Release of Information - Subpoena or Other Legal Process

Whenever any Department records, documents or information are sought by compulsory legal process (subpoena, etc.) in any civil proceeding (for criminal proceedings, see 110 CMR 4.53) the Department shall not release such records until the Department has made reasonable efforts to notify each data subject identified in the records, so that he/she has reasonable time to seek to have the process quashed, in accordance with M.G.L. c. 66A, § 2(k). The Department's efforts to notify the data subject(s) may be written or oral, including notice by telephone. If the Department is unable to contact a data subject, the Department shall document in the case record the efforts made to contact the data subject, and thereafter the Department shall release the records sought. In the alternative (and especially for voluminous records or files) the Department may elect to bring the entire file (unredacted, and without prior notification to any third parties named therein) before a judge in camera, and seek an order from said judge as to which records must be released by the Department. Then, before releasing such records as ordered by the judge, the Department shall attempt to notify third parties, as set forth in 110 CMR 12.07.