Section 229.24. Records of involuntary hospitalization proceeding to be confidential.

  1.  All papers and records pertaining to any involuntary hospitalization or application pursuant to section 229.6 of any person under this chapter, whether part of the permanent record of the court or of a file in the department of human services, are subject to inspection only upon an order of the court for good cause shown.

  2.  If authorized in writing by a person who has been the subject of any proceeding or report under sections 229.6 to 229.13 or section 229.22, or by the parent or guardian of that person, information regarding that person which is confidential under subsection 1 may be released to any designated person.

  3.  If all or part of the costs associated with hospitalization of an individual under this chapter are chargeable to a county of residence, the clerk of the district court shall provide to the regional administrator for the county of residence and to the regional administrator for the county in which the hospitalization order is entered the following information pertaining to the individual which would be confidential under subsection 1:

  a.  Administrative information, as defined in section 228.1.

  b.  An evaluation order under this chapter and the location of the individual’s placement under the order.

  c.  A hospitalization or placement order under this chapter and the location of the individual’s placement under the order.

  d.  The date, location, and disposition of any hearing concerning the individual held under this chapter.

  e.  Any payment source available for the costs of the individual’s care.

  4.  This section shall not prohibit any of the following:

  a.  A hospital from complying with the requirements of this chapter and of chapter 230 relative to financial responsibility for the cost of care and treatment provided a patient in that hospital or from properly billing any responsible relative or third-party payer for such care or treatment.

  b.  A court or the department of public safety from forwarding to the federal bureau of investigation information that a person has been disqualified from possessing, shipping, transporting, or receiving a firearm pursuant to section 724.31.

[C77, 79, 81, §229.24]

83 Acts, ch 96, §157, 159

; 95 Acts, ch 120, §3

; 96 Acts, ch 1183, §22

; 2002 Acts, ch 1146, §4

; 2004 Acts, ch 1090, §8

; 2010 Acts, ch 1031, §362

; 2010 Acts, ch 1178, §1, 2, 19

; 2012 Acts, ch 1120, §102, 130

; 2013 Acts, ch 130, §52

; 2015 Acts, ch 69, §67

Subsection 3, unnumbered paragraph 1 amended