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KRE 506 COUNSELOR-CLIENT PRIVILEGE
(a) Definitions. As used in this rule:
(1) A
"counselor" includes:
(A) A certified school counselor who
meets the requirements of the Kentucky Board of Education and who is
duly appointed and regularly employed for the purpose of counseling
in a public or private school of this state;
(B) A sexual assault
counselor, who is a person engaged in a rape crisis center, as
defined in KRS Chapter
421, who has undergone forty (40) hours of
training and is under the control of a direct services supervisor of
a rape crisis center, whose primary purpose is the rendering of
advice, counseling, or assistance to victims of sexual assault;
(C)
A certified professional art therapist who is engaged to conduct art
therapy pursuant to KRS 309.130 to
309.1399;
(D) A
certified marriage and family therapist as defined in KRS
335.300 who is engaged to conduct marriage and family therapy
pursuant to KRS 335.300 to 335.399;
(E) A certified
professional counselor as defined in KRS
335.500;
(F) An
individual who provides crisis response services as a member of the
community crisis response team or local community crisis response
team pursuant to KRS 36.250 to 36.270;
(G) A victim
advocate as defined in KRS 421.570 except a victim advocate who
is employed by a Commonwealth's attorney pursuant to KRS 15.760
or a county attorney pursuant to KRS 69.350; and
(H) A
certified fee-based pastoral counselor as defined in KRS
335.600 who is engaged to conduct fee-based pastoral counseling
pursuant to KRS 335.600 to
335.699.
(2) A
"client" is a person who consults or is interviewed or
assisted by a counselor for the purpose of obtaining professional or
crisis response services from the counselor.
(3) A communication is "confidential" if it is not
intended to be disclosed to third persons, except persons present to
further the interest of the client in the consultation or interview,
persons reasonably necessary for the transmission of the
communication, or persons present during the communication at the
direction of the counselor, including members of the client's
family.
(b) General rule of
privilege. A client has a privilege to
refuse to disclose and to prevent any other person from disclosing
confidential communications made for the purpose of counseling the
client, between himself, his counselor, and persons present at the
direction of the counselor, including members of the client's
family.
(c) Who may claim the
privilege. The privilege may be
claimed by the client, his guardian or conservator, or the personal
representative of a deceased client. The person who was the
counselor (or that person's employer) may claim the privilege in the
absence of the client, but only on behalf of the client.
(d) Exceptions. There is no privilege under this rule for any relevant
communication:
(1) If the client is asserting his physical, mental,
or emotional condition as an element of a claim or defense; or,
after the client's death, in any proceeding in which any party
relies upon the condition as an element of a claim or defense.
(2)
If the judge finds:
(A) That the substance of the communication is
relevant to an essential issue in the case;
(B) That there are no
available alternate means to obtain the substantial equivalent of
the communication; and
(C) That the need for the information
outweighs the interest protected by the privilege. The court may
receive evidence in camera to make findings under this rule.
[1998 c 525, sec 13, c 86, sec 6,
eff. 7-15-98; 1996 c 364, sec
13, c 189, sec 3, c 316, sec 6, eff. 7-15-96; 1994 c 352, sec 13, c
337, sec 11, eff. 7-15-94; 1992 c 324, sec 11, 34, eff. 7-1-92; 1990
c 88, sec 28]
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