§ 5–1431.05. Confidentiality of information and proceedings.

(a) Except as provided in this section, information and records obtained or created by the Committee are confidential and not subject to civil discovery or to disclosure pursuant to subchapter II of Chapter 5 of Title 2.

(b) Information and records presented to the Committee for review shall not be immune from subpoena, discovery, or prohibited from being introduced into evidence solely because they were presented to or reviewed by the Committee if the information and records have been obtained through other sources.

(c) Information required to be reported under § 4-1321.02 or § 4-1321.03 shall be disclosed by the Committee to the Child and Family Services Agency.

(d) A person other than a Committee member who appears before or participates in the Committee's review of homicides or suicides shall sign a confidentiality agreement acknowledging that any information provided to the Committee is confidential; provided, that any such confidentiality agreement shall account for situations where disclosure is necessary for the person to comply with a request for information from the Committee.

(e) Committee meetings shall be subject to subchapter IV of Chapter 5 of Title 2, except that Committee meetings shall be closed when the Committee is discussing cases of individual homicides or suicides or where the identity of any person, other than a person who has expressly consented to be identified, can be ascertained.

(f) Information identifying a victim of homicide or suicide, the victim's family members, or the alleged or suspected perpetrator of the homicide or suicide shall not be disclosed by the Committee in any report that is available to the public.

(g) The Committee may disclose information to other entities when the Committee determines that disclosure is necessary to carry out the Committee's purpose and duties. The Committee may disclose Committee records to another District fatality review committee or board at the request of the District fatality review committee or board, if the other District fatality review committee or board is governed by confidentiality that is substantially similar to the confidentiality by which the Committee is governed.

(h) This section shall not be construed to prohibit a person from:

(1) Disclosing information that the person obtained independently of the Committee; or

(2) Disclosing information that is already public.