Bill Text: NJ A2490 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires disclosure to certain prison guards of AIDS status of inmates.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-03-11 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee [A2490 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2010-A2490-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman CAROLINE CASAGRANDE
District 12 (Mercer and Monmouth)
SYNOPSIS
Requires disclosure to certain prison guards of AIDS status of inmates.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning disclosure of AIDS information under certain circumstances and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State
of New Jersey:
1. a. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, a superintendent or warden of a State correctional institution or county penal institution or a county Sheriff, if responsible for county corrections, who knows of any inmate who has tested positive for acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) or infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) shall disclose the identity of that inmate to any corrections officer in that institution who has been assigned to duties that require him to be in close physical proximity with that inmate.
b. Any corrections officer to whom identifying information is disclosed pursuant to this act shall keep such information confidential and shall not disclose it to any other person except as otherwise authorized by law or court order.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the disclosure of information relating to an inmate's AIDS or HIV status. Under the provisions of the bill, the superintendent of a State correctional facility or the warden or sheriff in charge of a county correctional facility is required to disclose the identity of any inmate who has tested positive for AIDS or the HIV virus to each corrections officer who is assigned to duties that require that officer to be in close physical proximity to that inmate. The bill further provides that any corrections officer who receives any such information relating to the AIDS or HIV status of an inmate must keep that information confidential. The confidentiality of information relating to an individual's AIDS or HIV status is governed by the provisions of sections 3 and 4 of P.L.1989, c.303 (C.26:5C-7 and 8). As a rule, all such records are to be kept confidential. In most cases, the disclosure of such information requires the patient's consent. There are, however, certain instances when the statutes permit the disclosure of such information without the patient's consent.
