                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

RETENTION OF RECORDS IN ALL REPORTS; PROCEDURES REGARDING UNFOUNDED REPORTS
ALLEGED TO BE MADE IN BAD FAITH OR WITH MALICIOUS INTENT (§ 63.2-1514)

A. The local department shall retain the records of all reports or complaints
made pursuant to this chapter, in accordance with regulations adopted by the
Board. However, all records related to founded cases of child sexual abuse
involving injuries or conditions, real or threatened, that result in or were
likely to have resulted in serious harm to a child shall be maintained by the
local department for a period of 25 years from the date of the complaint.

B. The Department shall maintain a child abuse and neglect information system
that includes a central registry of founded complaints, pursuant to &#xA7;
63.2-1515. The Department shall maintain all (i) unfounded investigations, (ii)
family assessments, and (iii) reports or complaints determined to be not valid
in a record which is separate from the central registry and accessible only to
the Department and to local departments for child-protective services. The
purpose of retaining these complaints or reports is to provide local departments
with information regarding prior complaints or reports. In no event shall the
mere existence of a prior complaint or report be used to determine that a
subsequent complaint or report is founded. The subject of the complaint or
report is the person who is alleged to have committed abuse or neglect. The
subject of the complaint or report shall have access to his own record. The
record of unfounded investigations that involved reports of child abuse or
neglect shall be purged three years after the date of the complaint or report if
there are no subsequent complaints or reports regarding the same child or the
person who is the subject of the complaint or report within such three-year
period. Records of complaints and reports determined to be not valid shall be
purged one year after the date of the complaint or report if there are no
subsequent complaints or reports regarding the same child or the person who is
the subject of the complaint or report in that one year. The local department
shall retain such records for an additional period of up to two years if
requested in writing by the person who is the subject of such complaint or
report. The record of family assessments shall be purged three years after the
date of the complaint or report if there are no subsequent complaints or reports
regarding the same child or the person who is the subject of the report in that
three-year period. The child-protective services records regarding the
petitioner which result from such complaint or report shall be purged
immediately by any custodian of such records upon presentation to the custodian
of a certified copy of a court order that there has been a civil action that
determined that the complaint or report was made in bad faith or with malicious
intent. After purging the records, the custodian shall notify the petitioner in
writing that the records have been purged.

C. At the time the local department notifies a person who is the subject of a
complaint or report made pursuant to this chapter that such complaint or report
is either an unfounded investigation or a completed family assessment, it shall
notify him how long the record will be retained and of the availability of the
procedures set out in this section regarding reports or complaints alleged to be
made in bad faith or with malicious intent. Upon request, the local department
shall advise the person who was the subject of an unfounded investigation if the
complaint or report was made anonymously. However, the identity of a complainant
or reporter shall not be disclosed.

D. Any person who is the subject of an unfounded report or complaint made
pursuant to this chapter who believes that such report or complaint was made in
bad faith or with malicious intent may petition the circuit court in the
jurisdiction in which the report or complaint was made for the release to such
person of the records of the investigation or family assessment. Such petition
shall specifically set forth the reasons such person believes that such report
or complaint was made in bad faith or with malicious intent. Upon the filing of
such petition, the circuit court shall request and the local department shall
provide to the circuit court its records of the investigation or family
assessment for the circuit court&#8217;s in camera review. The petitioner shall
be entitled to present evidence to support his petition. If the circuit court
determines that there is a reasonable question of fact as to whether the report
or complaint was made in bad faith or with malicious intent and that disclosure
of the identity of the complainant would not be likely to endanger the life or
safety of the complainant, it shall provide to the petitioner a copy of the
records of the investigation or family assessment. The original records shall be
subject to discovery in any subsequent civil action regarding the making of a
complaint or report in bad faith or with malicious intent.

HISTORY: 1988, c. 686, § 63.1-248.5:1; 1996, cc. 780, 791; 2000, c. 500; 2002,
c. 747; 2003, c. 634; 2005, c. 77; 2010, c. 334; 2020, c. 38.