41-3-1012. Presence of employees and participants at reviews and deliberations of board. (1) Unless excused from doing so by the board, the department and any other agency directly responsible for the care and placement of the child shall require the presence of employees having knowledge of the case at board reviews.

(2) The board may require the presence of specific employees of the department or any other agency or other persons at board reviews. If an employee fails to be present at the review, the board may request a court order. The court may require the employee to be present and show cause why the employee should not be compelled to appear before the board.

(3) The persons who are allowed to be present at a review include representatives of the department or any agency directly responsible for the care or placement of the child, the parents and their attorneys, the foster parents, a relative caring for the child, the preadoptive parents, the surrogate parents, the child who is the subject of the review if 12 years of age or older, the child's attorney or the child's assigned attorney, the guardian ad litem, the court-appointed special advocate of the child, the county attorney or deputy attorney general actively involved in the case, a representative of the child's tribe if the child is an Indian, and other interested persons subject to 41-3-205 and authorized to be present by the board.

(4) Deliberations concerning the recommendations that will be made by the board must be open to all present at the review, except that the presiding officer may close all or part of a deliberation if there has been a threat of a reprisal made by someone who will attend the review or if confidentiality laws preclude open deliberations.

(5) For the purposes of bringing criminal charges against a person who threatens a board member or staff, the board members and board staff must be considered public servants as defined in 45-2-101.

(6) As used in this section, the following definitions apply:

(a) "Close", with regard to deliberations, means that only the board members and board staff may remain in attendance.

(b) "Open" means that review participants may remain in attendance during the deliberations to observe and be available for questions from the board.

(c) "Presence" includes telephone participation, except that a representative of the department knowledgeable about the case at the time of the review must be physically present if required.