HB 1288: Jury Selection Requirements - Colorado

Final Act → Signed Act · 2 edits · May 29, 2026

MINOR

The bill was finalized for signature, adding the names of the sponsoring legislators and the Governor's approval. The core policy content regarding the creation of a jury selection working group remained substantively unchanged, though the text contains numerous minor formatting errors and spacing inconsistencies in the final version.

TECHNICAL

Added the bill number (HB 26-1288), sponsor names, and signatures of legislative officers and the Governor to finalize the act.

Introduced minor formatting inconsistencies, such as irregular spacing, missing spaces between words (e.g., 'LA WYERS' instead of 'LAWYERS'), and altered capitalization in the text of the statute.

Rerevised → Final Act · 6 edits · May 21, 2026

MODERATE

This bill establishes a Jury Selection Working Group within the Colorado Judicial Department to study and improve how jurors are selected. The group will consist of 17 members representing various legal associations, judges, and jury commissioners, appointed by June 15, 2026. The group must submit a progress report by December 1, 2026, and a final report with recommendations by a date set by its co-chairs, with the Colorado Supreme Court required to respond to rule change recommendations by June 15, 2027.

Scope change

The bill creates a new, temporary working group with specific membership requirements and reporting deadlines, replacing the previous version which lacked these detailed structural and timeline specifications.

REQUIREMENT

Created a new Jury Selection Working Group with 17 specific member roles including representatives from district attorneys, judges, civil and criminal lawyers, and jury commissioners.

Required the working group to identify best practices regarding voir dire time, questionnaires, juror rehabilitation, and training, and to consider statutory or rule changes.

TIMELINE

Set specific deadlines for member appointments (June 15, 2026), progress reporting (December 1, 2026), and Supreme Court responses to rule changes (June 15, 2027).

DEFINITION

Defined the working group and its members for the first time in the statute.

TECHNICAL

Removed the previous bill summary and introductory text that described the bill's purpose in non-statutory language.

Reorganized the statute to include detailed subsections for member composition, appointment diversity requirements, duties, and reporting schedules.

Revised → Rerevised · 2 edits · Apr 27, 2026

MINOR

The bill was re-revised to include additional Senate sponsors and update the reading status date. Substantively, the text removed a specific list of six items that were previously included in the duties of a working group, which focused on jury selection methods, training, and recommendations for rule changes.

Scope change

The scope of the working group's duties was narrowed by removing a specific list of six items related to jury selection procedures, training, and rule recommendations.

REQUIREMENT

Removed a list of six specific duties for the working group, including the use of case-specific questionnaires, juror rehabilitation rules, model bench book scripts, and training for judges and lawyers regarding jury selection.

TECHNICAL

Added three new Senate sponsors (Coleman, Cutter, Gonzales J., Jodeh, Rodriguez, Weissman) and updated the document header to reflect a 'Rerevised' status with a new reading date of April 27, 2026.

Reengrossed → Revised · 3 edits · Apr 24, 2026

MINOR

The bill's status was updated from 'Reengrossed' to 'Revised' to reflect amendments adopted during the second reading in the Senate. A new date stamp of April 24, 2026, was added to the Senate section, and the bill summary was updated to reflect the revised version. Additionally, a section detailing a progress report deadline of December 1, 2026, was removed from the text.

TIMELINE

Deleted a requirement for a working group to submit a progress report and recommendations by December 1, 2026.

TECHNICAL

Added a date stamp of April 24, 2026, to the Senate section header.

Changed the bill title from 'REENGROSSED' to 'REVISED' and updated the description of included amendments.

Engrossed → Reengrossed · 3 edits · Apr 16, 2026

MINOR

The bill was reengrossed to include additional co-sponsors in the House and updated the legislative summary date to April 16, 2026. A significant portion of the text regarding recommendations for statutory changes and the deadline for the Judicial Department to post a report was removed, likely due to a formatting error or the removal of a specific amendment. No substantive policy changes to the bill's core requirements for jury questionnaires are evident in this diff.

TECHNICAL

Added co-sponsors Bacon and Clifford to the House sponsorship list.

Updated the legislative summary date from an unspecified time to April 16, 2026.

Removed text concerning recommendations for statutory changes and the December 1, 2026 deadline for the Judicial Department to post a report.

Introduced → Engrossed · 5 edits · Apr 14, 2026

MODERATE

The bill was amended to shift its primary focus from establishing immediate voir dire time requirements to creating a 'Jury Selection Working Group' tasked with studying and recommending improvements to jury selection processes. The original text detailing specific time limits for trials and mandatory questionnaires was removed and replaced with provisions for forming a diverse committee of legal professionals to report findings by December 2026.

Scope change

The bill's scope changed from a direct regulatory mandate on court procedures to a study and recommendation framework. It no longer imposes immediate time requirements or questionnaire mandates on courts but instead establishes a working group to develop best practices.

REQUIREMENT

Removed all specific time requirements for voir dire based on case type (e.g., 20 minutes for petty offenses, 1 hour for felonies) and mandatory pre-trial questionnaires for jurors.

ELIGIBILITY

Added the creation of a 'Jury Selection Working Group' within the Judicial Department to make findings and recommendations regarding jury selection.

DEFINITION

Defined the 'Working Group' and listed its specific members, including representatives from state associations of prosecutors, judges, civil and criminal lawyers, and jury commissioners.

TIMELINE

Set a deadline of June 15, 2026, for appointing working group members and December 1, 2026, for submitting a progress report of best practices and recommendations.

ENFORCEMENT

Removed provisions regarding how courts must handle requests for extra voir dire time and the criteria for denying such requests.

Jury Selection Requirements

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