The act allows a preschool, public school, or public college or university student to wear objects of cultural or religious significance as an adornment at a graduation ceremony. The act prohibits a preschool, public school, or public college or university from restricting what a student may wear under the student's required graduation attire as long as the adornment complies with the preschool's, public school's, or public college's or university's dress code policy. The act allows a preschool, public school, or public college or university to prohibit a student from wearing or displaying an adornment that is likely to cause substantial disruption of, or material interference with, a graduation ceremony, but the prohibition must be the least restrictive means necessary to accomplish a specifically identified important government interest. Prior to the start of the 2024-25 school year, the act requires a preschool, public school, and public college or university to develop and adopt a policy that aligns with the requirements of the act. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 5, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act designates women veterans appreciation day as an observed, but not a legal, state holiday on June 12 of each year, and provides that appropriate observance may be held in tribute to the service and sacrifice of women veterans. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Beginning January 1, 2025, the act classifies a county coroner and deputy coroner elected, reelected, or appointed on or after January 1, 2021, by a local government division employer as a state trooper for the purpose of determining the county coroner's or deputy coroner's public employees' retirement association service retirement eligibility and benefits. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
For purposes of the school-based health center grant program (grant program), the act expands the definition of a school-based health center and the purposes of the grant program to authorize grants for evidence-informed, school-linked health-care services. Services may include primary health-care, behavioral health-care, oral health-care, and preventive health-care services for students and youth (school-linked health-care services). School-linked health-care services may be delivered through telehealth, mobile services, and referrals for health-care services at a clinic near school grounds. Subject to available appropriations, the act authorizes grant money to be directed to evidence-informed, school-linked health-care services models to expand access to school-based health care, unless the prevention services division in the department of public health and environment determines that adequate proposals have not been submitted for the grant cycle. The act also requires the department of health care policy and financing to create a service-location identifier for claims for services provided at school-based health centers or through school-linked health-care services. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the statewide welcome, reception, and integration grant program (grant program) in the department of labor and employment (department) to provide grants to community-based organizations that provide culturally and linguistically appropriate navigation of services and programs to migrants who are within one year of arrival in the United States. A grant may be used for: Conducting an intake and assessment of needs; Providing cultural orientation; case management; employment services or referrals to employment services; housing, housing-related services, or referrals to housing; English as a second language classes or referrals to classes; financial orientation; referrals to mental and physical health services and disability services; interpretation and translation services; transportation services; and immigration legal assistance or referrals to immigration legal services; Distributing emergency and transitional supplies; Assisting migrant parents to enroll their children in public school or summer programs, including early childhood programs; and Other eligible expenses. The act requires the department to issue a request for proposal for a nonprofit organization to administer the grant program. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $2.5 million from the general fund to the department for the grant program. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the state personnel director to establish a "step pay" structure that provides consistent salary increases for employees instead of permitting merit pay. The act provides an exception for employees of the office of the state auditor. The act also repeals the requirement that employees of the division of worker's compensation and the division of labor standards and statistics in the department of labor and employment be paid on a monthly basis. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 5, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The underfunded courthouse facility cash fund commission (commission) is set to repeal on September 1, 2024. The act continues the commission until September 1, 2035. APPROVED by Governor June 4, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, when a person is arrested in a case of mistaken identity, the arresting agency is required to petition the court for an expungement order. The act allows the defendant in a mistaken identity case to petition for an expungement order if the arresting agency does not file a petition within the prescribed timeframe. The defendant is not subject to any fees or costs associated with expunging the record. A court can grant an attorney access to a sealed record if the defendant in the sealed case provides permission and the attorney is accessing the record for the sole purpose of providing legal advice to or representing the defendant. The act clarifies that a deferred judgment is eligible for record sealing if the underlying offense would be eligible for record sealing. The act allows a hearing related to