Colorado sealed original birth certificates to adoptees in 1949.
Colorado Adoption Law
Colorado Access Statute
Colorado Legislature
Current Access Law in Colorado
Colorado’s records access laws are extremely confusing (even to judges) with several tiers of access. After slogging through the law(s) we contacated Rich Urlaub, from (not affiliated with Bastard Nation) to try to cut through the language. Rich wrote the following outline of the current access debacle and has has kindly given us permission to post his explanation. For more details go to the AIS website. Rich writes:
The layers in the “sandwich” are driven by (1) the date that adoptions were finalized and (2) the date that new legislation was enacted (usually July 1 after a bill was signed into law, except 1949, when the law went into effect May 20, and September 1, 1999, when HB 1188 went into effect.). I’ll try to answer your questions in order:
1) Colorado adoption law is found under Title 19 of the Colorado Revised Statutes. The Confidential Intermediary Law is found under Section 19-5-304. Laws governing access to records are found under Section 19-5-305. Here’s a link to one of the Laws and Legislation pages on the AIS website that looks like it might summarize what you’re looking for. Also, our FAQs section addressing Adoption Records covers most people’s questions.
1) For all time periods, records are available upon:
a) mutual consent of the parties (though a non-consenting party’s name may be redacted if they also appear on the OBC), or
b) if the sought party is deceased, or
c) upon demonstration of “good cause” to a court of jurisdiction.
2) Otherwise, the “sandwich” looks like this:
If the adoption was finalized before May 20, 1949, records are still considered sealed, but people have used wording from the 2009 Court of Appeals Ruling (Case #08CA12345) to obtain “good cause” orders for their records. Success varies, depending on the jurisdiction and judge.
If the adoption was finalized between May 20, 1949 and June 30, 1951, access to records requires a court order, mutual consent of the parties, or the death of a sought party.
If the adoption was finalized between July 1, 1951 and June 30, 1967, adult adoptees have unrestricted access to their original birth certificates and adoption records as defined in statute. The CDPHE’s Vital Records Department charges $37.75 for a copy of the OBC, with a turnaround time of 30 days or less. In order to obtain additional records, an adult adoptee can file form JDF 532 with the court that handled the adoption.
If the adoption was finalized between July 1, 1967 and August 31, 1999, access to records requires a court order, mutual consent of the parties, or the death of a sought party.
If the adoption was finalized after September 1, 1999 an adoptee, age 18 or older has unrestricted access to the OBC and records, unless a birth parent requested confidentiality within three years after the Final Order of Relinquishment. To date, only about 30 have done so.
