(1)(a) Any person who has completed a confidential intermediary training program
that meets the standards set forth by the commission shall be responsible for
notifying the commission that his or her name should be included on the list of
confidential intermediaries to be maintained by the commission and made available
to the judicial department. The commission shall adopt rules to determine when and
under what conditions the name of a confidential intermediary shall be removed
from the list available to the judicial department.
(b)Once a person is included on the list of confidential intermediaries, he or
she shall be:
(I)Authorized to inspect confidential relinquishment and adoption records,
post-adoption records, and dependency and neglect records, including but not
limite
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(1) (a) Any person who has completed a confidential intermediary training program
that meets the standards set forth by the commission shall be responsible for
notifying the commission that his or her name should be included on the list of
confidential intermediaries to be maintained by the commission and made available
to the judicial department. The commission shall adopt rules to determine when and
under what conditions the name of a confidential intermediary shall be removed
from the list available to the judicial department.
(b) Once a person is included on the list of confidential intermediaries, he or
she shall be:
(I) Authorized to inspect confidential relinquishment and adoption records,
post-adoption records, and dependency and neglect records, including but not
limited to court files, within forty-five days after a motion to the court is filed by the
following persons:
(A) An adult adoptee;
(B) An adoptive parent, custodial grandparent, or legal guardian of a minor
adoptee;
(C) A biological parent or an adult biological sibling or half-sibling of an
adult adoptee;
(D) An adult descendant of the adoptee or the adoptive parent, spouse of an
adoptee, adult stepchild, or adopted adult sibling of an adoptee with the notarized
written consent of the adult adoptee;
(E) A biological grandparent of an adoptee with the notarized written
consent of the biological parent. No written consent is required if the biological
parent is deceased.
(F) The legal representative of any of the individuals listed in sub-subparagraphs (A) to (E) of this subparagraph (I);
(G) A former foster child who may or may not have been adopted, who is
eighteen years of age or older, and who is searching for a birth sibling who is also
eighteen years of age or older, who may or may not have been adopted, and who
may or may not have been in the foster care system;
(II) Available, subject to time constraints, for appointment by the court to act
as a confidential intermediary for any of the parties listed in subparagraph (I) of this
paragraph (b).
(2) (a) Any of the parties listed in subparagraph (I) of paragraph (b) of
subsection (1) of this section, any of whom are eighteen years of age or older, may
file a motion, with supporting affidavit, in the court where the adoption took place,
to appoint one or more confidential intermediaries for the purpose of determining
the whereabouts of such individual's unknown relative or relatives; except that no
one shall seek to determine the whereabouts of a relative who is younger than
eighteen years of age. The court may rule on said motion and affidavit without
hearing and may appoint a trained confidential intermediary.
(b) The court-appointed confidential intermediary shall make a diligent
search of the adoption records and post-adoption records in an effort to find the
sought-after relative. If the confidential intermediary successfully locates the
relative sought, the confidential intermediary shall provide that relative with the
opportunity to:
(I) Consent to or to refuse to allow contact by the person seeking contact;
(II) Fill out a contact preference form and updated medical history statement
as prescribed in section 19-5-305 (1.5);
(III) Repealed.
(2.5) For purposes of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section, legal
guardian shall not include a governmental entity of any foreign country from which
a child has been adopted or any representative of such governmental entity.
(3) Any information obtained by the confidential intermediary during the
course of his or her investigation shall be kept strictly confidential and shall be
utilized only for the purpose of arranging a contact between the individual who
initiated the search and the sought-after biological relative or for the purpose of
obtaining consent for the release of adoption records.
(4) (a) When a sought-after biological relative is located by a confidential
intermediary on behalf of the individual who initiated the search, the confidential
intermediary shall obtain consent from both parties that they wish to personally
communicate with one another.
(b) Contact shall be made between the parties involved in the investigation
only when consent for such contact has been received by the court.
(c) If consent for personal communication is not obtained from both parties,
all relinquishment and adoption records and any information obtained by any
confidential intermediary during the course of his or her investigation shall be
returned to the court and shall remain confidential.
(5) All confidential intermediaries shall inform both the requesting biological
relative and the sought-after biological relative of the existence of the voluntary
adoption registry set forth in section 25-2-113.5, C.R.S.
(6) Any person acting as a confidential intermediary who knowingly fails to
comply with the provisions of subsections (3) and (4) of this section commits a civil
infraction.