SB 25-062: Failure to Appear Charges in Municipal Court - Colorado

Revised (04/01/2025) → PA1 (02/06/2025) · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill version changed from a 'Revised' version adopted on April 1, 2025 to a 'Preamended' version dated February 6, 2025. This indicates the bill is in an earlier stage of the legislative process, containing committee amendments that have not yet been formally adopted by the full chamber. The substantive policy content regarding failure to appear charges appears unchanged, but the version status reflects a procedural difference in the bill's legislative journey.

Scope change

The bill's substantive scope and applicability remain unchanged; only the version status and procedural timeline have shifted from a later 'Revised' stage to an earlier 'Preamended' stage.

TIMELINE

Version status changed from 'Revised (04/01/2025)' to 'Preamended (02/06/2025)', indicating the bill is now in an earlier legislative stage with committee amendments not yet adopted by the full chamber.

TECHNICAL

House sponsorship was changed from 'Carter and Gilchrist' to 'Carter and Bird', indicating a change in co-sponsorship on the House side.

Senate committee sponsorship was removed entirely in the new version, with only 'Judiciary' listed under both Senate and House committees.

Rerevised (04/02/2025) → Revised (04/01/2025) · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill text was updated from a 'Rerevised' version to a 'Revised' version, indicating the bill has moved through the legislative process. The House sponsorship list was significantly shortened, removing multiple co-sponsors, which suggests the bill may be in a more streamlined state for final passage. The header was updated to reflect that amendments were adopted on second reading in the Second House rather than including all amendments adopted in the Second House.

TECHNICAL

The bill header was changed from 'REREVISED' to 'REVISED' and updated to specify that amendments were adopted on second reading in the Second House instead of all amendments adopted in the Second House.

Multiple House co-sponsors (Bacon, Camacho, Espenoza, Garcia, Lindsay, Mabrey, McCormick, Phillips, Smith, Story, Velasco) were removed from the House sponsorship list.

The '3rd Reading Unamended' stamp dated April 2, 2025 was removed from the document header.

Final Act (04/07/2025) → Rerevised (04/02/2025) · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was reorganized and renumbered from the Senate to the House version with updated reading dates and committee assignments. The substantive legal text remains unchanged, prohibiting municipalities from charging criminal penalties for failure to appear in court while preserving judges' inherent contempt powers.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains the same, applying to all municipal courts in Colorado regarding failure to appear charges.

TECHNICAL

Bill formatting and numbering were updated to reflect House sponsorship and revised reading dates (April 2, 2025 for Senate version, April 1, 2025 for House version).

Committee assignments were updated to show Judiciary committees for both Senate and House.

Added bill summary section explaining the prohibition on criminal charges for failure to appear and clarification that this applies regardless of what municipalities call the violation.

Signed Act (04/17/2025) → Final Act (04/07/2025) · 3 edits

MINOR

This bill was finalized and signed into law, adding a new section to Colorado Revised Statutes that prevents municipalities from charging people criminally for failing to appear in court. The change clarifies that failure to appear cannot be used as the basis for a criminal charge, though courts retain their inherent power to issue bench warrants for non-appearance.

Scope change

The bill adds a new statutory provision (13-10-127) that applies to all municipal ordinances related to failure to appear, regardless of what the municipality calls the violation.

REQUIREMENT

Added new section 13-10-127 prohibiting municipalities from charging criminal failure-to-appear violations as a basis for prosecution.

ENFORCEMENT

Clarified that while criminal charges are prohibited, courts can still issue bench warrants for non-appearance and retain inherent contempt powers.

TECHNICAL

Formatting and signature line changes from draft to final signed version, including proper legislative officer signatures and date fields.

Reengrossed (02/11/2025) → Signed Act (04/17/2025) · 1 edit · Apr 17, 2025

MINOR

This bill was reengrossed to update the list of sponsors after amendments were adopted in the House. The substantive policy content regarding failure to appear charges in municipal courts remains unchanged from the original version.

Scope change

No substantive change to the bill's scope or applicability; only sponsor names were updated to reflect House amendments.

TECHNICAL

Updated sponsor names to include additional House representatives (Carter and Bird were replaced with Carter and Gilchrist, Bacon, Camacho, Espenoza, Garcia, Lindsay, Mabrey, McCormick, Phillips, Smith, Story, and Velasco) and Senate sponsors (Hinrichsen and Weissman, Amabile, Coleman, Cutter, Exum, Gonzales J., Jodeh, Kipp, Michaelson Jenet, Rodriguez, Winter F. were reordered to include Coleman at the end).

Engrossed (02/10/2025) → Reengrossed (02/11/2025) · 3 edits · Feb 11, 2025

MINOR

The bill was reengrossed with expanded Senate sponsorship and updated procedural documentation. The primary changes involve adding four new co-sponsors (Amabile, Coleman, Cutter, Exum, Gonzales J., Jodeh, Kipp, Michaelson Jenet, Rodriguez, Winter F.) and updating the bill status to reflect third reading unamended on February 11, 2025. No substantive policy changes to the bill's core provisions were identified in this markup.

Scope change

No substantive scope or applicability changes; only sponsorship and procedural status updates

TECHNICAL

Added four new Senate co-sponsors to the bill

Updated bill status from 'Engrossed' to 'Reengrossed' with amended sponsorship list

Added third reading unamended date of February 11, 2025 to bill summary

Introduced (01/21/2025) → Engrossed (02/10/2025) · 3 edits · Feb 11, 2025

MINOR

This bill was amended to clarify that municipal courts cannot use a person's failure to appear in court as the basis for a criminal charge or jail sentence. The changes add 'failure to appear' and 'contempt of court for failure to appear' to a list of state laws that home rule cities cannot override with their own rules. The amendment also reorganizes the text to improve clarity and ensure the protections apply consistently.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to explicitly include 'contempt of court for failure to appear' alongside 'failure to appear' as protected categories that home rule cities cannot supersede with local ordinances.

ENFORCEMENT

Added 'contempt of court for failure to appear' to the list of state protections that home rule cities cannot override, ensuring municipal judges cannot jail people for this specific reason.

REQUIREMENT

Reorganized the text of Section 1 to improve clarity and ensure the list of protected rights is presented consistently.

TECHNICAL

Changed the header from 'Introduced' to 'Engrossed' and added amendment dates to reflect the legislative process status.

Failure to Appear Charges in Municipal Court

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