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Should you use GPS to track movements of the other spouse?

By Jennifer Rice, Esq.

Although Colorado is a no-fault divorce state, sometimes it is helpful in the case to know if someone is staying a home with the children, going out to bars, etc. We recently had the issue come up in one of our cases. A private investigator and former police officer recommended putting a GPS on the vehicle so we could track movement of an individual.

I made a call to my friendly neighborhood criminal lawyer to ask about the legality of sticking a GPS on someone's car. The issues that came up were 1. was the car jointly owned? 2. where would car be parked when the GPS be placed on the car? public place, street or driveway? 3. can you even place a GPS on a vehicle without a warrant? Evidently the police need a search warrant to place a GPS on the vehicle. Makes sense huh? 4. can an attorney even authorize a GPS to be placed on someone's car?

In People v. Sullivan, 53 P.3d 1181 (Colo. App. 2002), the wife filed for dissolution of marriage and obtained a restraining order against the husband. Husband continued to contact her and also had a GPS placed on wife's vehicle. The question in the case was whether husband put the wife "under surveillance" because he did not know where wife had been until he downloaded the information. The Court upheld husband's conviction.

Although it may be less problematic if the vehicle is jointly owned and parked in a public place, it seems that the attorney cannot authorize the private investigator or instruct the private investigator to place a GPS on someone's vehicle. A private citizen can but then they risk problems like People v. Sullivan. Food for thought.

Full post as published by Colorado Family Law Blog on October 26, 2009 (boomark / email).