New York Codes, Rules and Regulations
Title 14 - DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HYGIENE
Chapter XIV - Office for People With Developmental Disabilities
Part 603 - Public Access To Records Pursuant To The Freedom Of Information Law
Section 603.8 - Grounds for denial of access to records

Universal Citation: 14 NY Comp Codes Rules and Regs § 603.8

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 12, March 26, 2025

(a) A request for a record may be denied for any of the following reasons:

(1) The record is exempted from disclosure by other State or Federal statute. Examples of statutes which limit public access to records are:
(i) section 33.13 of the Mental Hygiene Law, which restricts access to information about individuals (see section 603.13[b] of this Part), including identification of individuals and their clinical records;

(ii) section 3101 (d) of the Civil Practice Law and Rules, which restricts access to records prepared solely for purposes of litigation; and

(iii) sections 1306 and 1395bb of title 42 of the United States Code, which restrict public access to hospital survey reports prepared by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Hospitals (JCAH).

(2) Disclosure of the record could impair present or imminent contract awards or collective bargaining negotiations.

(3) The record contains trade secrets or is maintained for the regulation of commercial enterprise, and the disclosure of such record could cause substantial injury to the competitive position of the subject enterprise.

(4) The record was complied for law enforcement purposes and disclosure could:
(i) interfere with law enforcement investigations or judicial proceedings;

(ii) deprive a person of his or her right to a fair trial or impartial adjudication;

(iii) identify a confidential source or disclose confidential information relating to a criminal investigation; or

(iv) reveal nonroutine criminal investigative techniques or procedures.

(5) Disclosure of the record could endanger the life or safety of any person. If the records access officer has a concern that such might be the case, he or she may require the requester to identify himself or herself and state the reason why the record is being requested.

(6) The record is interagency or intra-agency materials, but not:
(i) a statistical tabulation (see section 603.13[g] of this Part) or factual tabulation (see section 603.13[c]) or data;

(ii) instructions to staff which affect the public; or

(iii) final agency policy or determination.

(7) Disclosure of the record would jeopardize an agency's capacity to guarantee the security of its information technology assets, such assets encompassing both electronic information systems and infrastructures.

(8) The record consists of examination questions or answers which are requested prior to final administration of such questions.

(9) The record of the type described by the requester does not exist.

(b) Nothing in this Part shall require disclosure of the name or home address of the following persons:

(1) applicants for appointment to public employment; or

(2) beneficiaries of a public employees' retirement system.

(c) Nothing in this Part shall require disclosure of the home address of the following persons, unless such disclosure is to recognized employee organizations pursuant to section 89.7 of the Public Officers Law:

(1) present or former officers or employees; or

(2) retirees of a public employees' retirement system.

(d) A request for a record must be denied if:

(1) Disclosure is prohibited under article 6-A of the Public Officers Law, known as the Personal Privacy Protection Law.

(2) Disclosure would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
(i) An invasion of personal privacy includes, but is not limited to, any of the following:
(a) disclosure of employment, medical or credit histories or personal references of applicants for employment and current employees;

(b) disclosure of the medical or personal records of an individual receiving services or applicant for services of an OPWDD-operated and/or certified facility;

(c) sale or release of lists of names and addresses if such lists would be used for commercial or fundraising purposes. If the request is for a list of names and addresses, the records access officer may ask the requester to identify himself or herself and state the purpose of the request;

(d) disclosure of information of a personal nature when disclosure would result in economic or personal hardship to the subject and when such information is not relevant to the work of OPWDD; or

(e) disclosure of information of a personal nature reported in confidence to OPWDD and not relevant to the ordinary work of OPWDD.

(ii) Disclosure shall not be construed to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy:
(a) when identifying details are deleted; or

(b) when the person or persons to whom the record pertains consent to disclosure in writing; or

(c) when, upon presenting reasonable proof of identity, a person seeks access to records pertaining to himself or herself under the provisions of the Personal Privacy Protection Law and Part 604 of this Title.

(iii) Notwithstanding the above, access to an individual's clinical records within the scope of section 33.13 of the Mental Hygiene Law shall be exclusively governed by such section of the Mental Hygiene Law.

Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. New York may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.