As Amended
SEC. 43-47-7. Reporting abuse, neglect, or exploitation; establishment of central register; confidentiality.
(1) Except as otherwise provided by Section 43-47-37 for vulnerable adults in care facilities, any person having reasonable cause to believe that a vulnerable adult has been or is being abused, neglected or exploited shall report such information to the Department of Human Services or to the county welfare department where the vulnerable adult is located.
(2) Reports received by law enforcement authorities or other agencies shall be forwarded immediately to the Department of Human Services or the county welfare department.
(3) The report may be made orally or in writing, but where made orally, it shall be followed up by a written report.
(4) Anyone who makes a report pursuant to this section, who testifies or participates in any judicial proceedings arising from the report or who participates in a required investigation or evaluation shall be presumed to be acting in good faith and in so doing shall be immune from liability, civil or criminal, that might otherwise be incurred or imposed.
(5) A person who intentionally makes a false report under the provisions of this section may be found liable in a civil suit for any actual damages suffered by the person or persons so reported and for any punitive damages set by the court or jury.
(6) The Executive Director of the Department of Human Services shall establish a statewide central register of reports made pursuant to this section. The central register shall be capable of receiving reports of vulnerable adults in need of protective services seven (7) days a week, twenty-four (24) hours a day. To effectuate this purpose the executive director shall establish a single toll-free statewide phone number that all persons may use to report vulnerable adults in need of protective services, and that all persons authorized by subsection (7) of this section may use for determining the existence of prior reports in order to evaluate the condition or circumstances of the vulnerable adult before them. Such oral reports and evidence of previous reports shall be transmitted to the appropriate county welfare department. The central register shall include, but not be limited to, the following information: the name and identifying information of the individual reported, the county welfare department responsible for the investigation of each such report, the names, affiliations and purposes of any person requesting or receiving information which the executive director believes might be helpful in the furtherance of the purposes of this chapter.
(7) Reports made pursuant to this section, reports written or photographs taken concerning such reports in the possession of the Department of Human Services or the county welfare department shall be confidential and shall only be made available to:
(a) A physician who has before him a vulnerable adult whom he reasonably suspects may be abused, neglected or exploited, as defined in Section 43-47-5;
(b) A duly authorized agency having the responsibility for the care or supervision of a subject of the report;
(c) Any person who is the subject of the report;
(d) A grand jury or a court of competent jurisdiction, upon finding that the information in the record is necessary for the determination of charges before the grand jury;
(e) A district attorney or other law enforcement official.
Any person given access to the names or other information identifying the subject of the report, except the subject of the report, shall not divulge or make public such identifying information unless he is a district attorney or other law enforcement official and the purpose is to initiate court action. Any person who wilfully permits the release of any data or information obtained pursuant to this section to persons or agencies not permitted to such access by this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
(8) Upon reasonable cause to believe that a caretaker or other person has abused, neglected or exploited a vulnerable adult, the department shall promptly notify the district attorney of the county in which the vulnerable adult is located, except as provided in Section 43-47-37 (2).
SOURCES: Laws, 1986, ch. 468, Sec. 4; reenacted, 1989, ch. 381, Sec. 4; 1990, ch. 493, Sec. 3; 1991, ch. 431 Sec. 2, eff from and after passage (approved March 21, 1991). Laws, 1996, ch. 351, Sec. 2, eff from and after July 1, 1996