The "Immigrant Tenant Protection Act" (Act) is created, which prohibits a landlord from engaging in certain housing practices or related activities based on the immigration or citizenship status of a tenant. A tenant who is aggrieved by a landlord's violation of the Act may bring a civil action and seek certain remedies. In a civil action brought under the Act, a tenant's immigration or citizenship status is not relevant, and inquiry into the tenant's status is not permitted unless: The claims raised by the tenant place the tenant's immigration or citizenship status in contention; or The person seeking to make the inquiry demonstrates by clear and convincing evidence that the inquiry is necessary in order to comply with federal law.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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The act provides eviction assistance, rental assistance, residential mortgage assistance, and guidance on other housing assistance to households facing financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In determining how to distribute rental assistance, the division of housing in the department of local affairs (division) is required to prioritize: Homeless families with dependents or other children enrolled in preschool, elementary, or secondary schools; Medicaid clients in nursing homes who are able to live in their communities with in-home services; Family unification and related services; Homeless or disabled veterans; Low-income households with an income at or below one hundred percent of the area median income; Survivors of domestic violence; People experiencing homelessness who are at a higher risk of contracting COVID-19 according to the federal centers for disease control; and Entities that provide direct services to youth experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness. In determining how to distribute residential mortgage assistance, the division is required to prioritize households with an income at or below 100% of the area median income. From money given to the state in the federal "Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act": $350,000 is appropriated to the judicial department for use by the eviction legal defense grant program; and $19,650,000 is transferred from the care subfund in the general fund to the housing development grant fund administered by the division.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Beginning July 1, 2023, the act requires all local law enforcement agencies and the Colorado state patrol to issue body-worn cameras to their officers, except for those working in jails, working as administrative or civilian staff, the executive detail of the state patrol, and those working in court rooms. A peace officer shall wear and activate a body-worn camera when responding to a call for service or during any interaction with the public initiated by the peace officer when enforcing the law or investigating possible violations of the law. A peace officer may turn off a body-worn camera to avoid recording personal information that is not case related; when working on an unrelated assignment; when there is a long break in the incident or contact that is not related to the initial incident; and during administrative, tactical, and management discussions. A peace officer does not need to wear or activate a body-worn camera if the peace officer is working undercover. The act creates inferences, presumptions, and sanctions for failing to activate or tampering with a body-worn camera. The act requires all recordings of an incident be released to the public within 21 days after the local law enforcement agency or Colorado state patrol receives a complaint of misconduct. The act allows for redaction or nonrelease of the recording to the public if there is a specified privacy interest at stake. Beginning July 1, 2023, the act requires the division of criminal justice in the department of public safety (division) to create an annual report of the information that is reported to the division, aggregated and broken down by state or local agency that employs peace officers, along with the underlying data. Each local agency and the Colorado state patrol that employs peace officers shall report to the division: All use of force by its peace officers that results in death or serious bodily injury; All instances when a peace officer resigned while under investigation for violating department policy; All data relating to contacts conducted by its peace officers; and All data related to the use of an unannounced entry by a peace officer. The division of criminal justice shall maintain a statewide database with data collected in a searchable format and publish the database on its website. Any state or local law enforcement agency that fails to meet its reporting requirements is subject to suspension of its funding by its appropriating authority. If any peace officer is convicted of or pleads guilty or nolo contendere to a crime involving the unlawful use or threatened use of physical force or the failure to intervene in another officer's use of unlawful force or is found civilly liable in either case, the P.O.S.T. board shall permanently revoke the peace officer's certification. The P.O.S.T. board shall not, under any circumstances, reinstate the peace officer's certification or grant new certification to the peace officer unless exonerated by a court. The act states that in response to a protest or demonstration, a law enforcement agency and any person acting on behalf of the law enforcement agency shall not: Discharge kinetic impact projectiles and all other non- or less-lethal projectiles in a manner that targets the head, pelvis, or back; Discharge kinetic impact projectiles indiscriminately into a crowd; or Use chemical agents or irritants, including pepper spray and tear gas, prior to issuing an order to disperse in a sufficient manner to ensure the order is heard and repeated if necessary, followed by sufficient time and space to allow compliance with the order. The act allows a person who has a constitutional right secured by the bill of rights of the Colorado constitution that is infringed upon by a peace officer to bring a civil action for the violation. A plaintiff who prevails