Kentucky Statutes 218B.135 – Cabinet to maintain confidential list of cardholders — Exemptions from Open Records Act — Certain information not exempt – Penalty
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(1) The cabinet shall maintain a confidential list of the persons to whom the cabinet has issued registry identification cards and their addresses, telephone numbers, and registry identification numbers.
(2) The cabinet shall, only at a cardholder‘s request, confirm his or her status as a registered qualified patient, visiting qualified patient, or designated caregiver to a third party, such as a landlord, employer, school, medical professional, or court.
(3) The following information received and records kept pursuant to the cabinet’s administrative regulations promulgated for purposes of administering this chapter shall be confidential and exempt from the Open Records Act, KRS § 61.870 to
61.884, and shall not be subject to disclosure to any individual or public or private entity, except as necessary for authorized employees of the cabinet to perform official duties pursuant to this chapter:
(a) Applications and renewals, their contents, and supporting information submitted by qualified patients, visiting qualified patients, and designated caregivers in compliance with KRS § 218B.055, including information regarding their designated caregivers and medicinal cannabis practitioners;
(b) The individual names and other information identifying persons to whom the cabinet has issued registry identification cards;
(c) Any dispensing information required to be kept under KRS § 218B.110 or the cabinet’s administrative regulations which shall only identify cardholders by their registry identification numbers and shall not contain names or other personal identifying information; and
(d) Any cabinet hard drives or other data-recording media that are no longer in use and that contain cardholder information. These hard drives and other media shall be destroyed after a reasonable time or after the data is otherwise stored.
Data subject to this section shall not be combined or linked in any manner with any other list or database maintained by the cabinet and shall not be used for any purpose not provided for in this chapter.
(4) Nothing in this section shall preclude the following:
(a) Notification by the cabinet’s employees to state or local law enforcement about falsified or fraudulent information submitted to the cabinet or of other apparently criminal violations of this chapter if the employee who suspects that falsified or fraudulent information has been submitted has conferred with his or her supervisor and both agree that circumstances exist that warrant reporting;
(b) Notification by the cabinet’s employees to a state licensing board if the cabinet has reasonable suspicion to believe a medicinal cannabis practitioner did not have a bona fide practitioner-patient relationship with a patient for whom he or she signed a written certification, if the cabinet has reasonable suspicion to believe the medicinal cannabis practitioner violated the standard of care, or for other suspected violations of this chapter by a medicinal
cannabis practitioner;
(c) Notification by dispensary agents to the cabinet of a suspected violation or attempted violation of this chapter or the administrative regulations promulgated thereunder;
(d) Verification by the cabinet of registry identification cards issued pursuant to
KRS § 218B.055, 218B.060, and 218B.065; and
(e) The submission of the report required by KRS § 218B.020 to the General
Assembly.
(5) It shall be a misdemeanor punishable by up to one hundred eighty (180) days in jail for any person, including an employee or official of the cabinet or another state agency or local government, to knowingly breach the confidentiality of information obtained pursuant to this chapter.
Effective: June 29, 2023
History: Created 2023 Ky. Acts ch. 146, sec. 26, effective June 29, 2023.
(2) The cabinet shall, only at a cardholder‘s request, confirm his or her status as a registered qualified patient, visiting qualified patient, or designated caregiver to a third party, such as a landlord, employer, school, medical professional, or court.
Terms Used In Kentucky Statutes 218B.135
- Cabinet: means the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. See Kentucky Statutes 218B.010
- Cardholder: means :
(a) A registered qualified patient, designated caregiver, or visiting qualified patient who has applied for, obtained, and possesses a valid registry identification card issued by the cabinet. See Kentucky Statutes 218B.010 - Designated caregiver: means a person who has registered as such with the cabinet under KRS §. See Kentucky Statutes 218B.010
- Dispensary: means an entity licensed as such under KRS §. See Kentucky Statutes 218B.010
- Medicinal cannabis practitioner: means a physician or an advanced practice registered nurse who is authorized to prescribe controlled substances under KRS
314. See Kentucky Statutes 218B.010 - Qualified patient: means a person who has obtained a written certification from a medicinal cannabis practitioner with whom he or she has a bona fide practitioner- patient relationship. See Kentucky Statutes 218B.010
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes territories, outlying possessions, and the District of Columbia. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
- Visiting qualified patient: means a person who has registered as such through the cabinet as required under this chapter or who possesses a valid out-of-state registry identification card and documentation of having been diagnosed with a qualifying medical condition. See Kentucky Statutes 218B.010
- Written certification: means a document dated and signed by a medicinal cannabis practitioner, that:
(a) States, that in the medicinal cannabis practitioner's professional medical opinion, the patient may receive medical, therapeutic, or palliative benefit from the use of medicinal cannabis. See Kentucky Statutes 218B.010
(3) The following information received and records kept pursuant to the cabinet’s administrative regulations promulgated for purposes of administering this chapter shall be confidential and exempt from the Open Records Act, KRS § 61.870 to
61.884, and shall not be subject to disclosure to any individual or public or private entity, except as necessary for authorized employees of the cabinet to perform official duties pursuant to this chapter:
(a) Applications and renewals, their contents, and supporting information submitted by qualified patients, visiting qualified patients, and designated caregivers in compliance with KRS § 218B.055, including information regarding their designated caregivers and medicinal cannabis practitioners;
(b) The individual names and other information identifying persons to whom the cabinet has issued registry identification cards;
(c) Any dispensing information required to be kept under KRS § 218B.110 or the cabinet’s administrative regulations which shall only identify cardholders by their registry identification numbers and shall not contain names or other personal identifying information; and
(d) Any cabinet hard drives or other data-recording media that are no longer in use and that contain cardholder information. These hard drives and other media shall be destroyed after a reasonable time or after the data is otherwise stored.
Data subject to this section shall not be combined or linked in any manner with any other list or database maintained by the cabinet and shall not be used for any purpose not provided for in this chapter.
(4) Nothing in this section shall preclude the following:
(a) Notification by the cabinet’s employees to state or local law enforcement about falsified or fraudulent information submitted to the cabinet or of other apparently criminal violations of this chapter if the employee who suspects that falsified or fraudulent information has been submitted has conferred with his or her supervisor and both agree that circumstances exist that warrant reporting;
(b) Notification by the cabinet’s employees to a state licensing board if the cabinet has reasonable suspicion to believe a medicinal cannabis practitioner did not have a bona fide practitioner-patient relationship with a patient for whom he or she signed a written certification, if the cabinet has reasonable suspicion to believe the medicinal cannabis practitioner violated the standard of care, or for other suspected violations of this chapter by a medicinal
cannabis practitioner;
(c) Notification by dispensary agents to the cabinet of a suspected violation or attempted violation of this chapter or the administrative regulations promulgated thereunder;
(d) Verification by the cabinet of registry identification cards issued pursuant to
KRS § 218B.055, 218B.060, and 218B.065; and
(e) The submission of the report required by KRS § 218B.020 to the General
Assembly.
(5) It shall be a misdemeanor punishable by up to one hundred eighty (180) days in jail for any person, including an employee or official of the cabinet or another state agency or local government, to knowingly breach the confidentiality of information obtained pursuant to this chapter.
Effective: June 29, 2023
History: Created 2023 Ky. Acts ch. 146, sec. 26, effective June 29, 2023.