendment, in subsection (A), added in the first sentence "or by a guardian ad litem,".

2025 Act No. 8, SECTION 2, in (A), in the first sentence, deleted "except as provided for in â 63-7-1990(C)" from the end, added the last sentence, and made nonsubstantive changes.