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819 P.2d 1107 (Colo.App. 09/12/1991)
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Colorado Court of Appeals
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| [2] |
No. 90CA1700
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| [3] |
819 P.2d 11079/12/1991
The respondent (mother), whose parental rights to her three children were previously terminated, seeks reversal of the trial court's order denying her access to the court file of her termination proceedings. We reverse.
After a hearing in May 1986, mother's three children were placed in the interim physical custody of the Denver Department of Social Services (DDSS), pending further hearings on the termination of the parent-child relationship. While in the custody of the DDSS, mother's five year-old daughter, S.U., drowned in June 1986. On December 4, 1986, mother's parental rights to her three children, including this deceased child, were purportedly terminated by a nunc pro tunc order of the court, retroactive to May 14, 1986.
Mother later filed a wrongful death action, seeking damages for the death of her child. But, that action was dismissed by the court in which it was filed because it concluded that the termination of mother's parental rights deprived her of standing to bring such a suit.
Mother then filed a request with the trial court to review, copy, and inspect the court file in the termination proceedings. After a hearing, the court denied that motion.
Mother argues in this court that she has a right to review the file of the termination proceedings. We agree.
At the hearing on mother's motion, counsel for mother grounded her request to review the court file on a need to determine whether there were any grounds to set aside the termination order with respect to the deceased child pursuant to C.R.C.P. 60(b).
In denying mother's request, the court said:
"This case [the termination proceedings] has already been appealed. The appeal has been denied. Civil lawsuits [the wrongful death action] have been filed in district court. The district court determined that she had no standing and dismissed the case [with] prejudice. I don't know what else she's looking for. She's exhausted all her remedies."
At the time the trial court entered its termination order, the confidentiality of court records in termination proceedings was governed by § 19-1-111, C.R.S. (1988 Repl. Vol. 8B), and C.R.J.P. 19(b), both of which provided that:
"Records of court proceedings shall be open to inspection by the parents or guardian, attorneys, and other parties in proceedings before the court and to any agency to which legal custody of the child has been transferred, except . . . [adoption proceedings]."
However, C.R.J.P. 19 was rescinded by the supreme court in 1988, and § 19-1-111 was repealed in 1990. Colo. Sess. Laws 1990 ch. 135, at 1012.
The parties agree that § 19-1-120, C.R.S. (1990 Cum. Supp.), which provides that "reports of child abuse or neglect" are to remain confidential and shall not be public information, does not apply to the court record of dependency and neglect or termination proceedings.
At present, therefore, the only statute that might be applicable to the court record of such proceedings is § 19-1-122, C.R.S. (1990 Cum. Supp.), which provides that:
"All records and proceedings in relinquishment or adoption shall be confidential and open to inspection only upon order of the court for good cause shown." (emphasis supplied)
However, this statute would apply only to the extent that the records of the termination proceedings might reflect a child's subsequent adoption.
It is true, of course, that, under § 19-3-608(3), C.R.S. (1990 Cum. Supp.), after an order of termination enters, the former parent "is not
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