(HB 1152)
Central registry for abuse and neglect, due process procedure revised.
Section
1.
That
§
26-8A-11
be amended to read as follows:
26-8A-11.
Within thirty days after
notice of a substantiated investigation by the Department
of Social Services, a subject of a report of abuse or neglect may request the department to amend,
expunge identifying information from, or remove the record of the report from the register. The
request shall be in writing and directed to the person designated by the department in the notice.
If the department refuses to do so or does not act within thirty days after receipt of the written
request, the subject may request an administrative hearing within thirty days to determine whether
the record of the report should be amended, expunged, or removed on the grounds that it is
inaccurate or it is being maintained in a manner inconsistent with this chapter. However, if there
has been a court finding of child abuse or neglect, the report's accuracy is conclusively presumed
and the subject has no right to an administrative hearing on the ground of inaccuracy. The hearing
shall be held within a reasonable time after the subject's request and at a reasonable place and hour.
The appropriate local office of the Department of Social Services shall be given notice of the
hearing. In the hearing, the burden of proving the accuracy and consistency of the record is on the
department. The hearing examiner may order the amendment, expunction, or removal of the record
to make it accurate and consistent with this chapter. However, under no circumstances, may the
hearing examiner order or may the department carry out any amendment, expunction, or removal
of any portion of the record that proves, affirms, corroborates, or supports the innocence of the
subject of the report without the express written authority of the subject. The decision
the
Department of Social Services notifies any person that he or she will be placed on the central
registry for child abuse and neglect based upon a substantiated investigation, the person may
request an administrative hearing. The administrative hearing is limited to determining whether
the record should be amended or removed on the grounds that it is inaccurate. The request shall
be made in writing and directed to the person designated by the department in the notice. However,
if there has been a court finding of child abuse or neglect, the record's accuracy is conclusively
presumed and the person has no right to an administrative hearing. In the hearing, the burden of
proving the accuracy of the record is on the department. The hearing examiner may order the
amendment or removal of the record. The decision of the hearing examiner
shall be made in
writing within ninety days after the date of receipt of the request for a hearing and shall state the
reasons upon which it is based. Decisions of the department under this section are administrative
decisions subject to judicial review under chapter 1-26. In any case where there has been no
substantiated report of child abuse and neglect, the department may not maintain a record or other
information of unsubstantiated child abuse and neglect for longer than three years if there has been
no further report within that three-year period.