Records - access by county auditor

(1) (a) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary and subject to paragraph (b) of this subsection (1), a county department of human or social services shall provide to an auditor conducting a financial or performance audit of the county department access to all of the records, reports, papers, files, and communications of the county department, including any personal identifying information of individuals contained in the records, reports, papers, files, and communications necessary to achieve the stated audit objectives. (b) A county department of human or social services shall not make information available if the release would violate a federal confidentiality or privacy law. (2) This section applies to an auditor retained by a county or authorized pursuant to a county charter or ordinance. (3) Information required to be kept confidential or exempt from public disclosure pursuant to any other law or rule of the state department of human services or the department of early childhood or upon subpoena, search warrant, discovery proceedings, or otherwise, including personal identifying information, that is obtained by an auditor pursuant to subsection (1) of this section must not be: (a) Released, disclosed, or made available for inspection to any person by the auditor, the auditor's staff, or an audit oversight committee; or (b) Disclosed or contained in an audit report that is released for public inspection. (4) A person who releases information required to be kept confidential or exempt from public disclosure in violation of subsection (3) of this section is subject to the applicable criminal or civil penalty for the unlawful release of the information. (5) Nothing in this section shall be construed to supersede the authority of the state auditor pursuant to section 2-3-107 (2)(a), C.R.S.