(a) There is hereby created the Arson Information Reporting System to permit insurers, law enforcement agencies, fire investigative agencies, and district attorneys to deposit arson case information in a common data base within the Department of Justice. The State Fire Marshal shall oversee the establishment, operation, and maintenance of the Arson Information Reporting System. The Department of Justice shall implement the Arson Information Reporting System in consultation with the State Fire Marshal.

(b) The purpose of the data base is to identify utilization patterns by individual claimants and the methods of operation of individuals, groups, or businesses engaged in the commission of arson, and to prevent the commission of insurance fraud by arson.

(c) The use of the information deposited pursuant to this article shall be made available to law enforcement agencies, fire investigative agencies, district attorneys, and insurers, via modem, for the purpose of investigating and prosecuting arson and arson-related insurance fraud, or evaluating the validity and payment of fire-related insurance claims. The State Fire Marshal shall establish rules governing the access to, and use of, information and the circumstances under which information may be accessed and corrected.

(d) Any information acquired pursuant to this section shall not be a part of any public record. Except as otherwise provided by law, any authorized governmental agency, an insurer, or an agent authorized by an insurer to act on its behalf, which receives any information furnished pursuant to this section, shall not release that information to public inspection until the time that its release is required in connection with a criminal or civil proceeding.

(e) Information submitted to the State Fire Marshal pursuant to this section concerning active cases shall be confidential.

(f) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the accumulation and public distribution by the bureau of statistical data if that data does not reveal the identity of specific claimants, injured parties, attorneys, physicians, or other service providers.

(Added by Stats. 1994, Ch. 420, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1995.)