(A) The Department of Social Services shall provide a child protective services appeals process for review of indicated reports not otherwise being brought before the family court for disposition. The appeals hearing must be scheduled and conducted in accordance with the department's fair hearing regulations except as to the date for a final decision.
(B) The state director shall appoint a child protective services appeals committee for each case decision which is appealed. The committee must be comprised of three officials or employees of the Department of Social Services, none of whom may be a resident of or employed by the department in the county where the case originates or a member of the investigative unit which investigated the case if the case decision being appealed involves institutional abuse.
(C) When the department determines that an appeal hearing is needed pursuant to Section 20-7-690(J), it shall provide notice of the availability of the hearing to the potential appellant by certified mail. The notice must inform the person of the right to appeal the case determination and the date and time of the appeal hearing. The notice must also advise the appellant of his rights as provided in the department's fair hearing regulations.
(D) If the department determines that a report of suspected child abuse or neglect is indicated and the case will not be brought before the family court for disposition, the department must provide notice of the case decision to the subject of the report by certified mail. The notice must inform the subject of the report of the right to appeal the case decision and that, if he intends to appeal the decision, he must notify the local child protection agency of his intent in writing within thirty days of receipt of the notice. If the subject of the report does not notify the department of his intent to appeal in writing within thirty days of receipt of the notice, the right to appeal is waived by the subject and the case decision becomes the affirmative determination.
(E) Within fourteen days after receipt of a notice of intent to appeal, an interim review of case documentation and the case determination must be conducted by an appropriate official of the department designated by the director. The interim review may not delay the scheduling of the appeals hearing.
(F) The child protective services appeals committee shall determine whether or not the case determination is supported by a preponderance of evidence that the subject of the report abused or neglected the child. If the appeals committee affirms the case determination, the subject has the right to judicial review in the family court of the jurisdiction in which the case originated.
(G) Proceedings for judicial review may be instituted by filing a petition in the family court within thirty days after the final decision of the department. Copies of the petition must be served upon the department and all parties of record. Judicial review must be conducted by the family court in accordance with the standards of review provided for in Section 1-23-380. The court may enter judgment upon the pleadings and a certified transcript of the record which must include the evidence upon which the findings and decisions appealed are based. The judgment must include a determination of whether by a preponderance of evidence the subject of the report abused or neglected the child. The appellant is not entitled to a trial de novo in the family court.
(H) Upon a determination by the interim review, the appeals committee or the court that there is not a preponderance of evidence that the subject of the report abused or neglected a child as defined in Section 20-7-490, the name, address, birth date, and other identifying characteristics of that person must be purged immediately from the department's files and from the Central Registry of Child Abuse and Neglect. This subsection does not prohibit the department or the registry from maintaining an "indicated report" which contains identifying information on the child who is the subject of the indicated report and those responsible for the child's welfare without identifying a subject of the report, and it does not prohibit the department from providing child protective services to the child who is the subject of an indicated report and those responsible for the child's welfare.
(I) When the appeals procedure is used for institutional abuse cases investigated by the Department of Social Services, the investigative unit of the Department of Social Services must receive all notices and the case documentation review.