A.Confidentiality. Before the filing of the petition with the board by counsel, all proceedings involving an allegation of misconduct or disability of a lawyer and all associated records, including the complaint, investigative report, and recommendation, are confidential, except that the pendency, subject matter, status of an investigation, and final disposition, if any, may be disclosed by the chair of the board if: (1) The lawyer has waived confidentiality; (2) The proceedings are based upon conviction of a crime; (3) The proceedings are based upon allegations that have become generally known to the public; or (4) It involves matters alleging any form of disability and the court enters an order transferring the lawyer to disability inactive or incapacitated status. All officials and employees of the board, hearing panels, or district inquiry committees in the proceedings shall maintain the confidentiality of the proceedings.This rule does not deny access to relevant information to authorized agencies investigating qualifications for admission to practice, to the client protection fund operated by the association investigating the validity of a client's claim, to law enforcement agencies investigating qualifications for government employment, or to any judicial nominating committee. Upon the filing of a formal petition with the board, counsel shall inform the appropriate local prosecutor, by mailing a copy of the petition to the local prosecutor, if counsel determines the facts alleged in the petition may constitute a criminal violation.
The confidentiality established by this rule does not apply to the dissemination or exchange of information concerning any proceeding involving an allegation of misconduct or disability between district inquiry committees or between district inquiry committees and the board.
This rule does not require the disclosure of any records concerning a lawyer's screening for or participation in the lawyer assistance program.
B.Public Proceedings. Upon filing of the petition with the board by counsel, the proceedings are public, except for: (1) Deliberations of the hearing panel, the board, and the court; (2) Information with respect to which the hearing panel has issued a protective order, after showing of good cause by the lawyer; and (3) The work product of counsel, hearing panels, inquiry committees, and the board. C.Expungement of Records. The secretary or disciplinary counsel, as applicable, shall expunge records relating to dismissed complaints as follows: (1)Destruction Schedule. All records or other evidence of the existence of a dismissed complaint must be destroyed three years after the dismissal. (2)Retention of Records. Upon application to the board by counsel, for good cause shown and with notice to the lawyer and opportunity to be heard, records that should otherwise be expunged under this rule may be retained for additional time not exceeding three years as the board directs. Counsel may, for good cause shown and with notice to the lawyer and opportunity to be heard, seek a further extension of the period for which retention of the records is authorized whenever a previous application has been granted for the maximum period of three years permitted under this paragraph. Amended effective 8/1/2004. Amended effective 7/1/1999. Adopted effective 1/1/1995; amended effective 3/1/2017. EXPLANATORY NOTE
Rule 6.1 was adopted effective January 1, 1995, amended effective July 1, 50 1999; August 1, 2004; March 1, 2017.
Section B(3) was amended effective March 1, 2017, to include disciplinary counsel responsibility for expungement of records.