{"data":{"id":"us-ga/o.c.g.a.-49-5-44","jurisdiction":"us-ga","citation":"O.C.G.A. § 49-5-44","heading":"Penalties for unauthorized access to records; use of records in public and criminal proceedings.","body":"(a) Any person who authorizes or permits any person or agency not listed in Code Section 49-5-41 to have access to such records concerning reports of child abuse declared confidential by Code Section 49-5-40 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.\n(b) Any person who knowingly and under false pretense obtains or attempts to obtain records or reports of child abuse declared confidential by Code Section 49-5-40 or information contained therein except as authorized in this article or Code Section 19-7-5 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.\n(c) Records made confidential by Code Section 49-5-40 and information obtained from such records shall not be made a part of any record which is open to the public except that:\n(1) A district attorney may use and make public that record or information in the course of any criminal prosecution for any offense which constitutes or results from child abuse; and\n(2) The parties in a civil action may use and make public that record or information in the course of a civil action for childhood sexual abuse, as such term is defined in Code Section 9-3-33.1.","path":["TITLE 49 Social Services","CHAPTER 5 Programs and Protection for Children and Youth","Article 2 Child Abuse Records"],"source_url":"https://archive.org/download/gov.ga.ocga.2018/release86.2022.11/gov.ga.ocga.title.49.odt","current_through":"Release 86 (2022-11)","vintage":"Public.Resource.Org bulk O.C.G.A., Release 86 (2022-11), retrieved 2026-09-17","retrieved_at":"2026-09-17T19:34:57Z","sha256":"96f252c1b9d7140636c472343f63f4fd83ce183765127c445635682195c18ec6","source_id":"us-ga","stale":false,"prev":"us-ga/o.c.g.a.-49-5-43","next":"us-ga/o.c.g.a.-49-5-45"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}