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Legislative Year: 2024 Change
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Bill Detail: HB24-1244

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Title Minor Autopsy Report Release Requirements
Status Governor Signed (05/22/2024)
Bill Subjects
  • Public Health
House Sponsors M. Snyder (D)
T. Winter (R)
Senate Sponsors D. Michaelson Jenet (D)
R. Gardner (R)
House Committee Judiciary
Senate Committee Judiciary
Date Introduced 02/12/2024
Summary

The bill specifies that an autopsy report prepared in connection
with the death of a minor is confidential and may be disclosed by the
county coroner to another person or entity only in accordance with certain
exceptions.
Under the bill, the coroner or the coroner's designee may only
provide a copy of the autopsy report prepared in connection with the
death of a minor to:
  • A parent or legal guardian of the deceased;
  • A law enforcement or criminal justice agency;
  • A requesting party in a civil case;
  • Counsel for the defendant or the respondent for discovery
purposes in a criminal case;
  • A law enforcement agency that is investigating the death;
  • A state, local, or regional child fatality prevention review
team;
  • The Colorado department of public health and environment
as necessary for the collection of data in accordance with
the Colorado violent death reporting system;
  • The Colorado child fatality review team;
  • A county department of human or social services;
  • The division of youth services in the Colorado department
of human services;
  • A health-care facility where the deceased had received
treatment;
  • A community clinic or a treating hospital for inclusion
within the medical records of the deceased;
  • An eye bank, organ procurement organization, or a tissue
bank;
  • A local or regional domestic violence fatality review team;
  • The Colorado department of human services in connection
with the investigation of a fatality that has occurred within
any facility licensed under the child care licensing act;
  • The office of the child protection ombudsman; or
  • A health-care provider that had previously established a
patient-provider relationship with the deceased.
Upon written request, the coroner shall not release a copy of the
autopsy report and instead shall release the cause, time, place, and manner
of the minor's death and the age, gender, and race or ethnicity of the
deceased minor. This information must be released within 3 days of the
request or 3 days of receiving the information, whichever is later.
Under the bill, any person may petition a district court to allow the
person access to an autopsy report prepared in connection with the death
of a minor. The district court shall provide access if:
  • Public disclosure of the report substantially outweighs the
harm to the privacy interests of the deceased and members
of the family of the deceased; and
  • The information sought by the petitioner is not otherwise
publicly available.
1

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