(1) There shall be
established in the state department a state parent locator service to assist
delegate child support enforcement units or their authorized agents, other states,
and agencies of the federal government in the location of parents who have or
appear to have abandoned children who qualify under section 26-13-106.
(2) To effectuate the purposes of subsection (1) of this section, the executive
director may request and shall receive from departments, boards, bureaus, or other
agencies of the state, including but not limited to law enforcement agencies, or any
of its political subdivisions, and the same are authorized to provide, such assistance
and data as will enable the state department and delegate child support
enforcement units or their authorized agents properly to carry out their powers and
duties to locate such parents for the purpose of establishing parentage or
establishing, modifying, or enforcing child support obligations. In addition, any
federal agency or such agency's authorized agents properly carrying out their
powers and duties to locate a parent for the purpose of establishing parentage or
establishing, modifying, or enforcing child support obligations may request and
shall have access to any motor vehicle or law enforcement system used by the
state to locate an individual. Any records established pursuant to the provisions of
this section shall be available only to the following:
(a) Any state or local agency or official seeking to collect child support
under the state plan or the agency's or official's authorized agents;
(b) The attorney general, district attorneys, and county attorneys;
(c) Courts having jurisdiction in support or abandonment proceedings or
actions to establish child support against a parent or to issue an order against a
parent for the allocation of parental responsibilities or parenting time rights or any
agent of such court;
(d) The obligee parent, legal guardian, attorney, or agent of a child who is not
receiving aid under Title IV-A of the federal Social Security Act, as amended,
when a court order is provided; and
(e) United States agents or attorneys for use with the federal parent locator
service in connection with a parental kidnapping or child custody case, as
authorized by federal law.
(3) (a) (I) All departments and agencies of the state and local governments,
including but not limited to law enforcement agencies, shall cooperate in the
location of parents who have abandoned or deserted children who qualify under
section 26-13-106; and, on request of a delegate child support enforcement unit or
its authorized agent, the state department, or the district attorney of any judicial
district in this state, they shall supply any information on hand, notwithstanding any
other provisions of law making such information confidential, concerning:
(A) The location of any individual, including the individual's social security
number, most recent address, and the name, address, and employer identification
number of the individual's employer, or facilitating the discovery of such individual's
location, who is under an obligation to pay child support, against whom such an
obligation is sought, or to whom such an obligation is owed;
(B) The individual's wages or other income from employment and any
benefits of employment, including any right to or enrollment in group health-care
coverage; and
(C) The type, status, location, and amount of any assets of, or debts owed by
or to, any such individual.
(II) The department of revenue shall furnish, at no cost to inquiring
departments and agencies, such information as may be necessary to effectuate the
purposes of this article. Any information so provided may be transmitted to those
persons or entities specified in paragraph (a.5) of this subsection (3). The
procedures whereby this information will be requested and provided shall be
established pursuant to rules and regulations of the state department. The state
department and delegate child support enforcement units shall use such
information only for the purposes of administering child support enforcement under
this title, and the district attorney shall use it only for the purpose of establishing
parentage or establishing, modifying, or enforcing child support obligations. The
state department and delegate child support enforcement units shall not use the
information, or disclose it, for any other purpose. Any violation or misuse of this
information will be subject to any civil or criminal penalties provided by law.
(a.5) The state parent locator service shall only accept applications from and
transmit Colorado and federal parent locator information to:
(I) Any state or local agency or official seeking to collect child support under
the state plan or the agency's or official's authorized agents;
(II) The attorney general, district attorneys, and county attorneys;
(III) Courts having jurisdiction in support and abandonment proceedings or
actions to establish child support against a parent or to issue an order against a
parent for the allocation of parental responsibilities or parenting time rights or any
agent of such court;
(IV) The obligee parent, legal guardian, attorney, or agent of a child who is
not receiving aid under Title IV-A of the federal Social Security Act, as amended,
when a court order is provided;
(V) United States agents or attorneys for use with the federal parent locator
service in connection with a parental kidnapping or child custody case, as
authorized by federal law; and
(VI) The court when a court order is provided from a parent seeking to
enforce a child custody, parental responsibilities, or parenting time order.
