1999 Montana Legislature

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HOUSE BILL NO. 310

INTRODUCED BY B. MOLNAR, K. MILLER, B. RANEY, B. REHBEIN

Montana State Seal

AN ACT ESTABLISHING DRUG-FREE AND CRIME-FREE SCHOOLS; REQUIRING THE YOUTH COURT TO NOTIFY A SCHOOL WHEN A JUVENILE PROBATION OFFICER HAS REASON TO BELIEVE THAT A YOUTH IS CURRENTLY INVOLVED IN DRUG USE OR OTHER CRIMINAL ACTIVITY BEARING ON THE SAFETY OF CHILDREN; AUTHORIZING A SCHOOL TO PROVIDE TO YOUTH COURT AND LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES EDUCATION RECORDS THAT PERTAIN TO VIOLATIONS OF THE MONTANA YOUTH COURT ACT OR CRIMINAL LAWS BY PUPILS; AND AMENDING SECTIONS 41-5-215 AND 52-2-211, MCA.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:



     Section 1.  Section 41-5-215, MCA, is amended to read:

     "41-5-215.  Youth court and department records -- notification of school. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), all youth court records on file with the clerk of court, including reports Reports of preliminary inquiries, petitions, motions, other filed pleadings, court findings, verdicts, orders, and decrees, are open to public inspection until the records are sealed under 41-5-216.

     (2)  Social, medical, and psychological records, youth assessment materials, predispositional studies, and supervision records of probationers are open only to the following:

     (a)  the youth court and its professional staff;

     (b)  representatives of any agency providing supervision and having legal custody of a youth;

     (c)  any other person, by order of the court, having a legitimate interest in the case or in the work of the court;

     (d)  any court and its probation and other professional staff or the attorney for a convicted party who had been a party to proceedings in the youth court when considering the sentence to be imposed upon the party;

     (e)  the county attorney;

     (f)  the youth who is the subject of the report or record, after emancipation or reaching the age of majority;

     (g)  a member of a county interdisciplinary child information team formed under 52-2-211 who is not listed in this subsection (2);

     (h)  members of a local interagency staffing group provided for in 52-2-203;

     (i)  persons allowed access to the records referred to under 45-5-624(7); and

     (j)  persons allowed access under 42-3-203.

     (3)  (a) Notwithstanding the requirements of 20-5-321(1)(d) or (1)(e) and subject to the provisions of subsection (3)(b), the youth court shall notify the school district that the youth presently attends or the school district that the youth has applied to attend of a youth's suspected drug use or criminal activity, if after an investigation has been completed:

     (i)  the youth has admitted the allegation or a petition has been filed with the youth court; and

     (ii) a juvenile probation officer has reason to believe that a youth is currently involved with drug use or other criminal activity that has a bearing on the safety of children.

     (b)  Notification under subsection (3)(a) may not be given for status offenses.

     (c)  A school district may not refuse to accept the student if refusal violates the federal Individuals With Disabilities Education Act or the federal Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990.

     (3)(4)  In all cases, a victim is entitled to all information concerning the identity and disposition of the youth, as provided in 41-5-1416.

     (4)(5)  The identity of a youth who for the second or subsequent time admits violating or is adjudicated as having violated a statute must be disclosed by youth court officials to the administrative officials of the school in which the youth is a student. The administrative officials may enforce any. The administrative officials may enforce school disciplinary procedures that existed at the time of the admission or adjudication. The information may not be further disclosed and may not be made part of the student's permanent records.

     (6) The school district may disclose, without consent, personally identifiable information from an education record of a pupil to the youth court and law enforcement authorities pertaining to violations of the Montana Youth Court Act or criminal laws by the pupil. The youth court or law enforcement authorities receiving the information shall certify in writing to the school district that the information will not be disclosed to any other party except as provided under state law without the prior consent of the parent or guardian of the pupil.

     (5)(7)  Any part of records information secured from records listed in subsection (2), when presented to and used by the court in a proceeding under this chapter, must also be made available to the counsel for the parties to the proceedings.

     (6)(8)  After youth court and department records, reports of preliminary inquiries, predispositional studies, and supervision records of probationers are sealed, they are not open to inspection except, upon order of the youth court, for good cause to:

     (a)  those persons and agencies listed in subsection (2) subsections (2) and (3); and

     (b)  adult probation professional staff preparing a presentence report on a youth who has reached the age of majority."



     Section 2.  Section 52-2-211, MCA, is amended to read:

     "52-2-211.  County interdisciplinary child information team. (1) The following persons and agencies operating within a county may by written agreement form a county interdisciplinary child information team:

     (a)  the youth court;

     (b)  the county attorney;

     (c)  the department of public health and human services;

     (d)  the county superintendent of schools;

     (e)  the sheriff;

     (f)  the chief of any police force;

     (g)  the superintendents of public school districts; and

     (h)  the department of corrections.

     (2)  The persons and agencies signing a written agreement under subsection (1) may by majority vote allow the following persons to sign the written agreement and join the team:

     (a)  physicians, psychologists, psychiatrists, nurses, and other providers of medical and mental health care;

     (b)  entities operating private elementary and secondary schools;

     (c)  attorneys; and

     (d)  a person or entity that has or may have a legitimate interest in one or more children that the team will serve.

     (3)  (a) The members of the team or their designees may form one or more auxiliary teams for the purpose of providing service to a single child, a group of children, or children with a particular type of problem or for any other purpose. Auxiliary teams are subject to the written agreement.

     (b)  A member of an auxiliary team must be a person who has personal knowledge of or experience with the child or children in the member's respective field.

     (4)  The purpose of the team and written agreement is to facilitate the exchange and sharing of information that one or more team members may be able to use in serving a child in the course of their professions and occupations, including but not limited to abused or neglected children, delinquent youth, and youth in need of intervention. Information regarding a child that a team member supplies to other team members or that is disseminated to a team member under 41-3-205 or 41-5-215(2) and (3) may not be disseminated beyond the team.

     (5)  The terms of the written agreement must provide for the rules under which the team will operate, the method by which information will be shared, distributed, and managed, and any other matters necessary to the purpose and functions of the team.

     (6)  The terms of the written agreement must state how the team will coordinate its efforts with interdisciplinary child protective teams as provided in 41-3-108 and youth placement committees as provided for in 41-5-121.

     (7)  To the extent that the county interdisciplinary child information team is involved in a proceeding that is held prior to adjudication of a youth in youth court, the team satisfies the requirements of 20 U.S.C. 1232g(b)(1)(E)(ii)(I) of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974. Montana school districts may release education records to the team. The terms of the written agreement described in subsection (5) must include a requirement that the officials and authorities to whom the information is disclosed certify in writing to the school district that is releasing the education records that the education records or information from the education records will not be disclosed to any other party without the prior written consent of the parent or guardian of the student."

- END -




Latest Version of HB 310 (HB0310.ENR)
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