1. A. Except as provided in Subsection B of this section, the office shall maintain the confidentiality of all case records, third-party records and court records, as well as any information gathered in the course of investigations and system monitoring duties. These records are exempt from public inspection and copying pursuant to the Inspection of Public Records Act [Chapter 14, Article 2 NMSA 1978] and shall be kept confidential unless disclosure is:

   1. (1) ordered by the court;
   2. (2) necessary to prevent imminent harm and the imminent harm is communicated directly to the state child advocate or staff of the office;
   3. (3) necessary to the department for the department to determine the appropriateness of initiating an investigation regarding potential abuse or neglect or other emergency circumstances; or
   4. (4) necessary to the department for the department to determine the appropriateness of initiating an investigation to determine facility compliance with applicable rules of licensure or certification or both.

2. B. The office may publicly report any patterns of conduct or repeated incidents identified by the office in carrying out the provisions of the Office of Child Advocate Act; provided that the office shall not publicly disclose either of the following:

   1. (1) individually identifiable information about a child; and
   2. (2) investigation findings when there is a pending law enforcement investigation or prosecution.

History: Laws 2025, ch. 13, § 12.

ANNOTATIONS

Effective dates. — Laws 2025, ch. 13, § 19 made Laws 2025, ch. 13, § 12 effective July 1, 2025.