                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

EXCHANGE OF MEDICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH INFORMATION AND RECORDS (§ 53.1-133.03)

A. Whenever a person is committed to a local or regional correctional facility,
the following shall be entitled to obtain medical and mental health information
and records concerning such person from a health care provider, even when such
person does not provide consent or consent is not readily obtainable:

   1. The person in charge of the facility, or his designee, when such
   information and records are necessary (i) for the provision of health care to
   the person committed, (ii) to protect the health and safety of the person
   committed or other residents or staff of the facility, or (iii) to maintain
   the security and safety of the facility. Such information and records of any
   person committed to jail and transferred to another correctional facility may
   be exchanged among administrative personnel of the correctional facilities
   involved and of the administrative personnel within the holding facility when
   there is reasonable cause to believe that such information is necessary to
   maintain the security and safety of the holding facility, its employees, or
   prisoners. The information exchanged shall continue to be confidential and
   disclosure shall be limited to that necessary to ensure the security and
   safety of the facility.

   2. Members of the Parole Board or its designees, as specified in &#xA7;
   53.1-138, in order to conduct the investigation required under &#xA7;
   53.1-155.

   3. Probation and parole officers and local probation officers for use in
   parole and probation planning, release, and supervision.

   4. Officials of the facilities involved and officials within the holding
   facility for the purpose of formulating recommendations for treatment and
   rehabilitative programs; classification, security and work assignments; and
   determining the necessity for medical, dental and mental health care,
   treatment and other such programs.

   5. Medical and mental health hospitals and facilities, both public and
   private, including community services boards and health departments, for use
   in treatment while committed to jail or a correctional facility while under
   supervision of a probation or parole officer.

   6. The Department of Medical Assistance Services, the Department of Social
   Services, and any local department of social services for the purposes of
   providing pre-release services, reentry planning, and post-incarceration
   placement and services.

B. Substance abuse records subject to federal regulations, Confidentiality of
Alcohol and Drug Abuse Patient Records, 42 C.F.R. &#xA7; 2.11 et seq., shall not
be subject to the provisions of this section. The disclosure of results of a
test for human immunodeficiency virus shall not be permitted except as provided
in &#xA7;&#xA7; 32.1-36.1 and 32.1-116.3.

C. The release of medical and mental health information and records to any other
agency or individual shall be subject to all regulations promulgated by the
State Board of Local and Regional Jails that govern confidentiality of such
records. Medical and mental health information concerning a prisoner that has
been exchanged pursuant to this section may be used only as provided herein and
shall otherwise remain confidential and protected from disclosure.

D. Nothing contained in this section shall prohibit the release of records to
the Department of Health Professions or health regulatory boards consistent with
Subtitle III (&#xA7; 54.1-2400 et seq.) of Title 54.1.

E. Except for any information and records not subject to this section or not
permitted to be disclosed pursuant to subsection B, any health care provider as
defined in &#xA7; 32.1-127.1:03 who has provided services within the last two
years to a person committed to a local or regional correctional facility shall,
upon request by the local or regional correctional facility, disclose to the
local or regional correctional facility where the person is committed any
information necessary to ensure the continuity of care of the person committed.
Any health care provider who discloses medical and mental health information and
records pursuant to this section shall be immune from civil liability resulting
from such disclosure, including any liability under the federal Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act (42 U.S.C. &#xA7; 1320d et seq.), absent bad
faith or malicious intent.

HISTORY: 1997, c. 443; 2018, c. 165; 2019, cc. 702, 827; 2020, cc. 759, 836,
837; 2025, cc. 316, 317.