Montana Code 41-5-215. Youth court and department records — notification of school
41-5-215. Youth court and department records — notification of school. (1) Formal youth court records, including reports of preliminary inquiries, petitions, motions, other filed pleadings, court findings, verdicts, and orders and decrees on file with the clerk of court, are public records and are open to public inspection until the records are sealed under 41-5-216.
Terms Used In Montana Code 41-5-215
- Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
- Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- Writing: includes printing. See Montana Code 1-1-203
(2)Social, medical, and psychological records, youth assessment materials, predispositional studies, and supervision records of probationers are open only to the following:
(a)the youth court and its professional staff;
(b)representatives of any agency providing supervision and having legal custody of a youth;
(c)any other person, by order of the court, having a legitimate interest in the case or in the work of the court;
(d)any court and its probation and other professional staff or the attorney for a convicted party who had been a party to proceedings in the youth court when considering the sentence to be imposed on the party;
(e)the county attorney;
(f)the youth who is the subject of the report or record, after emancipation or reaching the age of majority;
(g)a member of a county or regional interdisciplinary child information and school safety team formed under 52-2-211 who is not listed in this subsection (2);
(h)members of a local interagency staffing group provided for in 52-2-203;
(i)persons allowed access under 42-3-203;
(j)persons conducting evaluations as required in 41-5-2003; and
(k)the attorney, guardian ad litem, or child advocate for the youth who is the subject of the report or record.
(3)In all cases, a victim is entitled to all information concerning the identity and disposition of the youth, as provided in 41-5-1416.
(4)The school district may disclose, without consent, personally identifiable information from an education record of a pupil to the youth court and law enforcement authorities pertaining to violations of the Montana Youth Court Act or criminal laws by the pupil. The youth court or law enforcement authorities receiving the information shall certify in writing to the school district that the information will not be disclosed to any other party except as provided under state law without the prior consent of the parent or guardian of the pupil.
(5)Any part of records information secured from records listed in subsection (2), when presented to and used by the court in a proceeding under this chapter, must also be made available to the counsel for the parties to the proceedings.