The bill changes the length of time that a parolee may serve for a technical parole violation. If the parolee is on parole for a class 2 felony; level 1 drug felony; a crime of violence, stalking, menacing, or unlawful sexual behavior; or a crime against an at-risk adult or is a sexually violent predator, the length of revocation is up to the remainder of the parolee's parole period. If the parolee is on parole for a level 2 drug felony or a class 3 nonviolent felony, the length of revocation is up to 90 days. If the parolee is on parole for a level 3 or level 4 drug felony or a class 4, class 5, or class 6 nonviolent felony, the length of revocation is up to 30 days. The bill requires the division of adult parole to conduct a parole plan investigation prior to the parole release hearing and to inform the parole board (board) of the results of the investigation. If the board finds an inmate's parole plan inadequate, the board can table the release decision and order the department to submit a revised parole plan developed in conjunction with the inmate within 30 days of the board's order. The bill allows the board to conduct a parole release review instead of a hearing without the presence of the inmate if the inmate is assessed 'low' or 'very low' on the risk assessment instrument and victim notification is not required. The bill creates the justice reinvestment crime prevention initiative in the division of local government in the department of local affairs (division). The division shall develop the initiative to expand small business lending in the target communities of Aurora and Colorado Springs. The division will issue a request for participation from one or more nondepository community development financial institution loan funds to participate in the small business lending program. The division shall enter into a contract with the selected funds to define the operating terms of the loan program. The loans are limited to 5 years and $50,000. The division shall also develop the initiative to implement a grant program for programs, projects, or direct services aimed at reducing crime in the target communities. The division shall issue a request for participation to select a community foundation or foundations to manage the grant program. The division shall sign an agreement with the selected foundation or foundations that defines the role and responsibility of the foundation in managing the grant program. The grant program may fund: Academic improvement programs; Community-based services; Community engagement programs; Increasing safety and usability of common outdoor-spaces programs; Technical assistance related to data collection, data analysis, and evaluation; and Administrative costs of the foundation. Only a nonprofit organization in good standing and registered with the internal revenue service and the Colorado secretary of state, a school, a unit of local government, or a private contractor hired to provide technical assistance are eligible to receive grants. The bill requires the division to present a status report to the joint judiciary committee regarding the initiative. The bill reduces the appropriation to the department of corrections by $6,628,401 as a result of the changes to the parole statutes. The bill appropriates that $6,628,401to the department of local affairs to fund the lending program and the grant program. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill is known as the 'Bond Surety Protection Act'. The bill changes what happens with bonds posted for a defendant's appearance if a defendant is determined to be illegally present in the country and doesn't appear in court due to being removed from the country. Instead of forfeiture of the bond, a compensated surety who posted bond or a bail bonding agent who posted bond, or a noncompensated surety, such as a family member or friend, who executed a bail bond for a defendant, is exonerated from liability on the bond if the compensated surety or the noncompensated surety provides satisfactory evidence to the court that the defendant has been removed from the country. The bill requires the court to exonerate the bail bond if all of the following occur: The compensated or noncompensated surety files a motion requesting exoneration of the bail bond; The compensated or noncompensated surety files an affidavit along with the motion stating that the surety has received information from the United States department of homeland security, the United States immigration and customs enforcement, or a foreign consulate that the defendant has been detained or removed from the United States. If the surety is unable to obtain such information from the above sources, the surety must file an affidavit that is signed under penalty of perjury by a person with personal knowledge that the defendant has been detained or removed from the United States. The district attorney does not object. If the court exonerates the liability on the bail bond and the bond premium has been paid, any collateral securing the bail bond is released. The bill repeals current law that requires notification of people or sureties that their bond or fees will be forfeited if the defendant is removed from the country. On and after the effective date of the bill, a law enforcement agency holding a person charged with a criminal offense is prohibited from notifying the defendant's bail bonding agent or noncompensated surety before the bond is posted that his or her bond or fees will be forfeited if the defendant is removed from the country, and law enforcement officers are prohibited from asking a defendant or a person other than a bail bonding agent to execute a waiver that states that he or she understands that the bond or fees shall be forfeited if the defendant is removed from the country. A bail bonding agent shall not communicate to a defendant that his or her bond fees shall be forfeited if the defendant is removed from the country. The bill repeals current law regarding the crediting of revenue from forfeited bonds into the county jail assistance fund. The bill directs the state treasurer to transfer the balance remaining in the county jail assistance fund to the general fund and then abolishes and repeals the county jail assistance fund. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill clarifies that a person with a disability obtains a temporary instruction permit for driving using the normal procedures and requirements, but modified as necessary because of the disability. This includes a clarification that the instruction permit expires after 3 years. The bill also requires that the department of revenue make a reasonable effort to ensure that confidential driver's records are not visible or accessible to the public and protect the contents against inadvertent disclosure. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
Sunset Process - Senate Business, Labor, and Technology Committee. The bill implements many of the recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies, as contained in the department's sunset review of motor vehicle and powersports vehicle sellers, as follows: Continues the regulation of motor vehicle and powersports vehicle sales until September 1, 2027; Codifies the auto industry division in statute under the department of revenue and changes the authority to enforce the regulation of the licensing of vehicle sellers from the executive director of the department of revenue to the director of the division; Requires a licensing application when a business acquires a new owner; Subjects the license of a dealer to discipline when the owner is acting as a salesperson and violates the law governing salespersons; Requires a fingerprint-based criminal history record check for all licensees; and Requires people who have had licenses revoked to wait one year before applying for a new license. To implement the bill, $12,568 is appropriated from the auto dealers license fund to the department of revenue, and $162,983 is appropriated from the Colorado bureau of investigation unit fund to the department of public safety. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill increases the penalties on unlicensed motor vehicle sales. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
