La. Admin. Code tit. 22 § I-701

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 11, November 20, 2024

Section I-701 - Access to and Release of Active and Inactive Records-Youth [Formerly Section 102]

A. Purpose. To establish the secretary's policy and procedures for access to and release of records of active and inactive juvenile records.

B. Applicability. This regulation applies to all persons employed by the department and those who are under contract with the department. The deputy secretary, assistant secretary of the Office of Youth Development, wardens of juvenile facilities, and the probation and parole program director/juvenile are responsible for implementing this regulation and conveying its contents to all affected persons.

C. Definition

Law Enforcement Agencies -those agencies designed to enforce federal, state or municipal laws and who receive public funds as their primary source for operation, i.e., sheriff's offices, local and state police departments, departments of corrections, state attorneys general, U.S. attorneys, district attorneys, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

D. Release of Information and Records

1. All information obtained on a juvenile shall be confidential and shall not be subject to public inspection or be disclosed directly or indirectly to anyone except in accordance with this regulation. None of the provisions contained herein are intended to restrict the ability of the department to provide any contract facility with full and complete information on any juvenile housed therein.

2. Generally, written consent by the juvenile, parent or guardian or attorney of record is required before a person may be granted access to the juvenile's case files. Access includes viewing the record and receiving copies of documents from a juvenile's record.

3. Release of Initial Documents to Attorney (Initial Contact-No Attorney Client Relationship Yet). Upon receipt of a completed written consent form executed by the juvenile (see Subsection M), the institution may provide copies of the following information to an attorney who has met with the juvenile and requested information:

a. JIRMS Master (JPRNMASA);

b. disciplinary reports for the quarter;

c. court documents;

d. time computation worksheet;

e. custody classification/reclassification for the preceding two quarters;

f. a listing of programs completed including alcohol/drug abuse education. However, no acknowledgment of the juvenile's alcohol/ drug abuse treatment may be given.

4. Release of Records upon Establishment of Attorney Client Relationship. An attorney client relationship sufficient to allow release of a juvenile's record is established upon the occurrence of the following:

a. juveniles age 18 and older:

i. receipt of a written consent form executed by the juvenile (see Subsection N) of his intent to be represented by the attorney named therein;

b. juveniles under age 18:

i. in order to release information from the record of a juvenile, the institution will require receipt of a written consent form (see Subsection O) executed by the parent/guardian of the juvenile; or

c. alternatively, release may also be accomplished through the occurrence of all of the following:

i. juvenile has affirmed his intent through execution of a written document to enter into an attorney client relationship with a particular attorney or law firm and a release form is executed by the juvenile which allows general access by the attorney to the juvenile's record (see Subsection N). Additionally, if the juvenile intends to allow release of records pertaining to education, alcohol/drug abuse treatment or HIV/AIDS status, the juvenile must execute a specific confidentiality waiver for each individual category of documents; and

ii. receipt by the institution housing the juvenile of a copy of the letter written by the attorney, notifying the juvenile's parent/guardian that the juvenile has requested the attorney to represent him. The letter must contain language directing the parent/guardian to notify the institution or the court of juvenile jurisdiction, should the parent object to the representation and/or access to records; and

iii. receipt of postal "Proof of Mailing" verifying that the letter in Clause D.4.c.i. above has been mailed to the parent/guardian; and

iv. receipt of a written statement made by the attorney attesting that he/she has made efforts to contact the parent/guardian; and

v. at least 10 business days have elapsed since receipt by the institution of all documents listed in Clause D.4.c.i. through iv above, and the parent/guardian has not voiced an objection. Once the attorney client relationship is established whether through a consent form executed by the parent/guardian or through the provision of documents required in Clause D.4.c.i through v above, the documents shall be filed in the juvenile's case file at Clip 8. Establishment of the attorney client relationship shall also be entered in the JIRMS.

