§ 49-5-184 - Information to be included in abuse registry; hearing on expungement of name from registry; order; appeal - Georgia Statutes

O.C.G.A. 49-5-184 (2010)
49-5-184. Information to be included in abuse registry; hearing on expungement of name from registry; order; appeal

(a) If the division receives an investigator's report, administrative law judge's decision, or superior court decision which finds credible evidence that an alleged child abuser has committed an act of child abuse which is confirmed or unconfirmed, the division shall include on the abuse registry the name and such classification of the alleged child abuser along with the investigator's report regarding such individual.

(b) All identifying information in the abuse registry of cases classified as unconfirmed shall be expunged from the abuse registry within two years after the case is so classified.

(c) Any person whose name appears in the abuse registry without a hearing having been held to determine whether or not there was sufficient credible evidence of child abuse by such person or a reasonable basis to justify such inclusion on the registry is entitled to a hearing for an administrative determination of whether or not expungement of such person's name should be ordered. In order to exercise such right, the person must file a written request for a hearing with the DFACS office of any county in which the investigation was conducted which resulted in such person's name being included in the abuse registry. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to persons who have had a hearing pursuant to Code Section 49-5-183.1 or have waived their hearing after receipt of notice.

(d) A DFACS office which receives a written request for a hearing by a person entitled to a hearing pursuant to subsection (c) of this Code section shall transmit that request to the Office of State Administrative Hearings within ten days after such receipt. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, the Office of State Administrative Hearings shall conduct a hearing as provided in this subsection. A hearing shall be conducted upon that request within 60 days following its receipt by the Office of State Administrative Hearings. The procedures and standards for such hearing shall be substantially the same as those for administrative hearings under Code Section 49-5-183.1. Upon a finding that there is no credible evidence that the person who requested the hearing committed the child abuse which was the basis for including such person's name on the abuse registry, the Office of State Administrative Hearings shall order the division to expunge that name from the registry; otherwise, the Office of State Administrative Hearings shall not take any action regarding the inclusion of such person's name on the registry unless the Office of State Administrative Hearings finds credible evidence of child abuse by such person which justifies a different classification of the named person than the classification shown on the registry, in which case the Office of State Administrative Hearings shall order the appropriate classification to be shown by the division on the registry. The general public shall be excluded from such hearings and the files and records relating thereto shall be confidential and not subject to public inspection.

(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the decision of the Office of State Administrative Hearings under subsection (d) of this Code section shall constitute the final administrative decision. Any party shall have the right of judicial review of that decision in accordance with Chapter 13 of Title 50, except that the petition for review shall be filed within 30 days after such decision and may only be filed with and the decision appealed to the superior court of the county where the hearing took place or, if the hearing was conducted by telephone, the Superior Court of Fulton County. The procedures for such appeal shall be the same as those for judicial review of contested cases under Code Section 50-13-19. The review and records thereof shall be closed to the public and not subject to public inspection. The decision of the superior court under this subsection shall not be subject to further appeal or review.