Colorado § 12-240-139 - Injuries to be reported - exemptions - penalty for failure to report - immunity from liability - definitions.

§ 12-240-139. Injuries to be reported - exemptions - penalty for failure to report - immunity from liability - definitions.

(1) (a) (I) Every licensee who attends or treats any of the following injuries shall report the injury at once to the police of the city, town, or city and county or the sheriff of the county in which the licensee is located:

(A) A bullet wound, a gunshot wound, a powder burn, or any other injury arising from the discharge of a firearm, or an injury caused by a knife, an ice pick, or any other sharp or pointed instrument that the licensee believes to have been intentionally inflicted upon a person;

(B) An injury arising from a dog bite that the licensee believes was inflicted upon a person by a dangerous dog, as defined in section 18-9-204.5 (2)(b); or

(C) Any other injury that the licensee has reason to believe involves a criminal act other than the possession of drugs or drug paraphernalia under section 18-18-403.5 or 18-18-428; except that a licensee is not required to report an injury that the licensee has reason to believe resulted from domestic violence unless the licensee is required to report the injury pursuant to subsection (1)(a)(I)(A) or (1)(a)(I)(B) of this section or the injury is a serious bodily injury, as defined in section 18-1-901 (3)(p).

(II) Any licensee who fails to make a report as required by this section commits a petty offense as defined by section 18-1.3-503.

(III) Except as described in subsection (1)(a)(I)(C) of this section, a licensee may, but is not required to, report an injury that he or she has reason to believe occurred as a result of domestic violence if:

(A) The victim of the injury is at least eighteen years of age and indicates his or her preference that the injury not be reported; and

(B) The injury is not an injury that the licensee is required to report pursuant to subsection (1)(a)(I)(A) or (1)(a)(I)(B) of this section.

(IV) If a licensee does not report an injury pursuant to a victim's request, as described in subsection (1)(a)(III) of this section, the licensee shall document the victim's request in the victim's medical record.

(V) Before a licensee reports an injury that he or she has reason to believe resulted from domestic violence, as described in subsection (1)(a)(III) of this section, the licensee shall make a good-faith effort, confidentially, to advise the victim of the licensee's intent to do so.

(VI) If a licensee has reason to believe that an injury resulted from domestic violence, then, regardless of whether the licensee reports the injury to law enforcement, the licensee shall either refer the victim to a victim's advocate, as defined in section 13-90-107 (1)(k)(II), or provide the victim with information concerning services available to victims of abuse.

(b) (I) When a licensee, nurse, or certified midwife performs a medical forensic examination that includes the collection of evidence at the request of a victim of sexual assault, the licensee's, nurse's, or certified midwife's employing medical facility shall, with the consent of the victim of the sexual assault, make one of the following reports to law enforcement:

(A) A law enforcement report if a victim wishes to obtain a medical forensic examination with evidence collection and at the time of the medical forensic examination chooses to participate in the criminal justice system;

(B) A medical report if a victim wishes to obtain a medical forensic examination with evidence collection but at the time of the medical forensic examination chooses not to participate in the criminal justice system. The licensee, nurse, or certified midwife shall collect the evidence and victim-identifying information, and the employing medical facility shall release the evidence and information to law enforcement for testing in accordance with section 24-33.5-113 (1)(b)(III) and storage in accordance with section 18-3-407.5 (3)(c).

(C) An anonymous report if a victim wishes to obtain a medical forensic examination with evidence collection but at the time of the medical forensic examination chooses not to have personal identifying information provided to law enforcement or to participate in the criminal justice system. The licensee, nurse, or certified midwife shall collect the evidence, and the employing medical facility shall release it to law enforcement for storage in accordance with section 18-3-407.5 (3)(c). Law enforcement shall receive no identifying information for the victim. Law enforcement shall assign a unique identifying number to the evidence, and the licensee, nurse, or certified midwife shall record the identifying number in the medical record and notify the victim that the identifying number is recorded. Additionally, the licensee, nurse, or certified midwife shall provide the identifying number to the victim.

(II) Nothing in this section:

(A) Prohibits a victim from anonymously speaking to law enforcement about the victim's rights or options prior to determining whether to consent to a report described in this subsection (1)(b); or

(B) Requires a licensee, nurse, certified midwife, or medical facility to make a report to law enforcement concerning an alleged sexual assault if medical forensic evidence is not collected.

(III) If the licensee's, nurse's, or certified midwife's employing medical facility knows where the alleged sexual assault occurred, the facility shall make the report with the law enforcement agency in whose jurisdiction the crime occurred regarding preservation of the evidence. If the medical facility does not know where the alleged sexual assault occurred, the facility shall make the report with its local law enforcement agency regarding preservation of the evidence.

