Medical and mental health information and records of any person committed to the Department of Corrections may be exchanged among the following:
1. Administrative personnel for the facility in which the prisoner is imprisoned when there is reasonable cause to believe that such information is necessary to maintain the security and safety of the facility, its employees, or other prisoners. The information exchanged shall continue to be confidential and disclosure shall be limited to that necessary to ensure the safety and security of the facility.
2. Members of the Parole Board, as specified in § 53.1-138, in order to conduct the investigation required under § 53.1-155.
3. Probation and parole officers for use in parole and probation planning, release and supervision.
4. Officials within the Department 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 programs.
5. Medical and mental health hospitals and facilities, both public and private, including community service boards, for use in planning for and supervision of post-incarceration medical and mental health care, treatment, and programs.
6. The Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services, the Department of Social Services, and any local department of social services in the Commonwealth for the purposes of reentry planning and post-incarceration placement and services.
Substance abuse records subject to federal regulations, Confidentiality of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Patient Records, 42 C.F.R. § 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 § 32.1-36.1.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 Department which govern confidentiality of such records. Medical and mental health information concerning a prisoner which has been exchanged pursuant to this section may be used only as provided herein and shall otherwise remain confidential and protected from disclosure.
History
1991, c. 597; 2013, cc. 164, 235.