Current law states that a conviction for escape or for attempt to escape may not be used for the purpose of adjudicating a person an habitual criminal unless the conviction is based on the offender's escape or attempt to escape from a correctional facility. The bill clarifies that this prohibition applies to both current and prior convictions for escape and attempt to escape. The bill also states that for the purposes of this prohibition, 'correctional facility' does not include a community corrections facility or a halfway house. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
When responding to a solicitation issued by the department of transportation (department), contractors are required to secure a bid in the form of a bond. If the contractor can furnish such bond in the required amount, the bill prohibits the department from eliminating the contractor from consideration of an award based on a financial statement that the contractor submitted to the department for the department's contractor prequalification determination process. The bill specifies that the prohibition applies even if the contractor's financial statement submitted for prequalification purposes indicates that the contractor may not be able to perform the applicable contract to the level and amount reflected in the bond. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
Current law allows a service retiree of any division of the public employees' retirement association (PERA) to work for a PERA employer for limited periods and to receive a salary without reduction in benefits under certain circumstances. Several rural school districts in the state have recently experienced a shortage of teachers, school bus drivers, and school food services cooks and would ideally address the shortages by hiring service retirees. PERA's employment after retirement provisions, including the limitation on the number of days in a calendar year that a service retiree may work for a PERA employer without a reduction in benefits, make it difficult for school districts to fill their vacancies with retired teachers, school bus drivers, and school food services cooks. The bill modifies the current PERA employment after retirement provisions for certain retirees hired by an employer in the school division if: The employer that hires the service retiree is a rural school district as determined by the department of education based on certain criteria and the school district enrolls 6,500 students or fewer in kindergarten through 12th grade; The school district hires the service retiree for the purpose of providing classroom instruction or school bus transportation to students enrolled by the district or for the purpose of being a school food services cook; and The school district determines that there is a critical shortage of qualified teachers, school bus drivers, or school food services cooks, as applicable, and that the service retiree has specific experience, skills, or qualifications that would benefit the district. A service retiree who is a teacher, a school bus driver, or a school food services cook and who is hired by an employer in the school division that satisfies the criteria above may receive salary without a reduction in benefits for any length of employment in a calendar year if the service retiree has not worked for any PERA employer during the month of the effective date of retirement. In addition, the bill requires the employer that hires the service retiree to provide full payment of all PERA employer contributions, disbursements, and working retiree contributions. The bill also specifies that a service retiree who is a teacher, school bus driver, or food services cook and who is hired by an employer in the school division: Is not required to resume PERA membership; Will not receive a PERA health care premium subsidy; Is eligible to participate in the health plan offered by the employer; May not receive salary without reduction in benefits and without limitation in a calendar year for more than 6 consecutive years; and May not be employed by the school district from which he or she retired until 2 years after retirement if he or she retired without a full service retirement benefit. By December 1, 2020, PERA is required to submit a report including specified information to the general assembly regarding the additional employment after retirement provisions for teachers, school bus drivers, and food services cooks. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill allows persons who were convicted of misdemeanors for the use or possession of marijuana to petition for the sealing of criminal records relating to such convictions if their behavior would not have been a criminal offense if the behavior had occurred on or after December 10, 2012. The court shall order the record sealed after the filing fees are paid, the petitioner establishes the offense is eligible for sealing, and the petition is posted on the website of the state court administrator for 30 days. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
Under current law, a person who commits a fourth or subsequent DUI offense commits a class 4 felony. If a court sentences the person to probation, the bill requires the court to order as a condition of probation one of the following: Require the defendant to serve at least 90 days but not more than 180 days imprisonment in the county jail. During the mandatory 90-day period of imprisonment, the defendant is not eligible for good-time deductions of his or her sentence or for trusty prisoner status; except that a defendant receives credit for any time that he or she served in custody for the violation prior to his or her conviction. Require the defendant to serve at least 120 days but not more than 2 years of imprisonment in the county jail through participation in an alternative sentencing program if such programs are available through the county in which the defendant is imprisoned and only for certain purposes. During the mandatory 120-day period of imprisonment, the defendant is not eligible for good-time deductions of his or her sentence or for trusty prisoner status; except that a defendant receives credit for any time that he or she served in custody for the violation prior to his or her conviction. Additionally, the bill states that if the court sentences such an offender to a term of probation, the court, as a condition of probation, shall: Require the defendant to complete at least 48 hours but not more than 120 hours of useful public service, which may not be suspended; Include, as a condition of the defendant's probation, a requirement that the defendant complete a level II alcohol and drug driving safety education or treatment program at the defendant's own expense; and Consider imposing certain other conditions of probation.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill requires health insurers that issue individual and group sickness and accident policies, contracts, or plans that are required under current law to provide contraception coverage to reimburse participating providers or in-network dispensing entities for: Dispensing prescription contraceptives in a 3-month supply for the first dispensing to the insured person and for a 12-month supply for subsequent dispensings of the same prescription contraceptive to the insured person; or Dispensing to the insured person a prescribed vaginal contraceptive ring intended to last for 3 months. 'Prescription contraceptive' is defined as a medically acceptable oral drug or contraceptive patch that is used to prevent pregnancy, that requires a prescription, and that is covered under the terms of the policy, contract, or plan issued by a health insurer subject to regulation by the state. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
Currently, a tenancy of one month or more but less than 6 months may be terminated by either party with 7 days' notice. The bill extends the notice to 21 days. The bill also requires 21 days' notice for a landlord to increase rent in tenancies of one month or longer but less than 6 months. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
