2006 Code of Virginia § 16.1-301 - Confidentiality of law-enforcement records; disclosures to school principal

16.1-301. Confidentiality of law-enforcement records; disclosures to schoolprincipal.

A. The court shall require all law-enforcement agencies to take specialprecautions to ensure that law-enforcement records concerning a juvenile areprotected against disclosure to any unauthorized person. The policedepartments of the cities of the Commonwealth, and the police departments orsheriffs of the counties, as the case may be, shall keep separate records asto violations of law other than violations of motor vehicle laws committed byjuveniles. Such records with respect to such juvenile shall not be open topublic inspection nor their contents disclosed to the public unless ajuvenile 14 years of age or older is charged with a violent juvenile felonyas specified in subsections B and C of 16.1-269.1.

B. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the chief of police or sheriffof a jurisdiction or his designee may disclose, for the protection of thejuvenile, his fellow students and school personnel, to the school principalthat a juvenile is a suspect in or has been charged with (i) a violentjuvenile felony, as specified in subsections B and C of 16.1-269.1; (ii) aviolation of any of the provisions of Article 1 ( 18.2-77 et seq.) ofChapter 5 of Title 18.2; or (iii) a violation of law involving any weapon asdescribed in subsection A of 18.2-308. If a chief of police, sheriff or adesignee has disclosed to a school principal pursuant to this section that ajuvenile is a suspect in or has been charged with a crime listed above, upona court disposition of a proceeding regarding such crime in which a juvenileis adjudicated delinquent, convicted, found not guilty or the charges arereduced, the chief of police, sheriff or a designee shall, within 15 days ofthe expiration of the appeal period, if there is no notice of appeal, providenotice of the disposition ordered by the court to the school principal towhom disclosure was made. If the court defers disposition or if charges arewithdrawn, dismissed or nolle prosequi, the chief of police, sheriff or adesignee shall, within 15 days of such action provide notice of such actionto the school principal to whom disclosure was made. If charges are withdrawnin intake or handled informally without a court disposition or if charges arenot filed within 90 days of the initial disclosure, the chief of police,sheriff or a designee shall so notify the school principal to whom disclosurewas made.

C. Inspection of law-enforcement records concerning juveniles shall bepermitted only by the following:

1. A court having the juvenile currently before it in any proceeding;

2. The officers of public and nongovernmental institutions or agencies towhich the juvenile is currently committed, and those responsible for hissupervision after release;

3. Any other person, agency, or institution, by order of the court, having alegitimate interest in the case or in the work of the law-enforcement agency;

4. Law-enforcement officers of other jurisdictions, by order of the court,when necessary for the discharge of their current official duties;

5. The probation and other professional staff of a court in which thejuvenile is subsequently convicted of a criminal offense for the purpose of apresentence report or other dispositional proceedings, or by officials ofpenal institutions and other penal facilities to which he is committed, or bya parole board in considering his parole or discharge or in exercisingsupervision over him;

6. The juvenile, parent, guardian or other custodian and counsel for thejuvenile by order of the court; and

7. As provided in 19.2-389.1 and 19.2-390.

D. The police departments of the cities and towns and the police departmentsor sheriffs of the counties may release, upon request to one another and tostate and federal law-enforcement agencies, current information on juvenilearrests. The information exchanged shall be used by the receiving agency forcurrent investigation purposes only and shall not result in the creation ofnew files or records on individual juveniles on the part of the receivingagency.

E. Upon request, the police departments of the cities and towns and thepolice departments or sheriffs of the counties may release currentinformation on juvenile arrests or juvenile victims to the Virginia Workers'Compensation Commission solely for purposes of determining whether to make anaward to the victim of a crime, and such information shall not bedisseminated or used by the Commission for any other purpose than provided in 19.2-368.3.

F. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the exchange of other criminalinvestigative or intelligence information among law-enforcement agencies.

(Code 1950, 16.1-163; 1956, c. 555; 1977, cc. 559, 618; 1978, c. 740; 1981,c. 175; 1993, cc. 468, 926; 1994, cc. 859, 949; 1995, c. 752; 1996, cc. 755,914; 1997, c. 430; 2000, c. 211; 2001, c. 770; 2003, c. 119; 2005, c. 683.)