5. Information on a particular juvenile may be released without special authorization, subject to other restrictions that may be imposed by federal law or by other provisions of state law, to the following:

a. Board of Parole;

b. Board of Pardons;

c. governor;

d. sentencing judge;

e. counsel for a juvenile in a delinquency matter;

f. district attorneys;

g. law enforcement agencies;

h. Department of Public Safety and Corrections personnel, including legal representatives and student workers;

i. appropriate governmental agencies or public official, when access to such information is imperative for the discharge of the responsibilities of the requesting agency, official or court officer and the information if not reasonably available through any other means; and

j. court officers with court orders specifying the information requested.

6. Fingerprints, photographs, and information pertaining to arrests and disposition of delinquent offenses, as well as information regarding escapes may be released to law enforcement agencies without special authorization.

7. The secretary or his designee may approve the reading of information to the following:

a. social services agencies assisting in the treatment of juvenile;

b. appropriate governmental agencies or officials;

c. approved researchers who have guaranteed in writing anonymity of all subjects.

8. The secretary or his designee may approve selective reading (but not copying) of information by a private citizen or organization aiding in the rehabilitation of, or being directly involved in the hiring of, the juvenile under the following conditions, when:

a. it appears that the withholding of the information would be to the juvenile's disadvantage;

b. the requested information is necessary to further the rehabilitation or the likelihood of hiring the juvenile;

c. the requested information is not reasonably available through other means;

d. the juvenile or his parent or guardian has given written consent for the release of information.

E. Release of Information to Crime Victims

1. Both the information contained in a Victim Notice and Registration Form and the fact that a notification request has been made are confidential. Any questions from outside the department about whether particular persons have requested notification or whether there has been a notification request for particular juveniles should be referred to the Crime Victims Services Bureau.

2. Information may be released to victims, witnesses, and others directly injured by the criminal acts of persons under the state's authority in accordance with Department Regulation No. C-01-007 "Crime Victims Services Bureau."

F. Subpoenaed Records

1. Whenever the records of a juvenile are subpoenaed, they shall be submitted to the appropriate court for a ruling as to whether the information should be turned over to the party who caused the subpoena to be issued. The court shall make this determinate in camera. If the court makes any one of the following determinations, the information shall be withheld:

a. the information is not relevant to the proceedings; or

b. the information was derived from communications which were obviously made in the confidence that they would not be disclosed; or

c. the confidentiality is essential to the future useful relations between the source and the recorder of the information.

2. Should the court authorize disclosure of the records in accordance with the subpoena, the party who caused the subpoena to be issued shall pay a fee for the cost of production of the records in accordance with R.S. 39:241 (see Department Regulation No. A-03-003 "Collection of Fees for Reproduction of Public Records"), unless the court determines that the party has been granted pauper status in accordance with law.

G. Records Not Subpoenaed Submitted to the Courts for Review. The department reserves the right to submit any record to the appropriate court for a ruling as to whether the information should be turned over to party requesting information.

H. Access to and Release of Medical Records. Refer to Department Regulation No. B-06-001J "Health Care" and LSUHSC JCP Policies J/HC-RT 02-01 and 05-01 for specifics governing access to and release of medical records.

I. Department's Access to Information and Records of Other Agencies. During the course of any investigation which the department is authorized by law to conduct, or which is necessary for the rehabilitation of persons in the custody or under the supervision of the department, the department shall have access to information and records under the control of any state or local agency which is reasonably related to the rehabilitation of the juvenile.

J. Juvenile Access to Records. Information contained in the juvenile's record shall be confidential and shall not be released to him except in accordance with the following.

1. A juvenile may, upon request, have access to his JIRMS Master (JPRNMASA); a time computation worksheet; any court documents that are related to his incarceration; disciplinary reports; custody classification/ reclassification and case plan.

2. A juvenile shall not have access to another juvenile's record.

3. The following is a list of additional information that will not be accessible to the juvenile (This is not an exhaustive list.):

a. disposition reports;

b. social history;

c. information revealing or tending to reveal the identity of a confidential informant;

d. unusual occurrence reports;

e. admission summary;

f. correspondence from any non-corrections source directly solely to institutional officials;

g. correspondence or inquiries originated by institutional personnel;

h. investigations conducted by non-departmental agencies (district attorney, state police, FBI, etc.);

i. progress notes;

j. progress reports to the court;

k. investigations conducted by Corrections Services; and

l. non-disciplinary court-related institutional investigations.

