The act requires the division of criminal justice in the department of public safety (division) to establish an automated protection order notification system (notification system) to provide a protected person, a protected person's immediate family, and other interested persons (registered users) with information related to a criminal or civil protection order. The notification system must disseminate specific information to registered users in English and Spanish through a telephone call, email, text message, or mobile phone application. The act authorizes the division to contract with a third-party entity to provide the functionality for the notification system. A public entity is immune from liability in any civil action based on its release of information or failure to release information related to the notification system. The act prohibits the division from establishing or operating the notification system until the division receives sufficient money to establish and operate the notification system for at least one year from gifts, grants, or donations, including federal funds, or money appropriated to the division from the Colorado crime victim services fund. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, there exists a working group formed by the department of human services and the state court administrator in the judicial department to perform various duties related to the allocation of juvenile detention beds. The act amends these duties. Under current law, 22 emergency detention beds are available statewide. The act expands this to 39 emergency detention beds available statewide. The act requires the department of human services to publish a monthly report concerning the status of all youth who are in detention and are awaiting services that would mitigate the substantial risk of harm to others that are presented by the juvenile or the juvenile's risk of flight from prosecution and the number of emergency beds used by each judicial district or facility. The act requires the division of youth services to: Publish a report by July 1, 2027, concerning available placements for juveniles who are awaiting mitigating services in the state; and Establish a pilot program for certain staff members to wear a body-worn camera while in a facility while interacting with youth. The act requires a court to dismiss a delinquency petition or charges against a juvenile if the court determines that the juvenile is incompetent to proceed and the highest charged act constitutes a class 2 misdemeanor, petty offense, drug misdemeanor, or traffic offense. The act amends and expands considerations for a juvenile's case management plan, if the court determines that a juvenile is incompetent to proceed. The act creates the deflection and community investment grant program in the division of criminal justice to provide grants to eligible applicants to implement a mixed-delivery system of trauma-informed health and development deflection programs for youth, including Native American youth. The grant program repeals on January 1, 2031. For the 2025-26 state fiscal year, the act: Appropriates $6,854,420 from the general fund to the department of human services to implement the act; Reappropriates $122,279 of general funds to the department of education to the department of human services for use by the division of youth services to implement the act; Appropriates $437,264 from the general fund to the department of public safety for use by the division of criminal justice to implement the act; and Appropriates $2,708,316 from the general fund to the department of public safety for use by the division of criminal justice for the deflection and community investment grant program.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates a working group to make findings and recommendations concerning the use of colorimetric field drug tests in the various stages of criminal proceedings and carceral settings. The act specifies the working group's membership and appointing authority, as applicable. The working group is required to: Make findings concerning the prevalence of the administration of colorimetric field drug tests in Colorado and the potential harms that result from such administration; Make findings and recommendations for legislation or policy solutions to eliminate harms from the use of colorimetric field drug tests, administering the tests for presumptive purposes only, and how to prevent future harms resulting from administering such tests; and On or before December 1, 2025, submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the judiciary committees of the house of representatives and the senate. On or before June 13, 2025, the director of the legislative council shall use a request for proposal process to contract with and designate a nonprofit organization to provide staffing and facilitate the performance of the working group's duties, subject to the approval of the chair of the executive committee of the legislative council. The operation of the working group is contingent on awarding a contract and designating a nonprofit organization. If a contract is not awarded, then the working group does not operate. The act prohibits the use of the general fund money to contract with a nonprofit to facilitate the working group. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act authorizes local authorities to enforce the state requirement that a vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, or motor vehicle (vehicle) be registered. A conviction by a local authority does not bar a subsequent state prosecution if the subsequent prosecution does not arise from the same event. A court may dismiss a violation for failing to register a vehicle if: The vehicle was unregistered for no more than 4 months at the time of the violation; The owner registered the vehicle before the owner's first court date; and The owner pays a $30 administrative dismissal fee if the court is a municipal court. A peace officer who charges a person for a violation must notify the defendant of the opportunity to have the charge dismissed by the court. