Colorado § 26-1-112 - Locating violators - recoveries - repeal.

§ 26-1-112. Locating violators - recoveries - repeal.

(1) The executive director of the department of human services or district attorneys may request and shall receive from departments, boards, bureaus, or other agencies of the state or any of its political subdivisions, and the same are authorized to provide, such assistance and data as will enable the state department of human services and county departments properly to carry out their powers and duties to locate and prosecute any person who has fraudulently obtained public assistance under this title. Any records established pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be available only to the state department of human services, the county departments, the attorney general, and the district attorneys, county attorneys, and courts having jurisdiction in fraud or recovery proceedings or actions.

(2) (a) All departments and agencies of the state and local governments shall cooperate in the location and prosecution of any person who has fraudulently obtained public assistance under this title, and, on request of the county board, the county director, the state department of human services, or the district attorney of any judicial district in this state, shall supply all information on hand relative to the location, employment, income, and property of such persons, notwithstanding any other provision of law making such information confidential, except the laws pertaining to confidentiality of any tax returns filed pursuant to law with the department of revenue. 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. The procedures whereby this information will be requested and provided shall be established by rule of the state department. The state department or county departments shall use such information only for the purposes of administering public assistance under this title, and the district attorney shall use it only for the prosecution of persons who have fraudulently obtained public assistance under this title, and he shall not use the information, or disclose it, for any other purpose.

(b) (I) Whenever the state department of human services or a district attorney, for the state department, or the state department on behalf of a county department recovers any amount of fraudulently obtained public assistance funds, the federal government shall be entitled to a share proportionate to the amount of federal funds paid unless a different amount is otherwise provided by federal law, the state shall be entitled to a share proportionate to the amount of state funds paid and such additional amounts of federal funds recovered as provided by federal law, and the county department shall be entitled to a share proportionate to the amount of county funds paid unless a different amount is provided pursuant to federal law or this section.

(II) (A) Whenever a county department, a county board, a county department contracted to administer the centralized member integrity service pursuant to section 25.5-1-210, a district attorney, or a state department on behalf of a county department recovers any amount of fraudulently obtained public assistance funds in the form of assistance payments, it shall be deposited in the county general fund until the county has fully transitioned to utilizing the centralized member integrity service pursuant to section 25.5-1-210. When the county has fully transitioned to utilizing the centralized member integrity service, the county shall notify the department of health care policy and financing of the full transition and the county shall transfer the money in the county social services fund to the state treasurer, who shall credit the money to the centralized member integrity service cash fund created in section 25.5-1-210. After the county has fully transitioned to utilizing the centralized member integrity service, an entity that recovers, on behalf of a county, an amount of fraudulently obtained public assistance funds shall transfer the recovered funds to the state treasurer, who shall credit the money to the centralized member integrity service cash fund. The federal government is entitled to a share proportionate to the amount of federal funds paid unless a different amount is provided for by federal law, the state is entitled to a share proportionate to one-half the amount of state funds paid, and the county contracted to administer the centralized member integrity service pursuant to section 25.5-1-210 is entitled to a share proportionate to the amount of county funds paid and, in addition, a share proportionate to one-half the amount of state funds paid. In the case of funds recovered from fraudulently obtained food stamp coupons by a county department, a county contracted to administer the centralized member integrity service pursuant to section 25.5-1-210, the county board, the district attorney, the state department, or the county is entitled to the share of the recovered funds provided by the federal "Food Stamp Act" until the county has fully transitioned to utilizing the centralized member integrity service pursuant to section 25.5-1-210. When the county has fully transitioned to utilizing the centralized member integrity service, the county must notify the department of health care policy and financing of the full transition and the county shall transfer the funds to the state treasurer, who shall credit the money to the centralized member integrity service cash fund created in section 25.5-1-210.

(B) This subsection (2)(b)(II) is repealed, effective July 1, 2028.

