Part 2 unrecorded criminal-use information

Editorial approval scope: The team checked current source fidelity, scope boundaries, dates, arithmetic, reader usefulness, practical workflow, and general-information limitations.

Current rule checkpoint

The live criminal-use restriction in 42 CFR 2.12(a)(2) applies to covered SUD information whether or not recorded when it would be used to initiate or substantiate criminal charges against a patient or conduct a criminal investigation of the patient. Section 2.12(d)(1) extends the related recipient restrictions, and section 2.31(d) requires proceeding consent to remain separate from consent for another purpose. eCFR displays Title 42 as current through August 20, 2026 and last amended August 13, 2026.

Medium does not control coverage

Current 42 CFR 2.12 expressly says whether or not recorded. Classify who obtained the information, program status, federal assistance, purpose, date, patient identification, proposed recipient, proposed use, and legal authority.

Operational systems should include oral events

Policies should cover phone calls, meetings, hallway discussions, testimony, interviews, live chat, voicemail, video, screenshots, notes, exports, summaries, and workforce memory. Provide a rapid route for subpoenas, warrants, investigators, prosecutors, and agency requests.

Preserve the request and response

Record the requester, agency, legal process, target, information sought, deadline, custodian, hold, counsel decision, consent or court-order analysis, information produced, testimony, objections, and final disposition. Avoid informal confirmations outside the approved path.

Inventory knowledge beyond documents

Identify people who learned covered information through treatment, referral, intake, meetings, observation, phone, video, voicemail, live chat, testimony, screen sharing, or system use. Map what they know, the source program, acquisition purpose and date, patient, recipient, and where later summaries or memory-based statements could enter an investigation or proceeding.

Do not limit legal holds and response procedures to chart exports. Interviews, confirmations, denials, oral testimony, informal calls, generated summaries, and a witness's recollection can communicate covered information even when no original file is produced.

Screen every criminal request and use

Record requester, agency, target patient, investigation or charge, legal instrument, information or testimony sought, source, deadline, proposed recipient, purpose, and authority. Route subpoenas, warrants, grand-jury demands, interviews, testimony, administrative inquiries, and informal law-enforcement contact to experienced Part 2 counsel.

Lawful possession or a valid demand under another law does not by itself resolve Part 2. If consent is proposed, verify the current proceeding-specific requirements. If an order is proposed, identify the applicable Part 2 provision, scope, target, findings, protections, and expiration.

Control conversations and follow-up

Give workforce members a neutral response and immediate escalation path. Protect patient status while authenticating the requester. Preserve the request, notes, recordings when lawful, counsel decision, objections, information withheld or produced, testimony, recipient, method, and final disposition.

After any approved response, verify that oral and written content matched the decision. Remove temporary access, secure working files, apply retention and legal hold, and investigate informal or excessive disclosure through incident procedures.

Example

Ten government requests are sampled. Seven capture written and oral information, target, proposed use, authority, scope, and counsel decision; three inventory only exported records. Completeness is 7 of 10 requests.

Make the response decision explicit

Classify each request as denied, opposed, narrowed, supported by proceeding-specific consent, supported by a matching Part 2 order, or unresolved. Record the patient, source, information or testimony, investigation, purpose, requester, authority, scope, decision-maker, and dates.

Keep unresolved information restricted. Give potential witnesses a named legal contact. Tell them which facts they may acknowledge, which they must not discuss, and how to document a follow-up approach.

For an approved response, prepare a written and oral scope sheet. Brief every speaker before testimony or interview. Have counsel track questions that move beyond the supported scope. Preserve objections and any instruction not to answer.

After the response, compare the actual production and testimony with the decision. Contain excess disclosure, contact the recipient when directed, preserve evidence, and complete incident analysis. Retest the escalation path with a realistic oral request.

Unrecorded-information checklist

• inventory oral, observed, remembered, live, derived, and recorded information;
• identify the patient, source program, acquisition purpose, recipient, and proposed use;
• route every investigation, charge, warrant, subpoena, interview, and testimony request;
• verify proceeding-specific consent or the exact Part 2 order when applicable;
• provide neutral scripts and protect patient status during requester authentication; and
• preserve decisions, oral responses, productions, objections, and corrective follow-up.

The absence of a document does not remove the criminal-use restriction. Current Part 2, the information's source and purpose, recipient facts, state law, legal process, and the proposed action need qualified counsel review.