Opinion ID: 882116
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: inspection of family services' file.

Text: Finally, defendant contends that it was error for the District Court to refuse the defense complete access to the Department of Family Services' files on Dawn Goodwin. The District Court conducted its own inspection of those files and produced, for the defendant's use, those documents which it felt were relevant and necessary to the defense. In this case, the District Court was bound by § 41-3-205, MCA, which provides as follows: (1) The case records of the department of social and rehabilitation services, the department of family services and its local affiliate, the county welfare department, the county attorney, and the court concerning actions taken under this chapter and all records concerning reports of child abuse and neglect shall be kept confidential except as provided by this section. Any person who permits or encourages the unauthorized dissemination of their contents is guilty of a misdemeanor. (2) Records may be disclosed to a court for in camera inspection if relevant to an issue before it. The court may permit public disclosure if it finds such disclosure to be necessary for the fair resolution of an issue before it. We conclude that the District Court did not err by the manner in which it inspected and provided limited discovery of Dawn Goodwin's records kept by the Department of Family Services.