Virginia Code 9.1-156: Inspection and copying of records by advocate; confidentiality of records
A. Upon presentation by the advocate of the order of his appointment and upon specific court order, any state or local agency, department, authority, or institution, and any hospital, school, physician, or other health or mental health care provider shall permit the advocate to inspect and copy, without the consent of the child or his parents, any records relating to the child involved in the case. Upon the advocate presenting to the mental health provider the order of the advocate’s appointment and, upon specific court order, in lieu of the advocate inspecting and copying any related records of the child involved, the mental health care provider shall be available within seventy-two hours to conduct for the advocate a review and an interpretation of the child’s treatment records which are specifically related to the investigation.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 9.1-156
- Department: means the Department of Criminal Justice Services. See Virginia Code 9.1-101
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
B. An advocate shall not disclose the contents of any document or record to which he becomes privy, which is otherwise confidential pursuant to the provisions of this Code, except (i) upon order of a court of competent jurisdiction or (ii) if the advocate has been assigned pursuant to subsection C of § 9.1-153 to attend and participate in family partnership meetings as defined by the Department of Social Services or in meetings of family assessment and planning teams established pursuant to § 2.2-5208, multidisciplinary child sexual abuse response teams established pursuant to § 15.2-1627.5, individualized education program teams established pursuant to Article 2 (§ 22.1-213 et seq.) of Chapter 13 of Title 22.1, or multidisciplinary teams established pursuant to §§ 63.2-1503 and 63.2-1505, the advocate may verbally disclose any information contained in such document or record related to the child to which he is assigned at such meetings, provided that such information shall not be disclosed further.
1990, c. 752, §§ 9-173.11, 9-173.12; 1995, c. 490; 2001, c. 844; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 177.