121050-121070

HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE
SECTION 121050-121070




121050.  The people of the State of California find and declare that
AIDS, AIDS-related conditions, and other communicable diseases pose
a major threat to the public health and safety.
   The health and safety of the public, victims of sexual crimes, and
peace officers, firefighters, and custodial personnel who may come
into contact with infected persons, have not been adequately
protected by law. The purpose of this chapter is to require that
information that may be vital to the health and safety of the public,
victims of certain crimes, certain defendants and minors, and
custodial personnel, custodial medical personnel, peace officers,
firefighters and emergency medical personnel put at risk in the
course of their official duties, be obtained and disclosed in an
appropriate manner in order that precautions can be taken to preserve
their health and the health of others or that those persons can be
relieved from groundless fear of infection.
   It is the intent of this chapter to supersede in case of conflict
existing statutes or case law on the subjects covered including but
not limited to the confidentiality and consent provisions contained
in Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 120975), Chapter 8 (commencing
with Section 121025), and Chapter 10 (commencing with Section
121075).



121055.  Any defendant charged in any criminal complaint filed with
a magistrate or court with any violation of Penal Code Sections 261,
261.5, 262, 266b, 266c, 286, 288, or 288a and any minor with respect
to whom a petition has been filed in a juvenile court alleging
violation of any of the foregoing laws, shall be subject to an order
of a court having jurisdiction of the complaint or petition requiring
testing as provided in this chapter.
   If an alleged victim listed in the complaint or petition makes a
written request for testing under this section, the prosecuting
attorney, or the alleged victim may petition the court for an order
authorized under this section.
   The court shall promptly conduct a hearing upon any such petition.
If the court finds that probable cause exists to believe that a
possible transfer of blood, saliva, semen, or other bodily fluid took
place between the defendant or minor and the alleged victim in an
act specified in this section, the court shall order that the
defendant or minor provide two specimens of blood for testing as
provided in this chapter.
   Copies of the test results shall be sent to the defendant or
minor, each requesting victim and, if the defendant or minor is
incarcerated or detained, to the officer in charge and the chief
medical officer of the facility where the person is incarcerated or
detained.



121056.  (a) Any forensic scientist, including, but not limited to,
any criminalist, toxicologist, and forensic pathologist, or any other
employee required to handle or perform DNA or other forensic
evidence analysis within the scope of his or her duties, who comes
into contact with blood or other bodily fluids on, upon, or through
the skin or membranes of his or her person while handling or
performing testing on forensic evidence, may petition, ex parte, the
court having jurisdiction over the laboratory in which he or she
works for an order authorized under this chapter.
   The employing agency, officer, or entity of the affected employee
may also file an ex parte petition for an order authorized under this
chapter. Before filing a petition, the requesting party shall make a
reasonable effort to obtain the consent of the person whose blood or
bodily fluids is to be tested.
   (b) The court shall promptly consider any petition filed pursuant
to this section. If the court finds that probable cause exists to
believe that a possible transfer of blood, saliva, semen, or other
bodily fluid took place between the forensic evidence collected and
the forensic scientist, criminalist, toxicologist, forensic
pathologist, or any other employee required to handle evidence or
perform forensic testing thereon as specified in this section, the
court shall promptly order that the existing forensic evidence be
tested as provided in this chapter.
   (c) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), copies of the test
results shall be sent to each requesting employee named in the
petition, and his or her employing agency, officer, or entity, to the
person whose sample was tested, and to the officer in charge and the
chief medical officer of the facility in which the person is
incarcerated or detained.
   (2) The person whose sample was tested, shall be advised that he
or she will be informed of the HIV test results only if he or she
wishes to be so informed. If the person declines to be informed of
the HIV test results, then he or she shall sign a form documenting
that refusal. The person's refusal to sign that form shall be
construed to be a request to be informed of the HIV test results.



121060.  (a) Any peace officer, firefighter, custodial officer, as
that term is defined in subdivision (a) of Section 831 or subdivision
(a) of Section 831.5 of the Penal Code, a custody assistant, as that
term is defined in subdivision (a) of Section 831.7 of the Penal
Code, a nonsworn uniformed employee of a law enforcement agency whose
job entails the care or control of inmates in a detention facility,
a nonsworn employee of a law enforcement agency whose job description
entails the collection of fingerprints, or emergency medical
personnel who, while acting within the scope of his or her duties, is
exposed to an arrestee's blood or bodily fluids, as defined in
Section 121060.1, shall do the following:
   (1) Prior to filing a petition with the court, a licensed health
care provider shall notify the arrestee of the bloodborne pathogen
exposure and make a good faith effort to obtain the voluntary
informed consent of the arrestee or the arrestee's authorized legal
representative to perform a test for human immunodeficiency virus
(HIV), hepatitis B, and hepatitis C. The voluntary informed consent
shall be in writing. Once consent is given in writing, the arrestee
shall provide three specimens of blood for testing as provided in
this chapter.
   (2) If voluntary informed consent is not given in writing, the
affected individual may petition, ex parte, the court for an order
requiring testing as provided in this chapter. The petition shall
include a written certification by a health care professional that an
exposure, including the nature and extent of the exposure, has
occurred.
   (b) The court shall promptly conduct a hearing upon a petition
filed pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a). If the court
finds that probable cause exists to believe that a possible
bloodborne pathogen exposure, as defined in Section 121060.1, took
place between the arrestee and the peace officer, firefighter,
custodial officer, custody assistant, nonsworn uniformed employee of
a law enforcement agency whose job entails the care or control of
inmates in a detention facility, nonsworn employee of a law
enforcement agency whose job description entails the collection of
fingerprints, or emergency medical personnel, as specified in this
section, the court shall order that the arrestee provide three
specimens of blood for testing as provided in this chapter.
   (c) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), copies of the test
results shall be sent to the arrestee, each peace officer,
firefighter, custodial officer, custody assistant, nonsworn uniformed
employee of a law enforcement agency whose job entails the care or
control of inmates in a detention facility, nonsworn employee of a
law enforcement agency whose job description entails the collection
of fingerprints, and emergency medical personnel named in the
petition and his or her employing agency, officer, or entity, and if
the arrestee is incarcerated or detained, to the officer in charge
and the chief medical officer of the facility where the person is
incarcerated or detained.
   (2) The person whose sample was tested, shall be advised that he
or she will be informed of the hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV test
results only if he or she wishes to be so informed. If the person
consents to be informed of the hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV test
results, then he or she shall sign a form documenting that consent.
The person's refusal to sign that form shall be construed to be a
refusal to be informed of the hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV test
results.
   (3) Except as otherwise provided under this section, all
confidentiality requirements regarding medical records shall apply to
the test results obtained.



121060.1.  (a) For purposes of Section 121060, "bloodborne pathogen
exposure" means a percutaneous injury, including, but not limited to,
a needle stick or cut with a sharp object, or the contact of
nonintact skin or mucous membranes with any of the bodily fluids
identified in subdivision (b), in accordance with the most current
bloodborne pathogen exposure definition established by the federal
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
   (b) "Bodily fluids" means any of the following:
   (1) Blood.
   (2) Tissue.
   (3) Mucous containing visible blood.
   (4) Semen.
   (5) Vaginal secretions.



121065.  (a) The withdrawal of blood shall be performed in a
medically approved manner. Only a physician, registered nurse,
licensed vocational nurse, licensed medical technician, or licensed
phlebotomist may withdraw blood specimens for the purposes of this
chapter.
   (b) The court shall order that the blood specimens be transmitted
to a licensed medical laboratory and that tests be conducted thereon
for medically accepted indications of exposure to or infection by
HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C.
   (c) (1) The test results shall be sent to the designated
recipients with the following disclaimer:
   "The tests were conducted in a medically approved manner. Persons
receiving this test result should continue to monitor their own
health and should consult a physician as appropriate. Recipients of
these test results are subject to existing confidentiality
protections for any identifying information about HIV, hepatitis B,
or hepatitis C test results. Medical information regarding the HIV,
hepatitis B, or hepatitis C status of the source patient shall be
kept confidential and may not be further disclosed, except as
otherwise authorized by law."
   (2) The exposed individual shall also be informed of the penalties
for disclosure for which he or she would be personally liable
pursuant to Section 120980.
   If the person subject to the test is a minor, copies of the test
result shall also be sent to the minor's parents or guardian.
   (d) The court shall order all persons, other than the test
subject, who receive test results pursuant to Sections 121055,
121056, or 121060, to maintain the confidentiality of personal
identifying data relating to the test results except for disclosure
that may be necessary to obtain medical or psychological care or
advice.
   (e) The specimens and the results of tests ordered pursuant to
Sections 121055, 121056, and 121060 shall not be admissible evidence
in any criminal or juvenile proceeding.
   (f) Any person performing testing, transmitting test results, or
disclosing information pursuant to the provisions of this chapter
shall be immune from civil liability for any action undertaken in
accordance with the provisions of this chapter.



121070.  (a) Any medical personnel employed by, under contract to,
or receiving payment from the State of California, any agency
thereof, or any county, city, or city and county to provide service
at any state prison, the Medical Facility, any Youth Authority
institution, any county jail, city jail, hospital jail ward, juvenile
hall, juvenile detention facility, or any other facility where
adults are held in custody or minors are detained, or any medical
personnel employed, under contract, or receiving payment to provide
services to persons in custody or detained at any of the foregoing
facilities, who receives information as specified herein that an
inmate or minor at the facility has been exposed to or infected by
the AIDS virus or has an AIDS-related condition or any communicable
disease, shall communicate the information to the officer in charge
of the facility where the inmate or minor is in custody or detained.
   (b) Information subject to disclosure under subdivision (a) shall
include the following: any laboratory test that indicates exposure to
or infection by the AIDS virus, AIDS-related condition, or other
communicable diseases; any statement by the inmate or minor to
medical personnel that he or she has AIDS or an AIDS-related
condition, has been exposed to the AIDS virus, or has any
communicable disease; the results of any medical examination or test
that indicates that the inmate or minor has tested positive for
antibodies to the AIDS virus, has been exposed to the AIDS virus, has
an AIDS-related condition, or is infected with AIDS or any
communicable disease; provided, that information subject to
disclosure shall not include information communicated to or obtained
by a scientific research study pursuant to prior written approval
expressly waiving disclosure under this section by the officer in
charge of the facility.
   (c) The officer in charge of the facility shall notify all
employees, medical personnel, contract personnel, and volunteers
providing services at the facility who have or may have direct
contact with the inmate or minor in question, or with bodily fluids
from the inmate or minor, of the substance of the information
received under subdivisions (a) and (b) so that those persons can
take appropriate action to provide for the care of the inmate or
minor, the safety of other inmates or minors, and their own safety.
   (d) The officer in charge and all persons to whom information is
disclosed pursuant to this section shall maintain the confidentiality
of personal identifying data regarding the information, except for
disclosure authorized hereunder or as may be necessary to obtain
medical or psychological care or advice.
   (e) Any person who wilfully discloses personal identifying data
regarding information obtained under this section to any person who
is not a peace officer or an employee of a federal, state, or local
public health agency, except as authorized hereunder, by court order,
with the written consent of the patient or as otherwise authorized
by law, is guilty of a misdemeanor.