Update: Gov. Jared Polis signed HB 24-1090 into law on Tuesday, Feb. 20.
State lawmakers want to adjust a 2023 juvenile privacy law that recently forced Colorado’s judicial branch to restrict attorneys’ access to criminal court records, also creating delays in processing document requests from journalists and the public.
The new statute requires courts and agencies to redact the names and any other identifying information of child victims and witnesses from criminal justice records before releasing them to the public. A bill introduced Thursday would make the provision apply only to records of offenses committed on or after Jan. 1, 2024.
House Bill 24-1090 also would ensure that unredacted records are available to the Office of the State Public Defender and the Office of the Alternate Defense Counsel, and it allows the release of unredacted records to a named sexual assault victim or the victim’s designee.