§ 20-10-1206 — Right of entry and inspection

(a) (1) The Department of Human Services and any duly designated officer or employee thereof or an ombudsman shall have the right to enter upon and into the premises of any long-term care facility at any time in order to determine the state of compliance with this subchapter and the rules in force pursuant to this subchapter. (2) The right of entry and inspection shall also extend to any premise which the department has reason to believe is being operated or maintained as a facility without a license, but no such entry or inspection of any premises shall be made without the permission of the owner or person in charge thereof, unless an inspection order is first obtained from a circuit court upon a showing of reasonable cause to inspect that certain premises are being maintained and operated in violation of this subchapter and statutory licensure requirements. (b) Any records of a long-term care facility determined by the Office of Long-Term Care to be necessary and essential to establish lawful compliance with any rules or standards shall be made available to the office on the premises of the facility, with the exception of quality assurance committee records.

Legislative History

Acts 1999, No. 1181, §§ 8, 9.