Disclosure of information.

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(1)(a) No court or administrative body may compel any person or domestic violence program as defined in RCW 70.123.020 to disclose the name, address, or location of any domestic violence program, including a shelter or transitional housing facility location, in any civil or criminal case or in any administrative proceeding unless the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that disclosure is necessary for the implementation of justice after consideration of safety and confidentiality concerns of the parties and other residents of the domestic violence program, and other alternatives to disclosure that would protect the interests of the parties.

(b) The court's findings shall be made following a hearing in which the domestic violence program has been provided notice of the request for disclosure and an opportunity to respond.

(2) In any proceeding where the confidential name, address, or location of a domestic violence program is ordered to be disclosed, the court shall order that the parties be prohibited from further dissemination of the confidential information, and that any portion of any records containing such confidential information be sealed.

(3) Any person who obtains access to and intentionally and maliciously releases confidential information about the location of a domestic violence program for any purpose other than required by a court proceeding is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.

[ 2012 c 223 § 9. Formerly RCW 26.50.250.]


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