(a) All information and records acquired by the state team or by a local team, in the exercise of its purpose and duties pursuant to this article, are confidential, exempt from disclosure under Section 41-13-1, and may only be disclosed as necessary to carry out the team’s duties and purposes.

Attorney's Note

Under the Alabama Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
Violationup to 30 daysup to $200
For details, see Ala. Code § 13A-5-7
criminal case

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Terms Used In Alabama Code 26-16-98

  • Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • person: includes a corporation as well as a natural person. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
(b) Reports of the state team and of a local team which do not contain any information that would permit the identification of any person to be ascertained shall be public information.
(c) Except as necessary to carry out a team’s purpose and duties, members of a team and persons attending a team meeting may not disclose what transpired at a meeting which is not public under Section 26-16-97, nor shall they disclose any information the disclosure of which is prohibited by this section.
(d) Members of a team, persons attending a team meeting, and persons who present information to a team may release information to such government agencies as is necessary for the purpose of carrying out assigned team duties.
(e) Information, documents, and records of the state team or of a local team are not subject to subpoena, discovery, or introduction into evidence in any civil or criminal proceeding, except that information, documents, and records otherwise available from other sources are not immune from subpoena, discovery, or introduction into evidence through those sources solely because they were presented during proceedings of the team or are maintained by a team.
(f) Moreover, notwithstanding subsections (a) and (b), those criminal records, court records and other records that have been open to public inspection before September 11, 1997, shall remain open.
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