Code of the District of Columbia

§ 4–1302.07. Expungement.

(a) The staff who maintain the Child Protection Register shall expunge an inconclusive report from the Child Protection Register one year after the date the report was entered in the Child Protection Register if no subsequent substantiated or inconclusive reports involving the person identified as responsible or possibly responsible for the abuse or neglect was entered in the Child Protection Register during the preceding one-year period.

(b) The staff that maintain the Child Protection Register shall expunge a substantiated report from the Child Protection Register:

(1) Three years after the date that the report was entered in the Child Protection Register if the child was not removed pursuant to § 4-1303.04 and no subsequent substantiated or inconclusive report involving the person identified as responsible for the abuse or neglect was entered in the Child Protection Register during the preceding 3-year period; or

(2) Three years from the date that the child, if removed pursuant to § 4-1303.04 and a court made a finding that the child was abused or neglected, was reunified with the person identified as responsible for the abuse or neglect, or 5 years from the date that the substantiated report was entered in the Child Protection Register, whichever occurs first; provided, that no subsequent substantiated or inconclusive report involving the person identified as responsible for the abuse or neglect was entered in the Child Protection Register.

(c) If, during the time a prior substantiated or inconclusive report is on the Child Protection Register, a subsequent substantiated or inconclusive report is entered in the Child Protection Register that identifies the same individual as responsible or possibly responsible for the abuse or neglect, the prior report shall not be expunged until the subsequent report is expunged from the Child Protection Register.

(d) The staff who maintain the Child Protection Register shall expunge from the Child Protection Register:

(1) Any unfounded report immediately upon such classification by the Agency; and

(2) Any material successfully challenged as incorrect pursuant to the rules adopted under § 4-1302.06.

(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section or other District law, substantiated reports involving a child fatality, sexual abuse, sex trafficking, or serious physical injury shall not be expunged from the Child Protection Register.

(f) For purposes of this section, a serious physical injury includes:

(1) Broken bones or fractures;

(2) Medical abuse;

(3) Adult-sized human bites;

(4) Cases involving children who have been tortured, tied, or confined;

(5) Suspicious burns or head injuries, or significant injuries with an implausible explanation;

(6) A physical injury that:

(A) Creates a substantial risk of death;

(B) Causes serious and protracted impairment of health or protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily organ;

(C) Involves hospitalization; or

(D) Requires surgical procedures.".

(g) The Mayor or the Mayor's designee shall have the right to overrule any expungement provided by this section on a case-by-case basis.