May 17, 1988
Subject:
Division of Motor Vehicles Accident Reports; Juvenile Code; G.S. § 20-166.1; G.S. § 7A-675; Confidentiality of Juvenile Records
Requested By:
Maurice A. Cawn Police Attorney City of Greensboro
Question:
Do the confidentiality provisions of G.S. § 7A-675 prohibit the identification in a collision report filed pursuant to G.S. § 20-166.1(e) of a person under 18 years of age who was involved in the collision?
Conclusion:
No.
Law enforcement officers are required by G.S. § 20-166.1(e) to investigate all motor vehicle collisions and to forward reports of the investigations to the Division of Motor Vehicles. There are no exceptions to this requirement. The reports are required to be made available for public inspection and copying by G.S. § 20-166.1(i). The question at issue is whether the provisions of
G.S. § 7A-675, which provides for the confidentiality of investigations of juveniles and of juvenile records, apply to the reports required by G.S. § 20-166.1(e) when a driver involved in the collision is less than 18 years of age.
It is the opinion of this Office that the confidentiality provisions of G.S. § 7A-675 do not apply in such circumstances. An established rule of construction requires that the language of a statute, its spirit, and what it seeks to accomplish should all be considered in ascertaining the legislative intent. State ex rel. Utilities Commission v. Public Staff, 309 N.C. 195, 306 S.E.2d 435 (1983). The investigations and records protected by the confidentiality provisions of G.S. § 7A-675 are those arising under the Juvenile Code. They are investigations or records pertaining to abuse, neglect or dependency of juveniles or delinquent or undisciplined behavior by juveniles. They form the basis for or are accounts of services extended to such juveniles or of proceedings against and dispositions relating to such juveniles.
The report required by G.S. § 20-166.1(e), on the other hand, is a factual account of a motor vehicle collision. G.S. § 20-166.1(h). It does not charge an offense, nor does it form the basis for a charge. G.S. § 20-166.1(i). An investigation directed toward gathering information for the report is not a criminal investigation. We conclude, from the foregoing, that since collision investigations and reports differ so substantially in purpose and effect from juvenile investigations and reports, the collision reports do not fall within the purview of G.S. § 7A-675. The confidentiality provisions of that statute, therefore, do not prohibit the identification in a collision report of a person under 18 years of age who was involved in the collision.
Lacy H. Thornburg Attorney General
Henry T. Rosser Assistant Attorney General