4. Each institution shall establish procedures for juveniles to follow when requesting copies of documents from their records and the fees charged for such copies.

K. Information Requests. Verbal requests to the department for information may be acceptable. However, the secretary or his designee reserves the right to require a written request before releasing any information. In that case, the individual or agency must certify in writing that they will not release the information to any other agency.

L. Fees. The fee schedule for copies of public records is established in Department Regulation No. A-03-003 "Collection of Fees for Reproduction of Public Records."

M. Consent for Release of Initial Information to Attorney

CONSENT FOR RELEASE OF INITIAL INFORMATION TO ATTORNEY

My name is ______________________________. My date of birth is _____________. I am in the custody of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections and housed at ________________________ Correctional Center for Youth.

I talked and met with _______________________________, an attorney at law. I want this attorney and the law firm _________________________________________to have copies of my JIRMS Master (JPRNMASA), disciplinary reports for the quarter, court documents, time computation worksheet, custody classification/reclassification for the two preceding quarters, and a listing of programs I have completed.

_________________________

Date

_________________________

Signature

_________________________

Witness

N. Statement of Representation and Release of Records

STATEMENT OF REPRESENTATION AND RELEASE OF RECORDS

My name is__________________________. My date of birth is ____________________. I am in the custody of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections and housed at _______________________ Correctional Center for Youth.

I want to have ______________________, an attorney at law, represent me.

I give my consent for my record to be copied or looked at by this attorney. This includes records contained in my medical file, mental health information and social history.

I understand that if I want to release certain records to my attorney I must waive my rights of confidentiality specifically as to those records.

__________ By placing my initials here I am confirming that I want to waive my rights as to psychological and psychiatric documents, including but not limited to evaluations, reports and progress notes.

__________ By placing my initials here I am confirming that I want to waive my rights to confidentiality as to these particular records and allow my attorney to view/copy my education records.

__________ By placing my initials here I am confirming that I want to waive my rights to confidentiality as to these particular records and allow my attorney to view/copy any alcohol/drug treatment information which might be in my record.

__________ By placing my initials here I am confirming that I want to waive my rights to confidentiality as to these particular records and allow my attorney to view/copy any HIV/AIDS information which might be in my record.

________________________

Date

________________________

Signature

________________________

Witness

O. Parent/Guardian Consent to Release of Juvenile Records

PARENT/GUARDIAN CONSENT TO RELEASE OF JUVENILE RECORDS

I, ______________, parent/guardian of _________________, a juvenile in the custody of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, do hereby give my consent to release the records of my child to ____________________, the attorney representing him/her.

I hereby authorize the above-named attorney to view/receive copies of my child's records. I understand that included in my child's records are social, family-history and medical/mental health information.

Further, I have initialed below where it is my intention to waive my child's confidentiality and specifically authorize release to his/her attorney the following named documents.

__________ By placing my initials here I am confirming that I intend to waive my child's rights as to psychological and psychiatric documents, including but not limited to evaluations, reports and progress notes.

__________ By placing my initials here I am confirming that I intend to waive my child's rights to confidentiality and allow the attorney to view/copy my child's education records.

__________ By placing my initials here I am confirming that I intend to waive my child's rights to confidentiality and allow the attorney to view/copy any alcohol/drug abuse treatment information which might be in my child's record.

__________ By placing my initials here I am confirming that I intend to waive my child's rights to confidentiality and allow the attorney to view/copy any HIV/AIDS information which might be in my child's record.

________________________

Date

________________________

Signature

________________________

Witness

La. Admin. Code tit. 22, § I-701

Promulgated by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, Corrections Services, LR 30:77 (January 2004).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 15:574.12, 15:840.1, 15:909, 39:241, C.Cr.P. Art. 875, and Ch.C.Art. 412.