sealing matters to be conducted remotely, clarifies procedures for automatic sealing, and creates a record-sealing procedure for convictions records for when a statutory change legalizes previously prohibited conduct. On or before July 1, 2025, the state court administrator shall compile a list of certain types of non-conviction criminal justice records (non-conviction records) with dispositions prior to August 2022. The state court administrator shall sort the non-conviction records by judicial district and send the final list to the chief judge of each judicial district. APPROVED by Governor June 4, 2024 EFFECTIVE July 1, 2025(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act reforms and clarifies the criminal competency to proceed process. The act provides necessary parties with access to information related to the defendant's claim of incompetency to proceed. The act adds to the information that is included in a competency report. The act delineates a court's options when it finds that a defendant is incompetent to proceed. The act directs when competency services may be provided on an outpatient basis. The act sets forth the circumstances when a court has to dismiss the defendant's case based on the highest level of charge against the defendant and how long the defendant has been waiting for restoration services. APPROVED by Governor June 4, 2024 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE June 4, 2024 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE July 1, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act modifies the fees collected by county clerk and recorders to be a flat $40 fee instead of a fee per page, unless otherwise specified. No fee is allowed for the filing or recording of a certificate of death, a verification of death document, or a certified copy thereof, which are public records if recorded into the real estate records of a county clerk and recorder. The act also extends filing surcharge fees collected by county clerk and recorders by 3 years to 2029. The act modifies existing practice regarding the redaction of the first 5 digits of an individual's social security number on a public document recorded with a county clerk and recorder. Previously, redaction occurred upon request of the individual or the individual's representative. The act changes this practice so that redaction is automatic unless the individual or individual's representative requests that the social security number remain unredacted. The act also delays the repeal and sunset review of the electronic recording technology board (board) by 3 years to 2029, so that the board's sunset review will take place 13 years after the board's creation in 2016. The deadlines for the board's annual and final reports are modified accordingly. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, $10,444 is appropriated to the department of revenue from the Colorado DRIVES vehicle services account in the highway users tax fund, of which $1,188 is reappropriated to the office of the governor for use by the office of information technology. APPROVED by Governor June 4, 2024 EFFECTIVE July 1, 2025(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act establishes in statute a bill of rights for youth who are the responsibility of the department of human services (department), whether the youth is detained or committed to the care and physical custody of a juvenile facility operated by the department. APPROVED by Governor June 4, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Beginning January 1, 2025, the act increases penalties for violations of the "Colorado Youth Employment Opportunity Act of 1971" (CYEOA) and requires that the monetary penalties collected be deposited into the wage theft enforcement fund. Entities that violate CYEOA must also pay specified damages to the individual who is aggrieved. The act eliminates a provision in current law penalizing a person, having legal responsibility for a minor, who knowingly permits the minor to be employed in violation of CYEOA. The director of the division of labor standards and statistics (director) is required to include a description of the penalties and damages owed in the written notice issued to an employer if CYEOA is violated. The division of labor standards and statistics (division) may reduce or decline to impose penalties or damages for violations of CYEOA if: The minor worker intentionally misled the employer with regard to the minor's age; and The employer engaged in outreach to a reliable third party to verify the minor worker's age if any reasonable employer could have believed that the minor worker might be under 18 years of age at the time of hiring. The act specifies that the receipt of an age certificate issued by the school superintendent of the district or county in which the worker resides constitutes outreach to a reliable third party. The division is required to treat all final orders issued for violations of CYEOA as public records and to release information related to a violation to the public upon request pursuant to the "Colorado Open Records Act", unless the director makes a determination that the information is a trade secret. The director may, or, at the request of the individual aggrieved, must, file a certified copy of a final order for a violation of CYEOA with the clerk of any court having jurisdiction over the parties at any time after the entry of the order. The act applies the state's discrimination and retaliation prohibitions to individuals attempting to exercise rights protected by CYEOA and creates a rebuttable presumption of retaliatory action if an entity engages in disciplinary or adverse action against an individual aggrieved within 90 calendar days after the individual exercises a right protected by CYEOA. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, $125,255 is appropriated to the department of labor and employment for use by the division to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor June 4, 2024 EFFECTIVE January 1, 2025(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
