1. A. All records pertaining to the child, including all related social records, behavioral health screenings, diagnostic evaluations, psychiatric reports, medical reports, social studies reports, records from local detention facilities, client-identifying records from facilities for the care and rehabilitation of delinquent children, pre-parole or supervised release reports and supervision histories obtained by the juvenile probation office, parole officers and the juvenile public safety advisory board or in possession of the department, are confidential and shall not be disclosed directly or indirectly to the public.
2. B. The disclosure of all mental health and developmental disability records shall be made pursuant to the Children's Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Act [32A-6A-1 to 32A-6A-30 NMSA 1978].

3. C. The records described in Subsection A of this section, other than mental health and developmental disability records, shall be disclosed only to any of the following, provided that the agency, person or institution receiving information shall not re-release the information without proper consent or as otherwise provided by law:

   1. (1) court personnel;
   2. (2) the child's court appointed special advocates;
   3. (3) the child's attorney or guardian ad litem representing the child in any matter;
   4. (4) department personnel;
   5. (5) corrections department personnel;
   6. (6) law enforcement officials when the request is related to the investigation of a crime;
   7. (7) district attorneys or children's court attorneys;
   8. (8) a state government social services agency in any state;
   9. (9) those persons or entities of a child's Indian tribe specifically authorized to inspect such records pursuant to the federal Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978, the Indian Family Protection Act [32A-28-1 to 32A-28-42 NMSA 1978] or any regulations promulgated under those acts;
   10. (10) tribal juvenile justice system and social service representatives;
   11. (11) a foster parent, if the records are those of a child currently placed with that foster parent or of a child being considered for placement with that foster parent, when the disclosure of the information is necessary for the child's treatment or care and shall include only that information necessary to provide for treatment and care of the child;
   12. (12) school personnel involved with the child if the records concern the child's educational needs, but shall only include that information necessary to provide for the child's educational planning and needs;
   13. (13) a health care or mental health professional involved in the evaluation or treatment of the child, the child's parents, guardians or custodian or other family members;
   14. (14) representatives of the protection and advocacy system;
   15. (15) the child's parent, guardian or legal custodian when the disclosure of the information is necessary for the child's treatment or care and shall include only that information necessary to provide for the treatment or care of the child;
   16. (16) any other person or entity, by order of the court, having a legitimate interest in the case or the work of the court who agrees not to otherwise release the records;
   17. (17) the child, if fourteen years of age or older; and
   18. (18) the attorney general and the office of child advocate and its employees and contractors, pursuant to the requirements of the Office of Child Advocate Act [32A-30-1 to 32A-30-15 NMSA 1978], if the records are needed for the purpose of implementing that act.
4. D. If disclosure of otherwise confidential records is made to the child or any other person or entity pursuant to a valid release of information signed by the child, all victim or witness identifying information shall be redacted or otherwise deleted.
5. E. Whoever intentionally and unlawfully releases any information or records closed to the public pursuant to this section or releases or makes other unlawful use of records in violation of this section is guilty of a petty misdemeanor.
6. F. The department shall promulgate rules for implementing disclosure of records pursuant to this section and in compliance with state and federal law and the Children's Court Rules [Rule Set 10 NMRA].

History: 1978 Comp., § 32A-2-32, enacted by Laws 1993, ch. 77, § 61; 2003, ch. 225, § 15; 2005, ch. 189, § 24; 2009, ch. 239, § 28; 2025, ch. 13, § 16.

ANNOTATIONS

Cross references. — For the federal Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act, see 42 U.S.C. § 6000 et seq.

For the federal Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978, see 25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq.

For the federal Protection and Advocacy for Mentally Ill Individuals Amendments Act of 1991, see 42 U.S.C. § 10801 et seq.

The 2025 amendment, effective July 1, 2025, provided additional purposes for which entities of a child's Indian tribe may access the child's confidential records, and included the attorney general and office of child advocate, and their employees and contractors, as entities that may have access to confidential records for the purpose of implementing the Office of Child Advocate Act; in Subsection C, Paragraph C(9), after "federal Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978" added "the Indian Family Protection Act," and added Paragraph C(18).

The 2009 amendment, effective July 1, 2009, in Subsection A, after "All", deleted "social"; after "including all related", added "social records, behavioral health screenings"; after "pre-parole", added "or supervised release"; and after "parole officers and", deleted "parole" and added "the juvenile public safety advisory"; added Subsection B; in Subsection C, after "this section", added "other than mental health and developmental disability records"; and after "disclosed only to", added the remainder of the sentence to the colon; in Paragraph (2) of Subsection C, at the beginning of the sentence, added "this child’s"; in Paragraph (e) of Subsection C, after "guardian ad litem", added "representing the child in any matter"; deleted former Paragraph (5) of Subsection C, which listed a local substitute care review board or agency contracted to implement local substitute care review boards; in Paragraph (6) of Subsection C, after "officials", added the remainder of the sentence; in Paragraph (7) of Subsection C, after "attorneys", added the remainder of the sentence; deleted former Paragraph (9) of Subsection C, which listed state government social services agencies; deleted former Paragraph (10) of Subsection C, which listed persons or entities of a child’s Indian tribe; deleted former Paragraph (11) of Subsection C, which listed tribal juvenile justice system and social service representatives; deleted former Paragraph (12) of Subsection C, which listed a foster parent; deleted former Paragraph (13) of Subsection C, which listed school personnel; deleted former Paragraph (14) of Subsection C, which listed health care or mental health professionals involved in the treatment or evaluation of the child, or the child’s parents, guardians or custodian or other family members; deleted former Paragraph (15) of Subsection C, which listed representatives of the protection and advocacy system; deleted former Paragraph (16) of Subsection C, which listed the child’s parents, guardian or legal custodian; added Paragraphs (8) through (15) and (17) of Subsection C; in Paragraph (16) of Subsection C, after "work of the court", added "who agrees not to otherwise release the records"; and added Subsection D.

Applicability. — Laws 2009, ch. 239, § 71, provided that the provisions of this act apply to all children who, on July 1, 2009, are on release or are otherwise eligible to be placed on release as if the Juvenile Public Safety Advisory Board Act had been in effect at the time they were placed on release or became eligible to be released.

The 2005 amendment, effective June 17, 2005, in Subsection A, provided that all records pertaining to the child, including all related diagnostic evaluations and records from local detention facilities, client-identifying records from facilities for the care and rehabilitation of delinquent children, are confidential; in Subsection B, provided that records may be disclosed only to the listed persons or entities; in Subsection B(12), provided that records may be disclosed to a foster parent when the disclosure is necessary for the child's treatment or care; in Subsection B(13), provided that records may be disclosed to school personnel for the child’s educational planning; in Subsection B(15), deleted the former provision that records could be disclosed to representatives of the protection and advocacy system pursuant to the federal Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act and the Protection and Advocacy for Mentally Ill Individuals Amendments Act of 1991; added Subsection B(16), which provided that records may be disclosed to the child's parent, guardian or legal custodian when necessary for the child's treatment or care; and added Subsection D to provide that the department shall promulgate rules for implementing the disclosure of records.

The 2003 amendment, effective July 1, 2003, inserted "attorney or" in Paragraph B(3) and inserted "Amendments" following "Mentally Ill Individuals" in Paragraph B(15).