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Senate adopts bill to suppress public records of minors' name changes with parental-consent guardrails
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Summary
Senate Bill 18, as amended, suppresses public court records for minors’ name-change petitions prospectively and limits access to parties, courts and law enforcement; debate focused on parental consent and family-court processes before the Senate approved the bill Feb. 23, 2026.
The Colorado Senate adopted Senate Bill 18 on Feb. 23, 2026, to suppress public court records related to minors' name changes in specified circumstances.
Senator Wallace, sponsor of the bill, said committee amendments made the suppression prospective and clarified access: suppressed records will be available only to the applicable party, the courts and law enforcement; suppression will not apply when a minor is under adjudication. Wallace told the Senate the bill aligns name-change records with other suppressed juvenile records and protects youth from identification through public record searches or automated scraping.
Senator Corker supported the measure by citing current suppression rules for dependency, neglect and juvenile adjudication records and urged an "I" vote. Several senators asked clarifying questions and offered floor amendments. Senator Kirkmeyer proposed an amendment to require both parents' consent for a minor's name-change petition to be eligible for suppression; the amendment failed on the floor after proponents and the sponsor debated family-court roles and custody consequences.
The Senate ultimately adopted SB18 as amended; the chair announced "Senate Bill 18 is adopted." The bill's committee-report language and on-floor action narrow application and preserve family-court processes, according to floor discussion.
Next steps: The bill was adopted on Feb. 23, 2026, and will proceed according to the legislative calendar for engrossment and final actions.