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates a specific criminal offense related to wrongfully interfering with a transit worker and adds it to the criminal harassment statute, as well as making the offense subject to the victim rights act. The act eliminates similar criminal conduct from the regional transportation district (district) statutory scheme. Further, a law enforcement agency may grant money received from the peace officer training and support fund to the district for training, equipment, and other purposes deemed necessary to ensure the safety of employees and patrons of the district. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act defines "knowing misconduct" as a voluntary act or omission or series of acts or omissions consciously performed by a crime laboratory employee (employee) as a result of effort or determination in which the employee is aware that the employee's conduct is improper or deceptive and involves mishandling physical evidence or data or results, incorrectly performing forensic testing, presenting misleading or false results, concealing material information, or presenting false sworn testimony about evidence. The act defines a "significant event" as an act or omission by an employee that is a gross deviation from the standard operation procedures or accreditation requirements of the crime laboratory, or requirements in law that were applicable at the time of the act or omission of the employee, that could substantially negatively affect the integrity of the crime laboratory activities. The act requires an employee to report witnessed or discovered knowing misconduct or a significant event (collectively, "wrongful action") within 7 days of witnessing or discovering the wrongful action to the director of the crime laboratory (director) or to the employee's immediate supervisor, who shall report it to the director. A director who receives a report shall investigate the alleged wrongful action. As part of the investigation, the director must compile a list of all cases that the employee worked on. At the conclusion of the investigation, the director shall prepare a written final report. When an investigation is of alleged wrongful action in a pending case, the director shall notify each district attorney who has jurisdiction over the pending case about the investigation. At the conclusion of the investigation, if the investigation determines that the employee did not engage in wrongful action, the director shall deliver the final report to each district attorney who received notice of the investigation and to each district attorney who has jurisdiction over any case that was subject to investigation. If the investigation determines that the employee engaged in wrongful action, the director shall deliver the final report and all discoverable materials to each district attorney who has jurisdiction over any case that the employee worked on in an official capacity. If an investigation concerning wrongful action by a crime laboratory occurred after July 1, 2014, and before July 1, 2025, and the investigation resulted in criminal allegations filed against the employee or a sustained internal affairs action by the department supervising the employee, the director shall, as soon as practicable but no later than September 1, 2025, prepare a final report and provide the final report to all district attorneys with jurisdiction over any criminal case that is identified in the final report that is pending or has resulted in a conviction in that jurisdiction. Upon receipt of a notice from a director about an investigation into alleged wrongful action in a pending case, a district attorney shall notify the defendant in the case of the investigation. If the case involved a crime listed in the "Victim Rights Act", the district attorney shall also notify the victim about the alleged wrongful action, if the charges have been filed but the trial has not begun. A district attorney who receives a final report of an investigation that determines that a crime laboratory employee engaged in wrongful action in any case shall notify the defendant in that case, and each defendant whose case was reviewed as part of the investigation, of the determination of wrongful action. The act establishes a defendant's right to counsel in matters involving an employee's wrongful action and a right to investigate the wrongful action, to request discovery related to the wrongful action, and to seek post-conviction relief based on the wrongful action. The act permits a court to enter a protective order related to discovery requests. The act establishes a process for a defendant convicted in a case involving an employee's wrongful action to petition for post-conviction relief based on the wrongful action. If the defendant's petition for post-conviction relief asserts facts that, if true, demonstrate that a wrongful action was material to the case, the court shall decide the claim upon the merits after an evidentiary hearing. At the evidentiary hearing, the defendant has the burden to show that the employee committed the wrongful action and that the wrongful action is material to the case. If the defendant meets their burden, the court shall vacate the defendant's conviction and grant a new trial. The act makes all records related to an investigation criminal justice records and makes release of the records governed by the existing law governing criminal justice records; except that the custodian of a final report that concludes that a crime laboratory employee engaged in wrongful action may deny inspection of the report if there is an ongoing criminal investigation or criminal case. The act appropriates $140,433 from the general fund to the judicial department for use by the state courts. