Law Enforcement Access To Children's Records: What's Allowed?

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) provides certain rights for parents regarding their children's education records. However, there are exceptions to this rule. For example, if a threat assessment team determines that a health or safety emergency exists, a police officer may disclose personally identifiable information (PII) from a student's education records to appropriate officials. In addition, law enforcement officers and other juvenile justice personnel are required to collect certain information as part of the juvenile justice information system. This information is protected by FERPA, and law enforcement may disclose it to third parties without parental consent.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

FERPA does not apply to "law enforcement unit records", which are records created by a law enforcement unit at an educational agency or institution, created for a law enforcement purpose, and maintained by the law enforcement unit. These records can be disclosed to third parties without the parent or eligible student's prior written consent.

In Texas, law enforcement officers and other juvenile justice personnel are required to collect certain information as part of the juvenile justice information system. This includes fingerprint records and photographs of the child, which must be destroyed if the child cannot be identified. The custodian of a juvenile court record must also redact any personally identifiable information about a victim of the child's delinquent conduct who was under 18 years of age.

Law enforcement unit records

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) provides certain rights for parents regarding their children’s education records. However, 'law enforcement unit records' (records created by a law enforcement unit at an educational agency or institution, created for a law enforcement purpose, and maintained by the law enforcement unit) are not 'education records' subject to the privacy protections of FERPA. This means that the law enforcement unit may disclose law enforcement unit records to third parties without the parent or eligible student’s prior written consent.

In the case of a health or safety emergency, a police officer may disclose personally identifiable information (PII) from a student’s education records to appropriate officials under the health or safety emergency exception.

In Texas, law enforcement officers and other juvenile justice personnel are required to collect information as part of the juvenile justice information system. This includes fingerprint records and photographs of the child, which must be destroyed if the child cannot be identified. The custodian of a juvenile court record must also redact any personally identifiable information about a victim of the child's delinquent conduct who was under 18 years of age.

Juvenile justice information system

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act or FERPA provides certain rights for parents regarding their children’s education records. For example, a representative from the city police who serves on a school’s threat assessment team generally could not give the police department any PII from a student’s education records to which he or she was privy as a member of the team. However, if the threat assessment team determines that a health or safety emergency exists, then the police officer may disclose, on behalf of the school, PII from a student’s education records to appropriate officials under the health or safety emergency exception.

The law enforcement unit may refuse to provide a parent or eligible student with an opportunity to inspect and review law enforcement unit records, and it may disclose law enforcement unit records to third parties without the parent or eligible student’s prior written consent. However, education records, or personally identifiable information from education records, which the school shares with the law enforcement unit, do not lose their protected status as education records just because they are shared with the law enforcement unit.

Law enforcement officers and other juvenile justice personnel shall collect information as a part of the juvenile justice information system. On determination of the child's identity or that the child cannot be identified by the fingerprints or photographs, the law enforcement officer shall immediately destroy all copies of the fingerprint records or photographs of the child. Before disclosing any juvenile court record of a child, the custodian of the record must redact any personally identifiable information about a victim of the child's delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a need for supervision who was under 18 years of age on the date the conduct occurred.

Threat assessment teams

Law enforcement officers are responsible for collecting and transmitting records of children as part of the juvenile justice information system. They are required to destroy all copies of fingerprint records or photographs of a child if the child's identity cannot be determined. Before disclosing any juvenile court records of a child, the custodian of the record must redact any personally identifiable information about a victim of the child's delinquent conduct who was under 18 years of age.

While education records shared with law enforcement units retain their protected status, law enforcement units may disclose their records to third parties without the prior written consent of the parent or eligible student.

Redaction of personally identifiable information

In the United States, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) provides certain rights for parents regarding their children's education records. However, if a threat assessment team determines that a health or safety emergency exists, a police officer may disclose personally identifiable information (PII) from a student's education records to appropriate officials under the health or safety emergency exception.

In Texas, the Family Code Chapter 58 outlines the records that law enforcement officers and other juvenile justice personnel must collect as part of the juvenile justice information system. This includes the redaction of personally identifiable information about victims of a child's delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a need for supervision who were under 18 years of age at the time of the conduct.

Law enforcement units may disclose records to third parties without the prior written consent of the parent or eligible student. However, education records or personally identifiable information from education records that are shared with law enforcement units do not lose their protected status as education records. "Law enforcement unit records" are not considered "education records" and are therefore not subject to the privacy protections of FERPA.

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