(a) No court shall have jurisdiction over an action brought under section 4-277 (1) against a member of the General Assembly, a member of the judiciary or an elected officer or department head of the state if the action is based on evidence or information known to the state when the action was brought; or (2) that is based upon allegations or transactions that are the subject of a civil suit or an administrative civil penalty proceeding in which the state is already a party.
(b) Unless opposed by the state, the court shall dismiss an action or claim brought under section 4-277 if allegations or transactions that are substantially the same as those alleged in the action or claim were publicly disclosed (1) in a state criminal, civil or administrative hearing in which the state or its agent is a party, (2) in a report, hearing, audit or investigation conducted by the General Assembly, a committee of the General Assembly, the Auditors of Public Accounts, a state agency or quasi-public agency, or (3) by the news media, except the court shall not dismiss such action or claim if the action or claim is brought by the Attorney General or the person who is an original source of information.
(c) For purposes of this section, “original source” means an individual who (1) voluntarily discloses to the state information on which the allegations or transactions in an action or claim are based, prior to public disclosure of such information as described in subdivisions (1), (2) and (3) of subsection (b) of this section, or (2) has knowledge that is independent of and materially adds to the publicly disclosed allegations or transactions and has voluntarily provided the information to the state before filing an action or claim under sections 4-276 to 4-280, inclusive.
(P.A. 14-217, S. 9.)
History: P.A. 14-217 effective June 13, 2014.