The constitution guarantees all persons the right to bail pending disposition of charges, with exceptions for capital offenses and crimes of violence under certain circumstances. The concurrent resolution amends the Colorado constitution to add an exception for the offense of murder in the first degree when proof is evident or presumption is great. (Note: This summary applies to this concurrent resolution as adopted.)
The act specifies that a judgment for a debt for overpayment of paid family and medical leave benefits is eligible to be assigned, released, or commuted and is not exempt from claims of creditors or from levy, execution, and attachment or other remedy or recovery or collection of a debt. The act adds family and medical leave benefits to the list of exceptions for which workers' compensation benefits may be assigned, levied, or attached. The act also allows the division of family and medical leave insurance (division) in the department of labor and employment to obtain reimbursement from a workers' compensation insurer if an employee received both family and medical leave benefits and temporary indemnity benefits for the same absence and allows the insurer to offset benefits in the amount reimbursed. The division may access records regarding compensability and benefit payments of workers' compensation claims for the purpose of coordinating family and medical leave benefits. The department of revenue may provide the division with tax information and may enter into an agreement with the division providing for payment of the costs related to supplying the information and providing for periodic updating of the information supplied. APPROVED by Governor April 11, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Current law limits the duration of employment a public employees' retirement association (PERA) service retiree can work for a PERA employer without a reduction in PERA retirement benefits. Under certain circumstances, a rural school district may hire a service retiree who is a teacher, a school bus driver, a school food services cook, a school nurse, or a qualified paraprofessional without the service retiree receiving a deduction in benefits for any length of employment in the calender year. The act adds superintendents and principals to the list of service retirees hired by a rural school district who may be employed without a reduction in benefits and clarifies that the exemption for a rural school district also includes a small rural school district which has a funded pupil count for the prior budget year of less than 1,000 pupils. The act also requires PERA, on or before December 1, 2025, and on or before December 1 of each 5th year thereafter, to submit a report to the finance and education committees of the house of representatives and the senate or any successor committees regarding certain employment after service retirement allowances. The report must include: The number of service retirees under certain allowances who have been employed after service retirement as of the date of the report; The extent to which certain employment after service retirement allowances have helped employers in the school division address shortages; The costs, if any, to PERA as a result of certain employment after service retirement allowances; and Any other information deemed relevant by PERA. APPROVED by Governor April 11, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Each county in the state is categorized for purposes of establishing the salaries of elected officers in the county. The statutory salary amounts are adjusted every 2 years for inflation and take effect for terms commencing after any change is made. The act modifies the categories of 4 counties, which will result in accompanying percentage increases in salaries as follows: Fremont county changes from category II-C to category II-B, resulting in a 9.1% increase for commissioners, treasurers, assessors, clerks, sheriffs, surveyors, and full- and part-time coroners; Elbert county changes from category IV-A to category III-A, resulting in a 17.7% increase for commissioners, treasurers, assessors, clerks, and full-time coroners; a 14.1% increase for sheriffs; a 50.0% increase for surveyors; and a 49.8% increase for part-time coroners; Rio Grande county changes from category IV-C to category III-C, resulting in a 17.7% increase for commissioners, treasurers, assessors, clerks, and full-time coroners; a 14.1% increase for sheriffs; a 50.0% increase for surveyors; and a 49.8% increase for part-time coroners; and Hinsdale county changes from category V-B to category V-A, resulting in an 8.3% increase for commissioners, treasurers, assessors, clerks, sheriffs, surveyors, and part-time coroners. APPROVED by Governor April 11, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, an entity that owns, operates, or has oversight over a storm water detention and infiltration facility (facility) is not allowed to divert, store, or otherwise use water detained in the facility. For facilities that are also approved for use as a precipitation harvesting facility, the act authorizes the use of water detained in the facility pursuant to an approved precipitation harvesting pilot project if precipitation captured in the facility for beneficial use is replaced and any other water captured is managed and released back to the stream system. APPROVED by Governor April 11, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The bill permits a school district, charter school, or board of cooperative services (local education provider) to employ or retain by contract a person as a school security officer only if: The local education provider has a policy that governs security officers' engagement with students; The person completes school security officer or school resource officer training; and The person undergoes a background check and a psychological evaluation. The bill permits a school security officer to carry a handgun on school property if the school security officer holds a valid permit to carry a concealed handgun; completes firearms training, including ongoing in-service training; and passed the peace officer standards and training board's firearms skills test or an equivalent firearms skills test. Existing law prohibits carrying, bringing, or possessing a deadly weapon on school property and includes exceptions to the prohibition, including for the purpose of a school employee carrying out necessary duties and functions that require the use of a deadly weapon. The bill repeals the exception for a school employee carrying out the employee's duties and expressly permits a school security officer to carry a handgun on school grounds, as described above. The bill prohibits a school or law enforcement agency from storing firearms on the grounds of a public or private elementary, middle, junior high, or high school.