in the lawsuit is entitled to reasonable attorney fees, and a defendant in an individual suit is entitled to reasonable attorney fees for defending any frivolous claims. Qualified immunity is not a defense to the civil action. The act requires a political subdivision of the state to indemnify its employees for such a claim; except that if the peace officer's employer determines the officer did not act upon a good faith and reasonable belief that the action was lawful, then the peace officer is personally liable for 5 percent of the judgment or $25,000, whichever is less, unless the judgment is uncollectible from the officer, then the officer's employer satisfies the whole judgment. A public entity does not have to indemnify a peace officer if the peace officer was convicted of a criminal violation for the conduct from which the claim arises. The act creates a new use of force standard by limiting the use of physical force and limiting the use of deadly force when force is authorized. The act prohibits a peace officer from using a chokehold. The act requires a peace officer to intervene when another officer is using unlawful physical force and requires the intervening officer to file a report regarding the incident. If a peace officer fails to intervene when required, the P.O.S.T. shall decertify the officer. Under current law, if a grand jury does not bring charges against a person, the grand jury may issue a report. The act requires the grand jury to issue a report when it does not charge a person. Beginning, January 1, 2022, the act requires the P.O.S.T. board to create and maintain a database containing information related to a peace officer's: Untruthfulness; Repeated failure to follow P.O.S.T. board training requirements; Decertification; and Termination for cause. The act makes it unlawful for any governmental authority to engage in a pattern or practice of conduct by peace officers that deprives persons of rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the constitution or laws of the United States or the state of Colorado. Whenever the attorney general has reasonable cause to believe that a violation of this provision has occurred, the attorney general may in a civil action obtain any and all appropriate relief to eliminate the pattern or practice. The act allows the P.O.S.T. board to revoke peace officer certification for a peace officer who has failed to complete required peace officer training after giving the officer 30 days to satisfactorily complete the training. The act gives the P.O.S.T. board the authority to promulgate rules for enforcement of the provisions related to peace officer certification. The attorney general may bring criminal charges for violations of the provisions related to peace officer certification if violation is willful or wanton, or impose fines upon any individual officer or agency for failure to comply with the provisions related to peace officer certification. The act requires a peace officer to have a legal basis for making a contact. After making a contact, a peace officer shall report to the peace officer's employing agency information that the agency is required to report to the division of criminal justice. The act appropriates $617,478 from the highway users tax fund to the department of public safety for use by the Colorado state patrol. To implement this act, the patrol may use this appropriation as follows: $50,288 for civilians, including an additional 1.0 FTE; $7,550 for operating expenses; $463,700 for information technology asset maintenance; and $95,940 for the purchase of legal services, which is reappropriated to the attorney general's office.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The bill allows a person who is preregistered to vote in school district elections beginning at 16 years of age. A school district election is defined as an election to recall a school district officer or an election called under title 22, Colorado Revised Statutes, including elections for: The state board of education; School district officers; Referred measures to impose or increase mill levies or to raise and expend property taxes; Referred measures relating to the organization of or plan of representation for school districts; and Referred measures related to the financial obligations and indebtedness of school districts. When a person preregisters, they must receive information concerning their eligibility to vote in school district elections and how to update their preregistration information and obtain and cast a ballot. The bill repeals the requirement that the voter information of preregistrants be kept confidential. A preregistrant is automatically registered to vote in all elections upon turning age 18. Individuals committed to juvenile detention facilities must be given information about their right to preregister and vote in school district elections. A preregistrant can circulate and sign petitions to nominate or recall a school district officer or to initiate an election under title 22, Colorado Revised Statutes. A preregistrant cannot run for office or be appointed to fill a vacancy. If a juvenile is charged with an election offense and no other crime is charged, the juvenile court is prohibited from transferring the charge to a district court. For any election in which preregistrants are eligible to vote and in which the county clerk and recorder has responsibilities for the election, the state is required to reimburse the county for the direct costs associated with ballots sent to preregistrants. The school district's share of the costs of the election in a cost-sharing agreement must be reduced by the amount of the state's reimbursement. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill makes an offender serving a sentence in the department of corrections for a felony offense that was committed while the offender was 18 to 24 years of age eligible for parole after the offender serves 50% of the sentence and after the offender has served at least 15 calendar years in prison. There is a presumption, subject to the parole board's discretion, that the offender will be released on parole if the offender has not had any code of penal discipline violations in the last 5 years and no class I code of penal discipline violations in the last 10 years. The department of corrections operates a specialized program for offenders who are serving a prison sentence for a felony offense committed while the offender was a juvenile as a result of criminal charges filed by direct file or transfer proceedings. The bill would expand program eligibility to adults serving a sentence for a felony that was committed when the person was 18 to 24 years of age. