§346-4.5  Investigators; authority and
access to records.  (a)  The director shall appoint and commission one or
more investigators as the exigencies of the public service may require. 
Persons appointed and commissioned under this section shall have and may
exercise all the powers and authority of a police officer or of a deputy
sheriff, provided that the persons so appointed and commissioned shall not
carry any firearms.



(b)  Information necessary to investigate fraud
and other crimes relating to public assistance, to locate absent parents, to
establish paternity, to obtain and enforce court orders of support, and to
investigate incidents at the Hawaii youth correctional facilities, and
contained within the records of any agency, board, commission, authority, or
committee of the State or its political subdivisions shall be made available to
any commissioned investigator of the department of human services,
notwithstanding any provision for confidentiality. [L 1976, c 83, §1; am L
1979, c 176, §1; am L 1987, c 339, §4; am L 1989, c 211, §10; am L 1990, c 281,
§11; am L 2009, c 62, §2]



 



Cross References



 



  Medicaid fraud unit, see §28-91.



 



Case Notes



 



  State has compelling interest in ensuring that medicaid
program is not being defrauded.  481 F. Supp. 1028.