Minor Autopsy Report Release Requirements

The act specifies that an autopsy report prepared in connection with the death of a minor is confidential and may be disclosed by the county coroner to another person or entity only in accordance with certain exceptions. The report is not a public record for purposes of the Colorado open records act.

Under the act, upon the request of an entity or individual entitled to the report, the coroner or the coroner's designee shall provide a copy of the autopsy report prepared in connection with the death of a minor to:

• A parent or legal guardian of the deceased;
• A law enforcement or criminal justice agency that is investigating the death or prosecuting a criminal violation arising out of the death;
• A requesting party in a civil case;
• Counsel for the defendant or the respondent for discovery purposes in a criminal case only if discovery has not otherwise been provided and in accordance with any protective order;
• A state, local, or regional child fatality prevention review team;
• The Colorado department of public health and environment as necessary for the collection of data in accordance with the Colorado violent death reporting system and the Colorado unintentional drug overdose reporting system;
• The Colorado child fatality review team;
• A county department of human or social services;
• The division of youth services in the Colorado department of human services;
• A health-care facility where the deceased had received treatment;
• A community clinic or a treating hospital for inclusion within the medical records of the deceased;
• An eye bank, organ procurement organization, or tissue bank;
• A local or regional domestic violence fatality review team;
• The Colorado department of human services in connection with the investigation of a fatality that has occurred within any facility licensed under the "Child Care Licensing Act";
• The office of the child protection ombudsman;
• A health-care provider that had previously established a patient-provider relationship with the deceased;
• The Colorado maternal mortality review committee for the purpose of conducting public health death reviews of deceased individuals who are pregnant or within one year postpartum;
• The Colorado department of public health and environment and county public health agencies for the purpose of data collection related to the department's authority to investigate and control the causes of epidemic and communicable diseases and related board of health rules;
• The Colorado department of public health and environment's health facility and emergency medical services division for the purpose of health facilities and emergency medical services investigations; or
• The public if the death occurs while the minor is in the custody or under the supervision of the state or a local government.

Upon written request by any individual, the coroner shall not release a copy of the autopsy report and instead shall release the cause, time, place, and manner of the minor's death, and the name, age, gender, and race or ethnicity of the deceased minor. This information must be released within 3 days of the request or 3 days of receiving the information, whichever is later.

Under the act, any person may petition a district court to allow the person access to an autopsy report prepared in connection with the death of a minor. The petitioner shall serve process on the coroner and a members of the deceased minor's next of kin pursuant to the Colorado rules of civil procedure. The district court shall hold a hearing including the petitioner, coroner, and a member of the deceased minor's next of kin, if available. The hearing must be conducted under the simplified process in the Colorado rules of civil procedure.

The district court shall provide access if:

• Public disclosure of the report substantially outweighs the harm to the privacy interests of the deceased and members of the family of the deceased; and
• The information sought by the petitioner is not otherwise publicly available.

A coroner is required to provide the name of the deceased minor and the name and address of a member of the deceased minor's next of kin to the district court, which shall disclose that information to the petitioner under a protective order for the purpose of service of process.

APPROVED by Governor May 22, 2024

EFFECTIVE January 1, 2025
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)