The bill clarifies that the naturopathic doctor formulary (formulary) may include prescription classes of medicines and adds certain medicines to the formulary, including all legend drugs and, for a naturopathic doctor with a federal drug enforcement administration registration, all drugs listed on schedules III through V under the "Uniform Controlled Substances Act of 2013", except for benzodiazepines, opioids, and opioid derivatives . Before obtaining, dispensing, administering, injecting, ordering, or prescribing any of the medicines or devices on the formulary, a naturopathic doctor who is currently registered with the department of regulatory agencies must show proof of completion of 10 hours of pharmacological continuing education pertinent to or reflective of the naturopathic formulary. The bill prohibits a naturopathic doctor from prescribing any medicine or device to an individual under 18 years of age, or ketamine to an individual of any age, unless recommended by the naturopathic doctor advisory committee and approved by the director. Beginning September 1, 2024, the bill requires an individual applying for registration as a naturopathic doctor to pass a pharmacology examination administered by the North American Board of Naturopathic Examiners or a nationally recognized, director-approved successor entity. For the renewal of a naturopathic doctor registration on or after June 1, 2025, the bill requires a naturopathic doctor to complete 12 hours per year of education in pharmacology. (Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.) (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill requires, when appointing members to a charter school's governing body, that the appointing authority make reasonable efforts to ensure that at least one-third of the board is comprised of parents or legal guardians of students who are enrolled in the charter school and people who reflect the demographics of the community where the charter school is located. The bill prohibits: Automatic waivers from being included in charter contracts executed or renewed on or after July 1, 2024; and A charter contract from waiving educator personnel performance evaluation system requirements. Under current law, a charter school is not required to pay rent for school district facilities that are available, and an independent charter school is not required to pay more than $12 in rent per year for a building of a public school that is subject to conversion. The bill repeals this provision. The bill repeals a requirement that a school district prepare, and provide upon request, a list of vacant or underused buildings and land to the district charter schools, charter school applicants, and other interested persons, and repeals the ability of a district charter school or charter school applicant to apply to use the district building or land. The bill requires information about laws and policies waived by the charter school to be provided in plain and easy-to-understand language on: A school district's enrollment website portal; and A charter school's website. Failure to satisfy this requirement is grounds for revocation or nonrenewal of the charter contract. The bill requires a charter school to publicly report on its website its unredacted federal form 990 and an unredacted copy of any form including revenue and expenses related to marketing and student recruitment, except for redactions required to protect personal or confidential information. The bill requires a charter school application or renewal to include: Descriptions of educational services that the applicant will provide that meet the unmet needs of the students in the community where the charter school is located and, in a charter renewal application, information concerning the progress and results in satisfying this purpose; and Its annual minimum pupil enrollment requirement. Failure to satisfy this requirement is grounds for revocation or nonrenewal of the charter contract. Under current law, certain local board of education (local board) decisions may be appealed to the state board of education (state board). The state board may remand a decision to the local board for reconsideration. If the local board's decision remains unchanged, that decision may be appealed to the state board again. The state board's decision is then the final decision. The bill repeals the second remand to the state board, so that the local board's final decision ends the appeal process. The bill creates a process for community members to appeal a local board's decision to approve a charter application. Under current law, a local board is prohibited from imposing a moratorium on the approval of district charter schools. The bill creates an exception for a school district whose pupil enrollment is less than the immediately preceding budget year or is projected to decline over the next 3 budget years. The bill allows a local board to revoke or not renew a district charter school charter because of the school district's declining pupil enrollment or the district charter school's declining enrollment. The charter school may appeal the decision. Under current law, a district accountability committee