Substitute House Bill No. 6347
Public Act No. 17-168
AN ACT CONCERNING PET OWNER ACCESS TO STATE AGENCY RECORDS OF INVESTIGATION FOR COMPLAINTS OF WRONGDOING BY VETERINARIANS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsections (a) and (b) of section 20-204a of the general statutes are repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2017):
(a) The department shall investigate each allegation of any act or omission by a veterinarian specified in section 20-202. The investigation shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of section 19a-14 to determine if probable cause exists to issue a statement of charges and to institute proceedings against the veterinarian. Such investigation shall be concluded not later than twelve months from the date the allegation is submitted to the department.
(b) Except as provided in subsections (c) and (d) of this section, the investigation shall be confidential and not subject to disclosure under section 1-210 and no person may disclose knowledge of the investigation to a third party unless the veterinarian requests that the investigation be open. The owner of any animal that is the subject of such an investigation shall not be deemed a third party to such an investigation for purposes of disclosure under this section.