304.47-055 Privileged and confidential information -- Permitted disclosure by commissioner. (1) Documents, materials, or other information in the possession or control of the commissioner that is provided according to this subtitle shall be confidential by law and privileged, and shall not be subject to the Kentucky Open Records Act, KRS 61.872 to KRS 61.884. These documents, materials, or other information shall not be subject to subpoena, and shall not be subject to discovery or admissible in evidence in any private civil action, unless, after notice to the commissioner and a hearing, a court of competent jurisdiction determines the commissioner would not be unnecessarily hindered. However, the commissioner may use the documents, materials, or other information in the furtherance of any regulatory or legal action brought as a part of the commissioner's official duties. (2) Neither the commissioner nor any person who received documents, materials, or other information while acting under the authority of the commissioner shall be permitted or required to testify in any private civil action concerning any confidential documents, materials, or information subject to subsection (1) of this section. (3) In order to assist in the performance of the commissioner's duties, the commissioner: (a) May share documents, materials, or other information, including the confidential and privileged documents, materials, or information subject to subsections (1) and (2) of this section, with other state, federal, and international regulatory agencies, with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, its affiliates or subsidiaries, and with local, state, federal, and international law enforcement authorities, if the recipient agrees to maintain the confidentiality and privileged status of the documents, materials, or other information; (b) May receive documents, materials, or other information, including otherwise confidential and privileged documents, materials, or information from the National Association of its affiliates or subsidiaries, and from regulatory and law enforcement officials of other foreign or domestic jurisdictions, and shall maintain as confidential and privileged any documents, materials, or information received with notice or the understanding that it is confidential and privileged under the laws of the jurisdiction that is the source of the documents, materials, or information; Insurance Commissioners, (c) May enter into agreements governing the sharing and use of information including the furtherance of any regulatory or legal action brought as part of the recipient's official duties. (4) No waiver of any applicable privilege or claim of confidentiality in the documents, materials, or information shall occur as a result of disclosure to the commissioner under this subtitle or as a result of sharing as authorized in subsection (3) of this section. Effective: July 15, 2010 History: Amended 2010 Ky. Acts ch. 24, sec. 1587, effective July 15, 2010. -- Created 2000 Ky. Acts ch. 253, sec. 2, effective July 14, 2000.