B696F5198C4F216C872589550076BCEE Hearing Summary

Senator Exum, co-prime sponsor, presented Senate Bill 23-075, concerning the deletion of children's identifying information from criminal records released to the public.  He discussed victim rights and protecting children's privacy.  He referenced an upcoming amendment regarding delaying the bill's implementation, in addition to allowing certain exceptions.   

Committee members asked questions about penalties for disclosing a child's name who was a victim of a sex crime. 

Mr. Jeff Roberts, representing Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, testified in opposition to the bill.  He raised concerns about mandatory redactions under all circumstances. 

Committee members asked questions about victim privacy and public interest.  Discussion ensued about balancing victim privacy and public interest, followed by penalties in the Children's Code for revealing names of child sex crime victims.

Senator Fields, co-prime sponsor, joined the committee and made introductory comments.

Mr. Pete Schulte, representing City of Aurora, Colorado, testified in support of the bill. He discussed current law and support family decisions on the topic. 

Mayor Mike Coffman, representing City of Aurora, testified in support of the bill.  He discussed safety issues for young people.

Committee members asked questions about police department redactments and workload.  Further discussion ensued about willful disclosure penalties.  Committee members next discussed exceptions to the child identifying redactments. 

Mr. Art Acevedo, representing City of Aurora, testified in support of the bill.  He spoke out against any exceptions to the redactions. 

Committee members asked about redaction costs.  The committee discussed the review and redactment process for officer involved shootings of a minor. 

Ms. Lily Rottenborn, representing themself, testified in support of the bill. She relayed a personal experience identifying information and a young victim on social media. 

Ms. Anna Shelton, representing themself, testified in support of the bill. She relayed a personal story about identifying information and her friend's murder. 

Ms. Courtenay Whitelaw, representing themself, testified in support of the bill.  She shared a personal experience about her daughter's identifying information disseminated on social media and elsewhere. 

Mr. Dan Olson, representing themself, testified in support of the bill. He discussed the necessity of protecting children and providing safeguards.  

Courtney Sutton, representing Colorado Organization for Victim Assistance, testified in support of the bill.

Mollie Steinemann, representing Colorado Municipal League, testified in support of the bill.

Ms Emily Tofte Nestaval, representing Rocky Mountain Victim Law Center, testified in support of the bill.

Mr. Tim Regan-Porter, representing Colorado Press Association, testified to amend the bill. He discussed the need for accountability in certain cases. 

Committee members discussed "threading the needle" and public interest. 

Written testimony in support of the bill is in Attachment A.

Senator Exum distributed and explained Amendment L. 001 (Attachment B). 

Senator Exum distributed and explained Amendment L.002 regarding exceptions in certain situation (Attachment C). 

Committee members asked questions about the amendment. 

Zach Blaes, Office of Legislative Legal Services, explained the amendment.

Committee discussion ensued about the the amendment's exceptions. 

The amendment was withdrawn. 

The bill was laid over until later in the hearing.