2021 Colorado Code
Title 2 - Legislative
Article 3 - Legislative Services
Part 1 - Legislative Audit Committee - State Auditor
§ 2-3-107. Authority to Subpoena Witnesses - Access to Records

1. For the purposes of this part 1 the committee has the power to subpoena witnesses, take testimony under oath, and to assemble records and documents, by subpoena duces tecum or otherwise, with the same power and authority as courts of record and may apply to courts of record for the enforcement of these powers. The sheriff of any county shall serve any subpoena on written order of the committee in the same manner as process is served in civil actions. Witnesses subpoenaed to appear before the committee shall receive the same fees and expenses as witnesses in civil cases.
2. 1. 1. [ ] Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the state auditor or the state auditor's designated representative is authorized to have access at all times, except as provided by sections 39-1-116, 39-4-103, and 39-5-120, to all of the books, accounts, reports, vouchers, or other records or information in any department, institution, or agency, including but not limited to records or information required to be kept confidential or exempt from public disclosure upon subpoena, search warrant, discovery proceedings, or otherwise. The authority of the state auditor or the state auditor's designated representative to access at all times the books, accounts, reports, vouchers, or other records or information in accordance with this subsection (2)(a) also extends to any fiscal or performance audit the state auditor or the state auditor's designated representative conducts of:
         1. The Colorado new energy improvement district and the new energy improvement program in connection with section 2-3-120;
         2. Repealed.
         3. The health benefit exchange created in section 10-22-104 in accordance with section 10-22-105 (4)(c);
         4. [ ] Community-centered boards in accordance with section 25.5-10-209 (4);
         5. [ ] Case management agencies in accordance with section 25.5-6-1708 (1); and
         6. The statewide implementation of the statewide system of standards and assessments and the statewide education accountability system in accordance with section 2-3-127; except that, for purposes of said audit, the state auditor or his or her designated representative shall not have access to the financial records, including books, accounts, and vouchers, of a public school, school district, or board of cooperative services or of the state charter school institute.

      2. The authority of the state auditor or his or her designated representative to access at all times the books, accounts, reports, vouchers, or other records or information provided under subsection (2)(a)(I)(B) of this section terminates on the date the final audit report is released by the legislative audit committee.
      3. When accessing confidential health records, the state auditor shall determine the necessity of accessing personal identifying health information for the purpose of achieving the audit objectives.

   2. Nothing in this subsection (2) shall be construed as authorizing or permitting the publication of information prohibited by law. Notwithstanding the approval of the committee to release work papers of the office of the state auditor pursuant to section 2-3-103 (3), no information required to be kept confidential pursuant to any other law shall be released in connection with an audit. The results of any audit or evaluation of information technology systems undertaken pursuant to section 2-3-103 (1.5) that are precluded from disclosure under section 24-6-402 (3)(a)(IV), C.R.S., shall not be released in connection with any such audit or evaluation. In addition to the penalty established in section 2-3-103.7, any person who unlawfully releases confidential information shall be subject to any criminal or civil penalty under any applicable law for the unlawful release of the information.
   3. [ ] Any officer or employee who fails or refuses to permit such access or examination for audit or who interferes in any way with such examination is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail for not less than one month nor more than twelve months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

(D) [ ] Community-centered boards, as defined in section 25.5-6-1702 (5) ;

(c) [ ] Any officer or employee who fails or refuses to permit such access or examination for audit or who interferes in any way with such examination commits a class 2 misdemeanor.

History. Source: L. 65: P. 155, § 7. C.R.S. 1963: § 3-21-7 . L. 2006: (2) amended, p. 1195, § 1, effective May 25. L. 2011: (2)(b) amended,(SB 11-082), ch. 109, p. 339, § 2, effective August 10. L. 2017: (3) amended,(SB 17-294), ch. 264, p. 1383, § 3, effective May 25. L. 2019: (2)(a) amended,(HB 19-1136), ch. 26, p. 86, § 2, effective August 2. L. 2021: IP(2)(a)(I), (2)(a)(I)(C), and (2)(a)(I)(D) amended and (2)(a)(I)(F) added,(HB 21-1294), ch. 414, p. 2764, § 3, effective July 2; (2)(a)(I)(B) repealed,(HB 21-1249), ch. 178, p. 970, § 3, effective September 7; (2)(c) amended,(SB 21-271), ch. 462, p. 3132, § 52, effective March 1, 2022; IP(2)(a)(I) and (2)(a)(I)(D) amended and (2)(a)(I)(E) added,(HB 21-1187), ch. 83, p. 323, § 3, effective July 1, 2024.

1. Section 803(2) of chapter 462 (SB 21-271), Session Laws of Colorado 2021, provides that the act changing this section applies to offenses committed on or after March 1, 2022.
2. Amendments to subsections IP(2)(a)(I) and (2)(a)(I)(D) by HB 21-1187 and HB 21-1294 were harmonized, effective July 1, 2024.

For fees and expenses of witnesses in civil cases, see §§ 13-33-102 and 13-33-103 ; for the authority of legislative council to compel attendance of witnesses and procedure therefor, see § 2-3-306 ; for the authority of the general assembly to compel attendance of witnesses, see § 2-2-313 .