Colorado state institutions of higher education and local district colleges: accept a taxpayer identification number or a fingerprint check instead of a social security number for background checks for placements with vulnerable populations

A state institution of higher education or a local district college that requires an applicant to provide a social security number for a background check as a condition to participate in a non-employment-based educational opportunity that involves work with a vulnerable population must accept either an individual taxpayer identification number or a fingerprint-based background check, as the institution determines, in lieu of a social security number.

An applicant for such an opportunity at a state institution of higher education or local district college who declines to provide a social security number must submit to a fingerprint-based criminal history record check, and the institution determines whether the applicant or the institution pays its costs. When the results of that record check reveal a record of arrest without a disposition, the institution must require the applicant to submit to a name-based judicial record check.

A vulnerable population for the section means an individual who is susceptible to abuse or mistreatment because of age, disability, frailty, behavioral or mental health, intellectual or developmental disability, or ill health. For the section, a state institution of higher education does not include the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. House Bill 26-1143 took effect on June 3, 2026.