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Prison Population Management Interim Study Committee. The bill requires the department of corrections (department) to conduct a study to examine how individuals proceed through the various stages of criminal proceedings, including the various sentences and programs to which a person may be sentenced or placed. Subject to available appropriations, the department shall issue a request for proposals for an entity to assist with the study. The department is required to produce a report of its findings to the joint budget committee of the general assembly and the judiciary committees of the house of representatives and the senate. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill creates the educator pay raise program (program) to provide funding to school districts and charter schools to assist them in increasing their minimum teacher salaries to the district required minimum teacher salary amount specified in the bill and the minimum hourly wage paid to other employees to the district required minimum hourly wage amount specified in the bill. A school district or charter school that seeks to participate in the program must submit an application to the department of education (department) that meets the requirements specified in the bill. A school district or charter school may choose to participate to increase minimum teacher salaries or the minimum hourly wage, or both. The department shall review the applications and recommend to the state board of education (state board) those applicants that should be selected to participate in the program. In selecting program participants, the department and the state board must prioritize those applicants that demonstrate the greatest financial need. The bill specifies criteria to apply in determining the prioritization. As a condition of participating in the program, each participant seeking to increase teacher salaries must increase its minimum teacher salary to the district required minimum teacher salary amount and each participant seeking to increase the hourly wage must increase its minimum hourly wage to the district required minimum hourly wage amount. In the first year in which a school district or charter school participates, the amount required for the increases is paid through the program. In the second and subsequent years of participation, each program participant is required to contribute an increasing amount of matching money while the amount that the program participant receives is decreased over time. The department determines the amount of matching money and the amount that a program participant receives based on schedules for increasing teacher salaries and schedules for increasing the hourly wage adopted by rule of the state board. A program participant may continue participating in the program so long as the participant meets the matching money requirement and continues to qualify for the program. A program participant no longer qualifies for the program when the department determines that the participant has sufficient resources to pay the district required minimum teacher salary amount or the district required minimum hourly wage amount or both, as applicable, without assistance. The bill creates the educator pay raise fund (fund), which consists of the greater of 10% or $15 million of the gross income annually earned on the public school lands and any other money that the general assembly may appropriate or transfer to the fund. Beginning in the 2022 regular legislative session, the department shall include in its annual report to the joint education committee information concerning implementation of the program. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill modifies specific provisions of the Tony Grampsas youth services program statute for general uniformity. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill clarifies that the existing authority of cities and counties (local governments) to plan for and regulate the use of land includes the authority to regulate development or redevelopment in order to promote the construction of new affordable housing units. The provisions of the state's rent control statute do not apply to any land use regulation that restricts rents on newly constructed or redeveloped housing units as long as the regulation provides a choice of options to the property owner or land developer and creates one or more alternatives to the construction of new affordable housing units on the building site.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill creates the "Immigrant Tenant Protection Act" (Act), which prohibits a landlord from: Demanding, requesting, or collecting information regarding or relating to the immigration or citizenship status of a tenant; Disclosing or threatening to disclose information regarding or relating to the immigration or citizenship status of a tenant to any person, entity, or immigration or law enforcement agency; Harassing, intimidating, or retaliating against a tenant for exercising the tenant's rights or opposing prohibited conduct; Interfering with a tenant's rights, including influencing or attempting to influence a tenant to surrender possession of a dwelling unit or to not seek to occupy a dwelling unit based solely or in part on the immigration or citizenship status of the tenant; Refusing to enter into a lease agreement or approve a subtenancy, or to otherwise preclude a tenant from occupying a dwelling unit, based solely or in part on the immigration or citizenship status of the tenant; and Bringing an action to recover possession of a dwelling unit based solely or in part on the immigration or citizenship status of a tenant. The Act is enforceable through a private right of action. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)