1. Information maintained by an agency which provides child welfare services must be maintained by the agency which provides child welfare services as required by federal law as a condition of the allocation of federal money to this State.

2. Except as otherwise provided in this section, information maintained by an agency which provides child welfare services may, at the discretion of the agency which provides child welfare services, be made available only to:

(a) A physician, if the physician has before him or her a child who the physician has reasonable cause to believe is a commercially sexually exploited child;

(b) A person authorized to place a child in protective custody, if the person has before him or her a child who the person has reasonable cause to believe is a commercially sexually exploited child and the person requires the information to determine whether to place the child in protective custody;

(c) An agency, including, without limitation, an agency in another jurisdiction, responsible for or authorized to undertake the care, treatment or supervision of:

(1) The child; or

(2) The person responsible for the welfare of the child;

(d) A district attorney or other law enforcement officer who requires the information in connection with an investigation or prosecution of the commercial sexual exploitation of a child;

(e) A court other than a juvenile court, for in camera inspection only, unless the court determines that public disclosure of the information is necessary for the determination of an issue before it;

(f) A person engaged in bona fide research or an audit, but information identifying the subjects of a report must not be made available to the person;

(g) The attorney and the guardian ad litem of the child, if the information is reasonably necessary to promote the safety, permanency and well-being of the child;

(h) Except as otherwise provided in subsection 4, a federal, state or local governmental entity, or an agency of such an entity, or a juvenile court, that needs access to the information to carry out its legal responsibilities to protect children from commercial sexual exploitation;

(i) A person or an organization that has entered into a written agreement with an agency which provides child welfare services to provide assessments or services and that has been trained to make such assessments or provide such services;

(j) A parent or legal guardian of the child and an attorney of a parent or guardian of the child, if the identity of the person responsible for reporting the commercial sexual exploitation of the child to a public agency is kept confidential and the information is reasonably necessary to promote the safety, permanency and well-being of the child and is limited to information concerning that parent or guardian;

(k) The persons or agent of the persons who are the subject of a report, if the information is reasonably necessary to promote the safety, permanency and well-being of the child and is limited to information concerning those persons; or

(l) Any person who is required pursuant to NRS 432B.220 to make a report to an agency which provides child welfare services or to a law enforcement agency.

3. Before releasing any information maintained by an agency which provides child welfare services pursuant to this section, an agency which provides child welfare services shall take whatever precautions it determines are reasonably necessary to protect the identity and safety of any person who reports that a child is a commercially sexually exploited child and to protect any other person if the agency which provides child welfare services reasonably believes that disclosure of the information would cause a specific and material harm to an investigation of the alleged commercial sexual exploitation of a child or the life or safety of any person.

4. An agency which provides child welfare services shall not provide information maintained by the agency which provides child welfare services to a juvenile court only to facilitate a determination by the court related to the adjudication of a child who is accused of:

(a) Sex trafficking a child in violation of NRS 201.300; or

(b) Facilitating sex trafficking of a child in violation of NRS 201.301.

5. The provisions of this section must not be construed to require an agency which provides child welfare services to disclose information maintained by the agency which provides child welfare services if, after consultation with the attorney who represents the agency, the agency determines that such disclosure would cause a specific and material harm to a criminal investigation.

6. If an agency which provides child welfare services receives any information that is deemed confidential by law, the agency which provides child welfare services shall maintain the confidentiality of the information as prescribed by applicable law.

7. Pursuant to this section, a person may authorize the release of information maintained by an agency which provides child welfare services about himself or herself, but may not waive the confidentiality of such information concerning any other person.

8. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, any person who is provided with information maintained by an agency which provides child welfare services and who further disseminates the information or makes the information public is guilty of a gross misdemeanor. This subsection does not apply to a district attorney or other law enforcement officer who uses the information solely for the purpose of initiating legal proceedings against any person alleged to be the perpetrator of the commercial sexual exploitation of a child.

9. An agency which provides child welfare services may charge a fee for processing costs reasonably necessary to prepare information maintained by the agency which provides child welfare services for release pursuant to this section.

10. An agency which provides child welfare services shall adopt rules, policies or regulations to carry out the provisions of this section.

11. As used in this section, “parent” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 432B.080.

(Added to NRS by 2019, 1933)