(III) Beginning July 1, 2028, whenever a county department, a county board, a county department contracted to administer the centralized member integrity service pursuant to section 25.5-1-210, a district attorney, or a state department on behalf of a county department recovers any amount of fraudulently obtained public assistance funds in the form of assistance payments, the funds shall be transferred to the state treasurer, who shall credit the money to the centralized member integrity service cash fund created in section 25.5-1-210. The federal government is entitled to a share proportionate to the amount of federal funds paid unless a different amount is provided for by federal law, the state is entitled to a share proportionate to one-half the amount of state funds paid, and the county contracted to administer the centralized member integrity service pursuant to section 25.5-1-210 is entitled to a share proportionate to the amount of county funds paid and, in addition, a share proportionate to one-half the amount of state funds paid. In the case of funds recovered from fraudulently obtained food stamp coupons by the county department or a county contracted to administer the centralized member integrity service pursuant to section 25.5-1-210, the entity that recovered the funds shall transfer the funds to the state treasurer, who shall credit the money to the centralized member integrity service cash fund created in section 25.5-1-210.

(3) (a) Whenever the county department, the county board, the district attorney, or the state department on behalf of a county department pursuant to Public Law 96-58 recovers funds from food stamp coupons which were obtained through unintentional client error, the county shall be entitled to the share of the recovered funds provided by the federal "Food Stamp Act".

(b) Whenever a county department, a county board, a district attorney, or the state department on behalf of the county recovers any amount of public assistance payments funds that were obtained through unintentional client error, the federal government shall be entitled to a share proportionate to the amount of federal funds paid, unless a different amount is provided for by federal law, the state shall be entitled to a share proportionate to seventy-five percent of the amount of state funds paid, the county shall be entitled, except for the Colorado works program, to a share proportionate to the amount of county funds paid, if any, and, in addition, a share proportionate to twenty-five percent of the amount of state funds paid. In the Colorado works program, the county shall be entitled to a share proportionate to the amount of county funds paid and, in addition, a share proportionate to one-half the amount of state funds paid.

(4) Actual costs and expenses incurred by the district attorney's office in carrying out the provisions of subsections (2) and (3) of this section shall be billed to counties or a county within the judicial district in the proportions specified in section 20-1-302, C.R.S. Each county shall make an annual accounting to the state department on all amounts recovered.

Source: L. 73: R&RE, p. 1167, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 119-1-11. L. 77: (1) R&RE and (3)(c) amended, p. 1329, §§ 1, 2, effective July 1; (3)(a) and (3)(c) amended, p. 1331, § 1, effective January 1, 1978. L. 79: Entire section R&RE, p. 639, § 4, effective June 7. L. 81: (2)(b) R&RE, p. 1367, § 1, effective July 1. L. 85: (2)(b)(II) amended, p. 937, § 1, effective May 16. L. 89: (1) and (2) amended and (3) and (4) added, p. 1193, § 2, effective June 7. L. 91: (2)(b)(II) and (3)(a) amended, p. 1860, § 2, effective July 1. L. 93: (1), (2), and (3)(b) amended, p. 1142, § 81, effective July 1, 1994. L. 97: (3)(b) amended, p. 1221, § 5, effective July 1. L. 2006: (1), (2), and (3)(b) amended, p. 1988, § 13, effective July 1. L. 2026: (2)(b)(II) amended and (2)(b)(III) added, (HB 26-1429), ch. 374, p. 2313, § 13, effective June 4.

Cross references: (1) For the legislative declaration contained in the 1993 act amending this section, see section 1 of chapter 230, Session Laws of Colorado 1993. For the legislative declaration in HB 26-1429, see section 1 of chapter 374, Session Laws of Colorado 2026.

(2) For the federal "Food Stamp Act", now known as the "Food and Nutrition Act of 2008", see 7 U.S.C. sec. 2011 et seq. (Section 4001 of the "Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008", Pub.L. 110-234, changed the name of the federal "Food Stamp Act of 1977" to the "Food and Nutrition Act of 2008" and changed the name of the federal food stamp program to the "supplemental nutrition assistance program".)