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act adds species that appear in Appendix I to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES Appendix I) to the wildlife covered under Colorado's wildlife trafficking and wildlife possession laws. The act clarifies that species listed on Colorado's endangered and threatened species list or the endangered and threatened species list pursuant to the federal "Endangered Species Act of 1973", 16 U.S.C. sec. 1531 et seq. (federal act) are also covered under Colorado's wildlife possession and wildlife trafficking laws. The act establishes penalties for violating wildlife trafficking laws. A person who violates wildlife trafficking laws commits a class 1 misdemeanor; except that: If a person violates wildlife trafficking laws and the aggregate value of the wildlife involved is more than $1,000 but less than $10,000, the person commits a class 5 felony; If a person is convicted of trafficking wildlife and the wildlife involved is an endangered species or threatened species under Colorado law or the federal act or is a species that appears in CITES Appendix I, the person commits a class 4 felony; or If a person violates wildlife trafficking laws and the aggregate value of the wildlife involved is more than $10,000, the person commits a class 4 felony. The act grants the parks and wildlife commission (commission) in the department of natural resources (department) authority to suspend wildlife licenses held by a person convicted of a violation of wildlife trafficking laws. The act clarifies that the division of parks and wildlife (division) in the department has the authority to pursue a civil action against an individual to recover the possession or value of wildlife that was unlawfully taken and the minimum value that the division may recover for certain animals that are on the federal endangered and threatened species lists. The act requires the division to conduct investigations and surveys to collect information and data related to wildlife trafficking and determine appropriate conservation, management, and law enforcement measures based on those investigations and surveys. The general assembly is required to appropriate sufficient money to implement the act from the wildlife cash fund; except that money from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses in the wildlife cash fund must not be used for these purposes. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act establishes a process for a person to voluntarily waive the right to purchase a firearm (voluntary waiver). The Colorado bureau of investigation (bureau) in the department of public safety (department) shall deny a firearm transfer to the person while the voluntary waiver is in effect. The bureau shall develop an online portal (portal) for a person to electronically file for a voluntary waiver, update contact information, and revoke a voluntary waiver. The bureau is required to verify the filer's identity before accepting a voluntary waiver or revocation. The bureau shall enter a voluntary waiver into the national instant criminal background check system and any other federal or state computer-based systems used to identify prohibited purchasers of firearms. A person may revoke the voluntary waiver by filing for revocation with the bureau. The waiver remains in effect for 30 days after the bureau accepts the revocation. A person filing the voluntary waiver form may provide the name and contact information of a person who will be contacted if the person attempts to purchase a firearm while the voluntary waiver is in effect or if the filer revokes the voluntary waiver. The act prohibits a person from attempting to purchase a firearm while subject to a voluntary waiver. Attempting to purchase a firearm while subject to a voluntary waiver is a civil infraction, punishable by a maximum $25 fine. The voluntary waiver process and the prohibition on attempting to purchase a firearm while subject to a voluntary waiver are contingent on the department receiving $200,000 of gifts, grants, or donations to develop and operate the portal. The act permits the department to seek, accept, and expend gifts, grants, or donations for the portal. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the judicial department to develop a form for a court to use to notify the department of human services (DHS) of the court's specific findings when the court denies a personal recognizance bond and orders inpatient restoration services for a defendant who is in custody for a misdemeanor, petty offense, or traffic offense, and who the court determines is incompetent to proceed but there is a substantial probability that the defendant, with restoration services, will attain competency in the reasonably foreseeable future. The act makes changes to the processes related to competency evaluations, including changing the deadlines and processes for requesting second evaluations and changing the requirements for conducting restoration evaluations of juveniles. The act requires a court to vacate any existing order and not enter a new order directing DHS to conduct a competency evaluation or provide restoration services to a defendant if the defendant was accepted to participate in the bridges wraparound care program. The requirements and processes related to certifying a defendant for short-term treatment are updated, including changes to the requirements for a party to request an order initiating short-term treatment and the processes when a party requests a hearing. The act permits DHS to request that the court refer a matter for filing of a petition for short-term treatment if, in the process of coordinating outpatient restoration services for a defendant, DHS determines that the defendant meets the standard for a certification for short-term treatment. The court is required to set the following hearings upon the request of a party, if a final determination is made that the defendant is incompetent to proceed: A hearing following the court's receipt, prior to ordering restoration treatment, of a competency evaluator's report concluding that there is not a substantial probability that the defendant, with restoration services, will attain competency within the reasonably foreseeable future; and A hearing if, prior to ordering restoration treatment, a competency evaluator or other expert opines that the defendant's diagnosis