§ 19-15-7.Construction of chapter
Chapter 15. Child Abuse · Last amended 1993 · Last verified October 9, 2026
Full Text of § 19-15-7
Plain-English Summary
This one-sentence section is a safeguard for federal money. Chapter 15 contains several provisions that open records or share information: redacted fatality reports that are public under § 19-15-6, open records about children who died in state or foster custody under the same section, and the flow of records to review committees under § 19-15-3. This section says nothing in the chapter shall be construed to authorize or require any inspection of records or release of information if that inspection or release would result in the loss of any federal funds to the state.
The section works as a rule of interpretation. If a disclosure that Chapter 15 seems to call for would cost the state federal funds, the chapter can’t be read to authorize or require it. The section doesn’t forbid any disclosure on its own terms; it removes Chapter 15 as the source of authority for one when federal funds are at stake. It names no particular federal program and sets no procedure for deciding whether a release would cause a loss. Its reach is limited to this chapter, so it doesn’t govern the mandatory reporting law in § 19-7-5. The section dates to 1991 and was last amended in 1993.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Georgia refuse to release child fatality records to protect federal funding?
This section points that way. It says nothing in Chapter 15 shall be construed to authorize or require the inspection of any records or the release of any information if that inspection or release would result in the loss of any federal funds to the state. So the chapter’s disclosure provisions can’t be read to require a release that would cost federal money.
Does this section limit the open records rule for children who died in foster care?
It applies to the whole chapter, which includes § 19-15-6 and its rule opening records about a child who died in state or foster custody. If a particular release would result in the loss of federal funds, this section says Chapter 15 shouldn’t be read to authorize or require it. The text doesn’t explain how the two provisions fit together in a given case, so a dispute would turn on the facts.
Which records does this section cover?
It reaches any records or information that Chapter 15 might otherwise authorize or require someone to inspect or release. That includes records of local protocol committees, local child fatality review committees and the statewide Georgia Child Fatality Review Panel. The limit applies only where the inspection or release would result in the loss of federal funds to the state.
Who decides whether releasing records would cost federal funds?
The section doesn’t say. It sets a rule of interpretation — nothing in Chapter 15 authorizes or requires a release that would result in the loss of federal funds — but it names no agency or court to make that call and sets no procedure. The question would arise whenever someone holding Chapter 15 records weighs a request for inspection or release.
Does this federal funds rule apply to the Georgia child abuse reporting law?
Not by its own terms. The section speaks only of “this chapter,” meaning Chapter 15 of Title 19, which covers protocol committees, child fatality review committees and the state panel. The mandatory child abuse reporting law is § 19-7-5, in Chapter 7, so this section’s federal funds rule doesn’t reach it.
Amendment History
Laws 1991, p. 94, § 19; Laws 1993, p. 1695, § 2; Laws 1993, p. 1941, § 1.