HB 1232: Court Costs Assessed to Juveniles - Colorado

Rerevised → Final Act · 4 edits · Apr 15, 2026

MODERATE

This bill finalizes the prohibition of monetary assessments against juveniles by adding specific language to multiple state statutes. It ensures that courts cannot assess, enforce, or collect administrative fees, court costs, community service fees, or surcharges against juveniles or their parents/guardians for assessments made on or after July 6, 2021. The changes clarify that these protections apply regardless of whether the juvenile is over 18 at the time of adjudication or if the case is transferred to adult court.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of existing protections by explicitly adding prohibitions to statutes governing community service fees, restorative justice surcharges, and sex offender surcharges, which were not fully covered in the initial 2021 legislation.

ENFORCEMENT

Added explicit prohibitions preventing courts and the state from enforcing or collecting outstanding fees and costs assessed on or after July 6, 2021, against juveniles and their families.

REQUIREMENT

Inserted new subsections into multiple statutes to forbid the assessment of time payment fees, community service fees, and various surcharges against juveniles.

DEFINITION

Clarified the definition of 'juvenile' in affected statutes to mean a person under 18 when the crime was committed, ensuring protections apply even if the person is an adult at sentencing.

ELIGIBILITY

Extended eligibility for fee waivers and exemptions to include parents, guardians, and legal custodians of juveniles, not just the juvenile themselves.

Revised → Rerevised · 4 edits · Mar 27, 2026

MODERATE

The bill was re-revised to include additional Senate sponsors and updated the header to reflect that all amendments adopted in the Second House are now included. The substantive text regarding court fees for juveniles was removed from this version, indicating a potential deletion of specific fee protections or a shift in how those provisions are structured within the bill.

Scope change

The bill's scope regarding fee exemptions for juveniles appears to have been removed or restructured, as the specific text prohibiting fees against juveniles and their guardians was deleted.

ELIGIBILITY

Deletion of text prohibiting courts from imposing fees on juveniles, their parents, guardians, or legal custodians.

ENFORCEMENT

Deletion of text stating that the state shall not enforce or collect outstanding fees imposed on juveniles after July 6, 2021.

TECHNICAL

Addition of new Senate sponsors to the bill's sponsorship list.

Update to the header indicating the bill is 'REREVISED' and includes amendments adopted in the Second House.

Reengrossed → Revised · 3 edits · Mar 26, 2026

MINOR

The bill was reclassified from 'Reengrossed' to 'Revised' to reflect amendments adopted during the second reading in the Senate. Substantively, the definition of a 'juvenile' was narrowed to only include individuals under 18 at the time of the crime, removing the previous exception for those under 21 at sentencing. Additionally, a new funding requirement was added, mandating that court fees collected from adults be transferred to the state treasurer and credited to a specific state fund.

Scope change

The bill's scope regarding who is protected from fees was narrowed; it no longer covers individuals who are under 21 at the time of sentencing but were 18 or older when the crime was committed.

DEFINITION

The definition of 'juvenile' was changed to apply only to persons under 18 at the time the crime was committed, removing the previous provision that included persons under 21 at the time of sentencing.

FISCAL

A new requirement was added stating that fees collected from non-juvenile defendants must be transferred to the state treasurer and credited to the fund created in section 18-1.3-507.5.

TECHNICAL

The bill header was updated from 'Reengrossed' to 'Revised' to indicate it includes amendments adopted on second reading in the Senate.

Engrossed → Reengrossed · 2 edits · Mar 13, 2026

MINOR

The bill was reengrossed to include additional sponsors in the House and updated the header to reflect that it contains all amendments adopted in the House of Introduction. A significant substantive change was made to the judicial code, removing a provision that prohibited courts from assessing costs and fines against juveniles or their parents, guardians, or legal custodians.

Scope change

The bill's scope regarding juvenile financial liability was narrowed by eliminating the statutory ban on collecting costs and fines from parents and guardians.

TECHNICAL

Additional names were added to the list of House sponsors, expanding the coalition of legislators supporting the bill.

ENFORCEMENT

The prohibition on courts assessing or collecting costs and fines against a juvenile's parent, guardian, or legal custodian was removed, potentially allowing such financial penalties to be levied again.

Introduced → Engrossed · 3 edits · Mar 12, 2026

MINOR

The bill was amended to clarify that courts and the state are prohibited from assessing administrative fees, costs, and surcharges against juveniles. The text was updated to reflect that this is the engrossed version with all amendments adopted, and the bill number was standardized to remove the 'HB' prefix in some instances.

Scope change

The scope of the prohibition against assessing fees against juveniles was clarified and reinforced through the addition of specific language regarding administrative fees, costs, and surcharges.

REQUIREMENT

Added explicit language prohibiting the assessment or collection of administrative fees, costs, and surcharges against juveniles.

TECHNICAL

Updated the document header to indicate the bill is 'Engrossed' and includes all amendments adopted on second reading.

Standardized the bill number formatting in the page headers by removing the 'HB' prefix in certain locations.

Court Costs Assessed to Juveniles

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