Virginia Code 9.1-177.1: Confidentiality of records of and reports on adult persons under investigation by, or placed on probation supervision with a local community-based probation services agency
A. Any investigation report, including a presentencing investigation report, prepared by a local community-based probation officer is confidential and is exempt from the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (§ 2.2-3700 et seq.). Such reports shall be filed as a part of the case record. Such reports shall be made available only by court order and shall be sealed upon final order by the court; except that such reports shall be available upon request to (i) any criminal justice agency, as defined in § 9.1-101, of this or any other state or of the United States; (ii) any agency where the accused is referred for assessment or treatment; (iii) counsel for the person who is the subject of the report; or (iv) counsel who represents the person in pursuit of a post-conviction remedy, subject to the limitations set forth in § 37.2-901.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 9.1-177.1
- Criminal history record information: means records and data collected by criminal justice agencies on adult individuals consisting of identifiable descriptions and notations of arrests, detentions, indictments, informations, or other formal charges, and any disposition arising therefrom. See Virginia Code 9.1-101
- Criminal justice agency: includes any program certified by the Commission on VASAP pursuant to § 18. See Virginia Code 9.1-101
- Freedom of Information Act: A federal law that mandates that all the records created and kept by federal agencies in the executive branch of government must be open for public inspection and copying. The only exceptions are those records that fall into one of nine exempted categories listed in the statute. Source: OCC
- Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
- 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 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
- United States: includes 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 1-255
B. Any report on the progress of an offender under the supervision of a local community-based probation agency and any information relative to the identity of or inferring personal characteristics of an accused, including demographic information, diagnostic summaries, records of office visits, medical, substance abuse, psychiatric or psychological records or information, substance abuse screening, assessment and testing information, and other sensitive information not explicitly classified as criminal history record information, is exempt from the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (§ 2.2-3700 et seq.). However, such information may be disseminated to criminal justice agencies as defined in § 9.1-101 in the discretion of the custodian of these records.
2002, c. 769; 2003, c. 146; 2006, c. 289; 2007, c. 133; 2010, c. 223.