Colorado Code § 12-240-139

Injuries to be reported - exemptions - penalty for failure to report - immunity from liability - definitions
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(1) (a) (I) Every licensee who attends or treats any of the
following injuries shall report the injury at once to the police of the city, town, or city and county
or the sheriff of the county in which the licensee is located:
(A) A bullet wound, a gunshot wound, a powder burn, or any other injury arising from
the discharge of a firearm, or an injury caused by a knife, an ice pick, or any other sharp or
pointed instrument that the licensee believes to have been intentionally inflicted upon a person;
(B) An injury arising from a dog bite that the licensee believes was inflicted upon a
person by a dangerous dog, as defined in section 18-9-204.5 (2)(b); or
(C) Any other injury that the licensee has reason to believe involves a criminal act other
than the possession of drugs or drug paraphernalia under section 18-18-403.5 or 18-18-428;
except that a licensee is not required to report an injury that the licensee has reason to believe
resulted from domestic violence unless the licensee is required to report the injury pursuant to
subsection (1)(a)(I)(A) or (1)(a)(I)(B) of this section or the injury is a serious bodily injury, as
defined in section 18-1-901 (3)(p).
(II) Any licensee who fails to make a report as required by this section commits a petty
offense as defined by section 18-1.3-503.
(III) Except as described in subsection (1)(a)(I)(C) of this section, a licensee may, but is
not required to, report an injury that he or she has reason to believe occurred as a result of
domestic violence if:
(A) The victim of the injury is at least eighteen years of age and indicates his or her
preference that the injury not be reported; and
(B) The injury is not an injury that the licensee is required to report pursuant to
subsection (1)(a)(I)(A) or (1)(a)(I)(B) of this section.
(IV) If a licensee does not report an injury pursuant to a victim's request, as described in
subsection (1)(a)(III) of this section, the licensee shall document the victim's request in the
victim's medical record.
(V) Before a licensee reports an injury that he or she has reason to believe resulted from
domestic violence, as described in subsection (1)(a)(III) of this section, the licensee shall make a
good-faith effort, confidentially, to advise the victim of the licensee's intent to do so.
(VI) If a licensee has reason to believe that an injury resulted from domestic violence,
then, regardless of whether the licensee reports the injury to law enforcement, the licensee shall
either refer the victim to a victim's advocate, as defined in section 13-90-107 (1)(k)(II), or
provide the victim with information concerning services available to victims of abuse.
(b) (I) When a licensee, nurse, or certified midwife performs a medical forensic
examination that includes the collection of evidence at the request of a victim of sexual assault,
the licensee's, nurse's, or certified midwife's employing medical facility shall, with the consent of
the victim of the sexual assault, make one of the following reports to law enforcement:
(A) A law enforcement report if a victim wishes to obtain a medical forensic
examination with evidence collection and at the time of the medical forensic examination
chooses to participate in the criminal justice system;
(B) A medical report if a victim wishes to obtain a medical forensic examination with
evidence collection but at the time of the medical forensic examination chooses not to participate
in the criminal justice system. The licensee, nurse, or certified midwife shall collect the evidence
and victim-identifying information, and the employing medical facility shall release the evidence
and information to law enforcement for testing in accordance with section 24-33.5-113
(1)(b)(III) and storage in accordance with section 18-3-407.5 (3)(c).
(C) An anonymous report if a victim wishes to obtain a medical forensic examination
with evidence collection but at the time of the medical forensic examination chooses not to have
personal identifying information provided to law enforcement or to participate in the criminal
justice system. The licensee, nurse, or certified midwife shall collect the evidence, and the
employing medical facility shall release it to law enforcement for storage in accordance with
section 18-3-407.5 (3)(c). Law enforcement shall receive no identifying information for the
victim. Law enforcement shall assign a unique identifying number to the evidence, and the
licensee, nurse, or certified midwife shall record the identifying number in the medical record
and notify the victim that the identifying number is recorded. Additionally, the licensee, nurse,
or certified midwife shall provide the identifying number to the victim.
(II) Nothing in this section:
(A) Prohibits a victim from anonymously speaking to law enforcement about the victim's
rights or options prior to determining whether to consent to a report described in this subsection
(1)(b); or
(B) Requires a licensee, nurse, certified midwife, or medical facility to make a report to
law enforcement concerning an alleged sexual assault if medical forensic evidence is not
collected.
(III) If the licensee's, nurse's, or certified midwife's employing medical facility knows
where the alleged sexual assault occurred, the facility shall make the report with the law
enforcement agency in whose jurisdiction the crime occurred regarding preservation of the
evidence. If the medical facility does not know where the alleged sexual assault occurred, the
facility shall make the report with its local law enforcement agency regarding preservation of the
evidence.
(IV) In addition to the report required by subsection (1)(b)(I) of this section to be filed
by the employing medical facility, a licensee who attends or treats any of the injuries described
in subsection (1)(a)(I)(A) of this section of a victim of a sexual assault shall also report the
injury to the police or sheriff as required by subsection (1)(a) of this section.
(V) A licensee, nurse, or certified midwife who performs a medical forensic examination
as described in subsection (1)(b)(I) of this section shall inform the victim:
(A) Of the contact information for the nearest sexual assault victim's advocate if the
victim makes a law enforcement report pursuant to subsection (1)(b)(I)(A) of this section;
(B) Of the contact information for the nearest community-based victim advocate
pursuant to section 13-90-107 (1)(k)(II) if the victim makes a medical report pursuant to
subsection (1)(b)(I)(B) of this section or an anonymous report pursuant to subsection (1)(b)(I)(C)
of this section; and
(C) That any forensic medical evidence collected must be maintained until after the
assailant may no longer be prosecuted for the crime and that the victim must be notified prior to
the destruction of such evidence.
(2) As used in subsection (1) of this section, unless the context otherwise requires:
(a) "Domestic violence" means an act of violence upon a person with whom the actor is
or has been involved in an intimate relationship. Domestic violence also includes any other
crime against a person or any municipal ordinance violation against a person when used as a
method of coercion, control, punishment, intimidation, or revenge directed against a person with
whom the actor is or has been involved in an intimate relationship.
(b) "Intimate relationship" means a relationship between spouses, former spouses, past
or present unmarried couples, or persons who are both the parents of the same child, regardless
of whether the persons have been married or have lived together at any time.
(3) (a) Any licensee who, in good faith, makes a report pursuant to subsection (1) of this
section or does not make a report as described in subsection (1)(a)(III) of this section is immune
from any liability, civil or criminal, that might otherwise be incurred or imposed with respect to
the making of such report and has the same immunity with respect to participation in any judicial
proceeding resulting from the report.
(b) A licensee who, in good faith, refers a victim to a victim's advocate or provides a
victim with information concerning services available to victims of abuse, as described in
subsection (1)(a)(VI) of this section, is not civilly liable for any act or omission of the victim's
advocate or of any agency that provides such services to the victim.
(4) Any licensee who makes a report pursuant to subsection (1) of this section shall not
be subject to the physician-patient relationship described in section 13-90-107 (1)(d) as to the
medical examination and diagnosis. The licensee may be examined as a witness, but not as to
any statements made by the patient that are the subject matter of section 13-90-107 (1)(d).

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