2006 Minnesota Statutes

181.973 PUBLIC SAFETY PEER COUNSELING AND DEBRIEFING.
A person engaged in a public safety peer counseling or a public safety peer debriefing shall
not, without the permission of the person being debriefed or counseled, be allowed to disclose any
information or opinion which the peer group member or peer counselor has acquired during the
process. However, this does not prohibit a peer counselor from disclosing information the peer
counselor reasonably believes indicates that the person may be a danger to self or others, if the
information is used only for the purpose of eliminating the danger to the person or others. Any
information or opinion disclosed in violation of this paragraph is not admissible as evidence in
any personnel or occupational licensing matter involving the person being debriefed or counseled.
For purposes of this section, "public safety peer counseling or debriefing" means a group
process oriented debriefing session, or one-to-one contact with a peer counselor, held for peace
officers, firefighters, medical emergency persons, dispatchers, or other persons involved with
public safety emergency services, that is established by any agency providing public safety
emergency services and is designed to help a person who has suffered an occupation-related
trauma, illness, or stress begin the process of healing and effectively dealing with the person's
problems or the use of the peer counselor for direction with referrals to better service these
occupation-related issues. A "peer counselor" means someone so designated by that agency.
History: 1995 c 259 art 1 s 38; 2006 c 260 art 3 s 6