A. To insure the same level of protection for Indian children as offered to other children of the State of Oklahoma there shall be established a central registry of child protection in the Indian Child Welfare Department for the purpose of maintaining a registry of information concerning each case of child abuse reported under this chapter.

B. The Central Registry shall contain, but shall not be limited to:

C. The Director of the Indian Child Welfare Department shall have charge of the Central Registry. Subject to available appropriations, the Director shall equip the Indian Child Welfare Department so that data in the Central Registry may be made available during nonbusiness hours through the use of computer technology. Such computerized records shall be password coded and only Indian Child Welfare Department personnel, Judges and Osage Nation Police shall have access to the password.

D. After a child who is the subject of a report reaches the age of eighteen (18) years, access to the record under this section shall be permitted only if a sibling or offspring of such child is before any person mentioned in Section 3-103(B) of this Title and is a suspected victim of child abuse. The amount and type of information released shall depend upon the source of the report and shall be determined by regulations established by the Indian Child Welfare Department Director. However, under no circumstances shall the information be released unless the person requesting such information is entitled thereto as confirmed by the Director of the Indian Child Welfare Department and the information released states whether or not the report is founded or unfounded. A person given access to the names or other information identifying the subject of a report shall not divulge or make public any identifying information unless by the Tribal Prosecutor or an Osage Nation Police Officer and the purpose is to initiate Court action or unless he is the subject of the report.

E. Unless an investigation of a report conducted pursuant to this chapter determines there is some credible evidence of the alleged abuse, all information identifying the subject of the report shall be expunged from the Central Registry and destroyed within three years. The decision to expunge or destroy the record shall be made by the Director of the Central Registry.

F. In all other cases, the record of the reports to the Central Registry shall be sealed no later than four years after the child’s eighteenth birthday. Once sealed, the record shall not otherwise be available unless the Director of the Central Registry, pursuant to rules promulgated by the Indian Child Welfare Department and upon notice to the subject of the report, gives personal approval for an appropriate reason.

In any case and at any time, the Director may amend, seal or expunge or destroy any record upon good cause shown and notice to the subject of the report.

G. At any time the subject of the report may receive, upon request, a report of all information pertinent to the subject’s case contained in the Central Registry, but the Director is authorized to prohibit the release of data that would identify the person who made the report or who cooperated in a subsequent investigation which may be detrimental to the safety or interest of such person.

H. At any time subsequent to the completion of an investigation, the subject of the report may request the Director to amend, seal or expunge the record of the report. If the Director does not act within a reasonable time, but in no event later than thirty (30) days after such request, the subject shall have the right to a fair hearing before the Trial Court to determine whether the record of the report in the Central Registry should be amended, sealed or expunged on the grounds that it is inaccurate or it is being maintained in a manner inconsistent with this chapter. The Indian Child Welfare Department shall be given notice of the hearing. The burden in such a hearing shall be on the Indian Child Welfare Department. In such hearings the fact that there was such a finding of child abuse or neglect shall be presumptive evidence that the report was substantiated.

I. Written notice of any amendment, sealing, expungement or order to destroy made pursuant to the provisions of this Title shall be given to the subject of such report and to the Indian Child Welfare Department. The latter, upon receipt of such notice, shall take appropriate action regarding such information in its files.

J. Any person who wilfully or who encourages the release of data or information contained in the Central Registry to a person not permitted access to such information by this chapter shall be subject to a civil penalty not in excess of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) and any actual damages sustained for breach of confidentiality.

K. The Central Registry shall adopt such rules and regulations as may be necessary to encourage cooperation with other tribes, states and the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect.