Sec. 17. (a) Confidentiality. Except as expressly allowed by the exceptions defined below, and subject to Indiana law, the State agrees to maintain in confidence and to never disclose to any third party any Confidential Information provided to the State by the Band or prepared by the State through its access to such Confidential Information under the terms of this Compact. The State, including without limitation any State official, employee, agency, or entity that has received any such Confidential Information from the Band shall: (i) maintain all such Confidential Information in a secure place accessible only to authorized State officials and employees, and (ii) adopt procedures and regulations to protect the Confidential Information from unauthorized disclosure without the prior approval of a duly authorized representative of the Band. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to prohibit:

(1) The furnishing of any information to a law enforcement or regulatory agency of the Federal or State government or to the State government pursuant to a lawful request of such agency or government;

(2) The State from making known the names of persons engaged in the conduct of Class III gaming activities pursuant to the terms of this Compact, the locations at which Class III gaming activities are conducted, or the dates on which such activities are conducted pursuant to the terms of this Compact;

(3) Publishing the terms of this Compact;

(4) Disclosing information as necessary to audit, investigate, prosecute, or arbitrate suspected violations of this Compact, subject to all limitations in this Compact;

(5) Complying with any law, subpoena, or court order, provided that the State first notifies the Band of any request or demand for the release of Confidential Information under this section in order to provide the Band an opportunity to challenge such request or demand or to initiate proceedings under IC 4-29.5-7 or other applicable law to resolve any dispute regarding the State’s anticipated disclosure of such Confidential Information.

     (b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), the Band agrees that the State may disclose the following documents and information to the public: the Pokagon Band Gaming Regulatory Act and the Pokagon Band Gaming Regulations; final rulings of the Pokagon Band Gaming Commission except to the extent that such rulings are subject to a confidentiality order; other information and documents of the Pokagon Band Gaming Commission and the Band’s Class III gaming operations that have been made available to the public; the amount of annual revenue sharing payments to the State pursuant to IC 4-29.5-17; and correspondence between the Band or a Band entity and the State or a State entity, unless such correspondence is specifically marked or labeled “Confidential”.

As added by P.L.171-2021, SEC.1.