[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 38, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 38CFR1.479]

[Page 31-32]
 
            TITLE 38--PENSIONS, BONUSES, AND VETERANS' RELIEF
 
                CHAPTER I--DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
 
PART 1_GENERAL PROVISIONS--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 1.479  Disclosures to elements of the criminal justice system 

which have referred patients.

    (a) VA may disclose information about a patient from records covered 
by Sec. Sec. 1.460 through 1.499 of this part to those persons within 
the criminal justice system which have made participation in a VA 
treatment program a condition of the disposition of any criminal 
proceedings against the patient or of the patient's parole or other 
release from custody if:
    (1) The disclosure is made only to those individuals within the 
criminal justice system who have a need for the information in 
connection with their duty to monitor the patient's progress (e.g., a 
prosecuting attorney who is withholding charges against the patient, a 
court granting pretrial or posttrial release, probation or parole 
officers responsible for supervision of the patient); and
    (2) The patient has signed a written consent as a condition of 
admission to the treatment program meeting the requirements of Sec. 
1.475 of this part (except paragraph (a)(8) which is inconsistent with 
the revocation provisions of paragraph (c) of this section) and the 
requirements of paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section.
    (b) Duration of consent. The written consent must state the period 
during which it remains in effect. This period must be reasonable, 
taking into account:
    (1) The anticipated length of the treatment recognizing that 
revocation of consent may not generally be effected while treatment is 
ongoing;
    (2) The type of criminal proceeding involved, the need for the 
information in connection with the final disposition of that proceeding, 
and when the final disposition will occur; and
    (3) Such other factors as the facility, the patient, and the 
person(s) who will receive the disclosure consider pertinent.
    (c) Revocation of consent. The written consent must state that it is 
revocable upon the passage of a specified amount of time or the 
occurrence of a specified, ascertainable event. The time or occurrence 
upon which consent becomes revocable may be no earlier than the 
individual's completion of the treatment program and no later than the 
final disposition of the conditional release or other action in 
connection with which consent was given.
    (d) Restrictions on redisclosure and use. A person who receives 
patient information under this section may redisclose

[[Page 32]]

and use it only to carry out that person's official duties with regard 
to the patient's conditional release or other action in connection with 
which the consent was given, including parole.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 7334)