(b) Nothing in this subsection (3) shall be construed to compel the disclosure
of information relating to a deserting parent who is a recipient of aid under a public
assistance program for which federal aid is paid to this state, if such information is
required to be kept confidential by the federal law or regulations relating to such
program, or to compel the disclosure of any information disclosed in any document,
report, or return made confidential by section 39-21-113, C.R.S.
(c) The state parent locator service or the equivalent of a state child support
enforcement agency or delegate child support enforcement unit of any other state
may initiate a request requiring any employer, trustee, payer of funds, or other
employer located within this state or doing business in this state to provide any
information on the employment, compensation, and benefits of any individual for
whom information is known. Compliance with such a request shall not subject the
employer, trustee, or payer of funds to liability to the obligor for disclosing such
information without a subpoena pursuant to this paragraph (c). The state
department shall not use the provisions of this paragraph (c) for the information-gathering purposes of the financial institution data match system required by
section 26-13-128.
(d) The state parent locator service or a delegate child support enforcement
unit may obtain information from credit bureaus on the whereabouts, income, and
assets of individuals pursuant to the provisions of the federal Fair Credit Reporting
Act in order to provide the services set forth in section 26-13-105.
(e) The state parent locator service or a delegate child support enforcement
unit may initiate a request requiring any person located within this state or doing
business in this state who is in possession or control of personal property or
information concerning the location, benefits, income, and assets of parents with a
child support obligation to provide such information to the requesting agency.
Compliance with such request shall not subject the holder to liability to the obligor
for disclosing such information without a subpoena pursuant to this paragraph (e).
(e.5) The state parent locator service may initiate an administrative
subpoena requiring any public employee retirement benefit plan or financial
institution located within this state or doing business in this state that is in
possession or control of personal property or information concerning the location,
benefits, income, and assets of a person who owes or is owed an obligation for child
support debt, retroactive child support, or child support arrearages or against
whom an obligation is sought to provide such information to the requesting agency.
Compliance with such subpoena shall not subject the public employee retirement
benefit plan or the financial institution to liability to the parent for disclosing such
information.
(f) (I) (A) The state parent locator service or the equivalent of a state child
support enforcement agency or delegate child support enforcement unit of any
other state is authorized to issue an administrative subpoena to gather financial or
other information to establish, modify, or enforce a support order. An administrative
subpoena is authorized to be issued to a public utility for records pertaining to
individuals who owe or are owed child support or against or with respect to whom a
support obligation is sought. Such subpoena shall require the public utility to
furnish documentation providing the names and addresses of these individuals and
the names and addresses of the employers of such individuals as appearing in the
customer records of the public utility. A public utility responding to an
administrative subpoena request shall be entitled to collect a reasonable fee for
the processing of each such subpoena.
(B) In seeking information from a public utility, as defined in subparagraph
(III) of this paragraph (f), the state parent locator service shall be subject to the
confidentiality requirements and restrictions set forth in section 631 of the federal
Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984, 47 U.S.C. sec. 551.
(II) The provisions of this section shall in no way alter the method of
regulation or deregulation of telecommunications service as set forth in article 15
of title 40, C.R.S.
(III) For purposes of this section, public utility means any gas corporation,
electrical corporation, telegraph corporation, water corporation, rural electric
association, municipal electric systems, person, or municipality that operates for
the purpose of supplying gas, electricity, telegraph services, or water to the public
for domestic, mechanical, or public uses and that is subject to regulation by the
public utilities commission under articles 1 to 7 of title 40, C.R.S., and any telephone
corporation, municipal telephone entity, or other corporation that offers
telecommunications services to the public that is subject to the provisions of article
15 of title 40, C.R.S., and any corporation that provides cable television services to
the public.
(g) The child support enforcement agency shall make every reasonable
effort to accommodate those entities to which the child support enforcement
agency directs an administrative subpoena, if the requirements of this section
would pose a hardship on those entities.
(4) The state parent locator service may establish fees to be charged for the
provision of services in paragraphs (d) and (e) of subsection (2) of this section and in
subparagraphs (IV) and (V) of paragraph (a.5) of subsection (3) of this section.
(5) This section shall apply to all child support obligations ordered as a part
of any proceeding, regardless of when the order was entered.