2016 Colorado Revised Statutes
Title 26 - Human Services Code
Article 13 - Child Support Enforcement Act
§ 26-13-107. State parent locator service - definitions

(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, payor 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 payor 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.