(IV) In addition to the report required by subsection (1)(b)(I) of this section to be filed by the employing medical facility, a licensee who attends or treats any of the injuries described in subsection (1)(a)(I)(A) of this section of a victim of a sexual assault shall also report the injury to the police or sheriff as required by subsection (1)(a) of this section.

(V) A licensee, nurse, or certified midwife who performs a medical forensic examination as described in subsection (1)(b)(I) of this section shall inform the victim:

(A) Of the contact information for the nearest sexual assault victim's advocate if the victim makes a law enforcement report pursuant to subsection (1)(b)(I)(A) of this section;

(B) Of the contact information for the nearest community-based victim advocate pursuant to section 13-90-107 (1)(k)(II) if the victim makes a medical report pursuant to subsection (1)(b)(I)(B) of this section or an anonymous report pursuant to subsection (1)(b)(I)(C) of this section;

(C) That any forensic medical evidence collected must be maintained until after the assailant may no longer be prosecuted for the crime and that the victim must be notified prior to the destruction of the evidence; and

(D) How to determine when the testing related to the medical forensic examination is complete and how to obtain the results and records.

(2) As used in subsection (1) of this section, unless the context otherwise requires:

(a) "Domestic violence" means an act of violence upon a person with whom the actor is or has been involved in an intimate relationship. Domestic violence also includes any other crime against a person or any municipal ordinance violation against a person when used as a method of coercion, control, punishment, intimidation, or revenge directed against a person with whom the actor is or has been involved in an intimate relationship.

(b) "Intimate relationship" means a relationship between spouses, former spouses, past or present unmarried couples, or persons who are both the parents of the same child, regardless of whether the persons have been married or have lived together at any time.

(3) (a) Any licensee who, in good faith, makes a report pursuant to subsection (1) of this section or does not make a report as described in subsection (1)(a)(III) of this section is immune from any liability, civil or criminal, that might otherwise be incurred or imposed with respect to the making of such report and has the same immunity with respect to participation in any judicial proceeding resulting from the report.

(b) A licensee who, in good faith, refers a victim to a victim's advocate or provides a victim with information concerning services available to victims of abuse, as described in subsection (1)(a)(VI) of this section, is not civilly liable for any act or omission of the victim's advocate or of any agency that provides such services to the victim.

(4) Any licensee who makes a report pursuant to subsection (1) of this section shall not be subject to the physician-patient relationship described in section 13-90-107 (1)(d) as to the medical examination and diagnosis. The licensee may be examined as a witness, but not as to any statements made by the patient that are the subject matter of section 13-90-107 (1)(d).

Source: L. 2019: Entire title R&RE with relocations, (HB 19-1172), ch. 136, p. 1215, § 1, effective October 1. L. 2021: (1)(b)(V) added, (HB 21-1143), ch. 191, p. 1011, § 2, effective May 27; (1)(a)(II) amended, (SB 21-271), ch. 462, pp. 3156, 3157, §§ 147, 150, effective March 1, 2022. L. 2023: IP(1)(b)(I), (1)(b)(I)(B), (1)(b)(I)(C), (1)(b)(II)(B), (1)(b)(III), and IP(1)(b)(V) amended, (SB 23-167), ch. 261, p. 1544, § 46, effective May 25. L. 2024: (1)(a)(I)(C) amended, (HB 24-1037), ch. 458, p. 3161, § 1, effective June 6. L. 2026: (1)(b)(V)(B) and (1)(b)(V)(C) amended and (1)(b)(V)(D) added, (SB 26-095), ch. 133, p. 589, § 1, effective May 19.

Editor's note: (1) This section is similar to former § 12-36-135 as it existed prior to 2019.

(2) Amendments to subsection (1)(a)(II) by sections 147 and 150 of SB 21-271 were harmonized.

Cross references: For the legislative declaration in HB 21-1143, see section 1 of chapter 191, Session Laws of Colorado 2021.

ANNOTATION

Annotator's note. The following annotations include a case decided under a former provision similar to this section.

The plain, clarifying language of subsection (3) states that in cases where a physician has a duty to report an injury to the police, the physician-patient privilege is abrogated only with regard to testimony about the information received from the physician's observations of the patient, not regarding any statements the patient may have made to the physician. People v. Covington, 19 P.3d 15 (Colo. 2001).

Physician duty to report abrogates the physician-patient privilege established in § 13-90-107, and 1995 amendments to subsection (1) merely clarified that inherent within the reporting statute was an abrogation of the physician-patient privilege as it relates to the bare medical information the physician observed during the examination; otherwise, duty to report would have been rendered meaningless. People v. Covington, 19 P.3d 15 (Colo. 2001).