23 Pa.C.S. § 6335 Access to Information In Statewide Database

• Library: Pennsylvania Statutes
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current through P.A. Acts 2023-66
• Year: 2023
• Citation: 23 Pa.C.S. § 6335

(a) Request for information.--A county agency or law enforcement official shall use the Statewide toll-free telephone number, or any manner prescribed by the department, to determine the existence of any prior reports involving a subject of the report. If the Statewide database contains information related to a report or a pending investigation or assessment concerning a subject of the report, the department shall immediately convey this information to the county agency or law enforcement official.

(b) Verification of need.--Information may be released under this section if a request for information is made orally or in writing and the department has done all of the following:

(1) Identified the requester, including electronic verification of the requester's identity.

(2) Determined whether the requester is authorized to obtain the information under this section.

(3) Provided notice to the requester that access and dissemination of the information is restricted as provided by this chapter.

(4) Obtained an affirmation by the requester that the request is within the scope of that person's official duties and the provisions of this chapter.

(c) Use by county agency or law enforcement official.--A county agency or law enforcement official may only request the information under subsection (a) for the purposes ofinvestigating reports of child abuse, assessing allegations that a child is in need of general protective services, providing protective services to a child or investigating a crime against a child criminal offense. The following shall apply where information is requested pursuant to this section:

(1) A law enforcement official may use information contained in the Statewide database for the purpose of investigating a criminal offense as follows:

(i) Information regarding indicated and founded reports may be used for any purpose authorized by this chapter.

(ii) Information on all other reports may be used for the purposes of investigating a crime involving harm or threatened harm to a child, an alleged violation of section 6319 (relating to penalties for failure to report or to refer) or section 6349 (relating to penalties), or an alleged violation of 18 Pa.C.S. § 4906.1 (relating to false reports of child abuse) or 4958 (relating to intimidation, retaliation or obstruction in child abuse cases).

(2) A county agency may use information contained in the Statewide database as follows:

(i) Information regarding indicated or founded reports may be used for any purpose authorized by this chapter.