CARSON CITY -- Information that identifies children who were killed or suffered near-fatal injuries because of abuse cannot be released to the public by social welfare agencies, legislators were told Friday.

Welfare or social services agencies could be subject to penalties if they breach confidentiality requirements under the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, according to an opinion by Deputy Attorney General Cynthia Pyzel.

Her opinion comes as the state completes a review of the cause of 79 child deaths in Clark County between January 2001 and December 2004.

The county had reported 35 children had died because of abuse or mistreatment during the period, but the actual number may have been 114. A review team and a national consultant examined 79 questionable death cases earlier this month.

Friday, the state released its Statewide Child Death Report, which showed 407 Nevada children died during 2004. Other than natural causes, the leading cause of death was motor vehicle accidents. Nineteen children were murdered, 11 committed suicide and 17 died of undetermined causes, according to the report.

Several media outlets in Southern Nevada, including the Review-Journal, have filed lawsuits to learn the identities and the cause of deaths of children in Clark County.

State Health and Human Services Director Michael Willden told a legislative committee looking at children's deaths that he would like to release more information, but he is powerless because of federal laws.

"Our intent is maximum transparency, but we need to comply with the laws," he said. "I can't give out more. We are all frustrated."

The refusal by state and local agencies to release information infuriated Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas. In an unusual move, she requested and quickly won approval from the committee to draw up legislation to require social services agencies in Nevada to make as much information as legally allowed available on children's deaths and near-deaths. The Legislature cannot act until it goes into session next February, however.

Buckley noted the only information given in one report on the abuse of a child was that the child was "now in foster care."

"It is our responsibility to protect the children in our community," Buckley said. "I am beyond frustration. We should insist information should be provided immediately. It seems we are trying to keep information from the public."

Willden responded, "I don't want to put the state and agencies in a position where the release of information results in a lawsuit."

But Buckley noted that current state law would allow the release of far more information than that a child is "now in foster care."

Pyzel said a social service agency could remove personal identification information from child abuse cases and release details to the public.

That information "must" be released to the public, she said.

Buckley noted that Sharon Fuji, regional administrator for the federal Administration for Children and Families, stated in a letter that information about the causes of a child's death, including names, could potentially be disclosed to the public under the federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act.

Pyzel said her opinion was that federal law and two others "allow the sharing within the system of confidentiality, and do not allow the publication of this information to the public at large."

Clark County Deputy Manager Darryl Martin said the county wants to disclose information about abuse cases, but has been blocked by the district attorney's office.

"If it wasn't for the law, we would release everything," he said. "The legal staff says we can't until some federal laws are changed."

Deputy District Attorney Mark Wood said there is "tension" between federal and state laws on the information that can be released.

The "overdisclosure" of information could lead to criminal sanctions against the agency that reveals the information, he said.