likely includes a moderate to severe intellectual or developmental disability, acquired traumatic brain injury, or dementia, which, either alone or together with a co-occurring mental illness, affects the defendant's ability to gain or maintain competency. The court is required to make findings about whether there are reasonable grounds to believe a person meets the standard for a certification for short-term treatment prior to dismissing charges against the person for certain competency reasons. If the charges are dismissed, the court shall notify DHS in writing that the charges were dismissed and the reason for the dismissal. Under existing law, if the court finds there are reasonable grounds, the court may stay the dismissal for 35 days. The act permits the court to grant up to four 35-day extensions to a stay of a dismissal in addition to the initial stay. DHS is permitted to continue to provide services for up to 90 days after a person's case is dismissed because the person is incompetent to proceed. DHS is permitted to enter into an agreement with an organization to provide permanent supportive housing for a person whose case is dismissed because the person is incompetent to proceed or the person has successfully completed a bridges wraparound care program, and for a person who has been referred to the bridges wraparound care program. DHS is required to collect information concerning where a person lives or intends to live following a dismissal or referral for each person whose charges are dismissed following a determination by the court that the person is incompetent to proceed or following satisfactory completion of a bridges wraparound care program, or who has been referred to the bridges wraparound care program. The act tolls the time limitations to commence a criminal proceeding against a defendant while the offender is in a competency-related diversion or deflection program. The act tolls the time limitations to commence a criminal proceeding against a defendant beginning when the defendant's case is dismissed without prejudice for the purpose of facilitating certification for short-term treatment until either the defendant's criminal case is re-filed or 6 months have passed since the case was dismissed, whichever is earlier. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act implements some of the recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies (department) regarding the motorcycle operator training (MOST) program, as contained in the department's sunset review of the MOST program, as follows: Lowers the required minimum age to be a MOST instructor from 21 to 18 years of age; and To align with the placement of the MOST program within the Colorado state patrol rather than the department of transportation, clarifies that a MOST vendor must meet standards promulgated by the Colorado state patrol rather than by the department of transportation. The act also makes the following changes to the MOST program that were not included in the department's sunset review: Continues the MOST program in the office of the chief of the state patrol in the department of public safety (chief) for 5 years, until September 1, 2030; and Allows the chief to expend money from the MOST fund for a tuition benefit paid to MOST vendors to be passed on to eligible students in the form of reduced costs for eligible courses, as established by the chief by rule.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under existing law, a person convicted of certain prior offenses may be adjudged a habitual criminal and subject to enhanced sentencing. The act requires a jury, in a habitual proceeding that is separate from the trial of the charged substantive offense and for the purpose of determining whether the defendant is a habitual criminal, to determine whether the defendant has been previously convicted as alleged, whether the convictions were separately brought and tried, and whether the convictions arose out of separate and distinct criminal episodes. The habitual proceeding must be conducted before the same jury impaneled to try the substantive offense; except that, when necessary and as constitutionally permissible, a new jury may be impaneled. If a new jury is impaneled, the court shall hold the habitual proceeding as soon as practicable. The act repeals the process for a judge to try the issue of whether a person is a habitual offender when the prosecuting attorney learns of a prior felony conviction after a guilty verdict but prior to the person being sentenced. The act appropriates $17,500 from the general fund to the judicial department for court costs, jury costs, court-appointed counsel, and reimbursements for vacated convictions. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act allows regulators of the following professions and occupations to require an applicant for a license, certification, or registration to submit to a fingerprint-based criminal history record check (fingerprint-based record check): Audiologists; Certified midwives; Cremationists; Dental hygienists; Dentists; Embalmers; Funeral directors; Licensed professional counselors; Mortuary science practitioners; Natural reductionists; Occupational therapists; Occupational therapy assistants; Physician assistants; Social workers; and Speech-language pathologists. An applicant submitting to a fingerprint-based record check must pay the costs associated with the fingerprint-based record check. If an applicant's fingerprint-based record check reveals a record of arrest without a disposition, the applicant must submit to a name-based judicial record check. A local government entity is authorized to perform a fingerprint-based record check when an ordinance or resolution requires an individual to submit to a fingerprint-based record check. The act also clarifies who is eligible to submit to, who is eligible to receive records from, and the type of records an entity may receive from a fingerprint-based record check and aligns state law with federal bureau of investigation requirements. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