is required to review a charter school application. The bill requires a district accountability committee to also review a charter school renewal application. The bill prohibits a charter school governing board member or leader from engaging in activity or having any financial interest that might result in a conflict of interest between the board member's or leader's charter school duties and personal or financial interest. Under current law, as a part of a charter school contract, the school district and charter school negotiate funding. A school district may retain the actual amount of the charter school's per pupil share of central administrative overhead costs for services provided to the charter school, up to 5% of the district per pupil revenues for each pupil enrolled in a charter school. The bill requires the school district to retain the costs, including any costs that are otherwise not reimbursed for special education services provided to the charter school, and repeals the 5% cap. Under current law, the department of education is required to submit an annual report to the governor and the house of representatives and senate education committees concerning charter schools. The bill requires the report to include data concerning attrition rates for charter school student enrollment and teacher and administration employment. Current law generally requires school districts and boards of cooperative services to evaluate the performance of their licensed personnel. The bill requires an evaluation of all personnel, including at institute charter schools, regardless of whether the person is licensed. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Current law requires the director of the office of the child's representative and the alternate defense counsel (directors) to be licensed to practice law in Colorado for at least 5 years prior to being appointed as the director of the respective offices and requires the director of the respondent parents' counsel to have 5 years of experience as a licensed attorney prior to being appointed as the director of the respondent parents' counsel. The act removes the requirement that the directors of the office of the child's representative and the alternate defense counsel be licensed to practice law in Colorado prior to their appointment and requires the directors to either be licensed to practice law in Colorado at the time of the appointment or be able to become licensed to practice law in Colorado within 6 months after the appointment. APPROVED by Governor April 11, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, if a defendant is charged with a traffic offense, a petty offense, or a comparable municipal offense, a court shall not impose a monetary condition of release. Specifically, the provision applies to a comparable municipal offense that is a property crime and reflects a value of less than $50. The act removes the monetary threshold and instead states that the court cannot impose a monetary condition of release for a comparable municipal offense that would be a petty offense property crime under state law. APPROVED by Governor April 11, 2024 EFFECTIVE April 11, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the department of higher education (department) to: Identify and designate state institutions of higher education (state institutions) as first-generation-serving institutions if: The average resident first-generation undergraduate population share for the most recent year and the 2 previous years equals or exceeds the statewide average resident first-generation undergraduate student population share for the fall 2022 term; or The state institution secured a First Scholars Network of Institutions designation from the Center for First-generation Student Success or a similarly rigorous independent third-party designation; Post on the department's website the names of the state institutions that are so designated; and Notify the state institutions and the Colorado general assembly of the designations. APPROVED by Governor April 11, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act authorizes the board of trustees (board) of any local college district to determine the number of trustees on the board. The act permits 9-member boards that establish board member districts to designate one or 2 board member districts as at-large districts and permits 11-member boards that establish board member districts to designate up to 3 board member districts as at-large districts. Under existing law, voters must approve a school district's annexation into a local college district at a regular biennial school election. The act removes that restriction so that the approval vote may occur at any regular election. The act permits a recipient of a local investments in transformational affordable housing grant for a project in a rural community or rural resort community to prioritize providing affordable housing for enrolled postsecondary students, local college district employees, and local government employees in buildings on land owned and controlled by a local college district. APPROVED by Governor April 11, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
