(1) (a) Any person who has
completed a confidential intermediary training program that
meets the standards set forth by the commission shall be
responsible for notifying the commission that his or her name
should be included on the list of confidential intermediaries to
be maintained by the commission and made available to the
judicial department. The commission shall adopt rules to
determine when and under what conditions the name of a
confidential intermediary shall be removed from the list
available to the judicial department.
(b) Once a person is included on such list, he or she
shall be:
(I) Authorized to inspect confidential relinquishment and
adoption records and post-adoption records upon motion to the
court by the following persons:
(A) An adult adoptee;
(B) An adoptive parent, custodial grandparent, or legal
guardian of a minor adoptee;
(C) A biological parent or an adult biological sibling or
half-sibling of an adult adoptee;
(D) An adult descendant of the adoptee or the adoptive
parent, spouse of an adoptee, adult stepchild, or adopted adult
sibling of an adoptee with the notarized written consent of the
adult adoptee;
(E) A biological grandparent of an adoptee with the
notarized written consent of the biological parent. No written
consent is required if the biological parent is deceased.
(F) The legal representative of any of the individuals
listed in sub-subparagraphs (A) to (E) of this subparagraph (I).
(II) Available, subject to time constraints, for
appointment by the court to act as a confidential intermediary
for any of the parties listed in subparagraph (I) of this
paragraph (b).
(2) Any of the parties listed in subparagraph (I) of
paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section, any of whom are
eighteen years of age or older, may file a motion, with
supporting affidavit, in the court where the adoption took
place, to appoint one or more confidential intermediaries for
the purpose of determining the whereabouts of such individual's
unknown relative or relatives; except that no one shall seek to
determine the whereabouts of a relative who is younger than
eighteen years of age. The court may rule on said motion and
affidavit without hearing and may appoint a trained confidential
intermediary.
(2.5) For purposes of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of
this section and subsection (2) of this section, "legal
guardian" shall not include a governmental entity of any foreign
country from which a child has been adopted or any
representative of such governmental entity.
(3) Any information obtained by the confidential
intermediary during the course of his or her investigation shall
be kept strictly confidential and shall be utilized only for the
purpose of arranging a contact between the individual who
initiated the search and the sought-after biological relative or
for the purpose of obtaining consent for the release of adoption
records.
(4) (a) When a sought-after biological relative is located
by a confidential intermediary on behalf of the individual who
initiated the search, the confidential intermediary shall obtain
consent from both parties that they wish to personally
communicate with one another.
(b) Contact shall be made between the parties involved in
the investigation only when consent for such contact has been
received by the court.
(c) If consent for personal communication is not obtained
from both parties, all relinquishment and adoption records and
any information obtained by any confidential intermediary during
the course of his or her investigation shall be returned to the
court and shall remain confidential.
(5) All confidential intermediaries shall inform both the
requesting biological relative and the sought-after biological
relative of the existence of the voluntary adoption registry set
forth in section 25-2-113.5, C.R.S.
(6) Any person acting as a confidential intermediary who
knowingly fails to comply with the provisions of subsections (3)
and (4) of this section commits a class 2 petty offense and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of five
hundred dollars.