Colorado § 14-5-312 - Nondisclosure of information in exceptional circumstances.

§ 14-5-312. Nondisclosure of information in exceptional circumstances.

If a party alleges in an affidavit or a pleading under oath that the health, safety, or liberty of a party or child would be jeopardized by disclosure of specific identifying information, that information shall be sealed and may not be disclosed to the other party or the public. After a hearing in which a tribunal takes into consideration the health, safety, or liberty of the party or child, the tribunal may order disclosure of information that the tribunal determines to be in the interest of justice.

Source: L. 93: Entire article R&RE, p. 1592, § 1, effective January 1, 1995. L. 2003: Entire section amended, p. 1253, § 20, effective July 1, 2004.

COMMENT

UIFSA (1992) recognized that enforcement of child support across state lines might have an unintended consequence of putting a party or child at risk if domestic violence was involved in the past. This section is a substantial revision of the statutory formulation originally developed in UIFSA (1992). It conforms to the comparable provision in the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act Section 209. Public awareness of and sensitivity to the dangers of domestic violence has significantly increased since interstate enforcement of support originated. This section authorizes confidentiality in instances where there is a risk of domestic violence or child abduction. Section 712, infra, incorporates language from the Convention to restrict dissemination of personal jurisdiction to protect victims of domestic violence.

Although local law generally governs the conduct of the forum tribunal, state law may not provide for maintaining secrecy about the exact whereabouts of a litigant or other information ordinarily required to be disclosed under state law, i.e., Social Security number of the parties or the child. If so, this section creates a confidentiality provision that is particularly appropriate in light of the intractable problems associated with interstate parental kidnapping, see the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act (PKPA), 28 U.S.C. § 1738A.

Related to Convention: art. 38. Protection of personal data; art. 39. Confidentiality; art. 40. Non-disclosure of information.