Under current law, owners of certain large buildings (covered buildings) are required to annually collect and report each covered building's energy use to the Colorado energy office. The act clarifies that agricultural buildings are not covered buildings, and therefore, owners of agricultural buildings are exempt from the energy use collecting and reporting requirements. The act defines an agricultural building as a building or structure used to house agricultural implements, hay, unprocessed grain, poultry, livestock, or other agricultural products or inputs primarily for the purpose of maintaining or operating an agricultural process. Agricultural implements include certain agricultural equipment and do not include implements that are primarily for rent or sale. The act permits an owner of an agricultural building to submit for an affirmative exemption from any requirement to report benchmarking data and for an exemption to remain valid until there is a change in ownership or a change that renders the building no longer an agricultural building. For the duration of an exemption, the owner of an agricultural building is required to certify, upon request, the exemption status of an exempt building. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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The bill requires employers to implement protections for workers who are exposed to extreme hot and cold temperatures at the worksite, including temperature mitigation measures, rest breaks, and temperature-related injury and illness prevention plans. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The public employees' retirement association (PERA) board (board) conducts or causes to be conducted an actuarial experience study of PERA and a periodic actuarial audit of PERA. Both the actuarial experience study and the periodic actuarial audit, neither of which were referenced in law prior to passage of the act, are conducted approximately once every 5 years, but the timing of the actuarial experience study and the periodic actuarial audit is not aligned. The act requires the board to conduct or cause to be conducted the actuarial experience study every 4 years, beginning with the actuarial experience study that the board conducted in the 2024 calendar year, rather than every 5 years. In addition, the act requires the board to conduct or cause to be conducted the periodic actuarial audit of PERA in the 2026 calendar year and every 4 years thereafter , rather than every 5 years, and to ensure that each periodic actuarial audit takes into consideration the results and findings of the most recent actuarial experience study that was conducted or caused to be conducted by the board. For several years, the pension review commission has been required to commission an independent review of the economic and investment assumptions used to model PERA's financial situation. The act requires the commission to commission the independent review every 4 years, rather than every 3 years, within 3 months of the release of the periodic actuarial audit of PERA conducted or caused to be conducted by the board. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The state maintains a stockpile of essential materials (stockpile), including personal protective equipment, that the division of homeland security and emergency management (division), in consultation with the department of public health and environment, is authorized to distribute in response to a declared disaster emergency to any state agency, school, local public health agency, hospital, primary care provider, other health-care provider, tribal government with jurisdiction in Colorado, or other entity or individual (eligible recipient) that the director of the division (director) determines is in need as a result of a declared disaster emergency. The act broadens the authority of the director over the stockpile so that the director or the director's designee may distribute essential materials from the stockpile: After the governor has declared a disaster emergency; When the director or the director's designee determines that there are other circumstances in which there is a need for or benefit to distribution; or When the director or the director's designee determines that their distribution will enhance the ability of eligible recipients and their community partners to respond to future disaster emergencies or other circumstances in a way that would help protect public health or safety, including the distribution of essential materials for the purposes of ensuring that they can be used in normal, nonemergency times before their useful life ends. While included under current law as "any other entity", the act also explicitly adds "nonprofit organizations" and "faith-based organizations" to the statutory list of eligible recipients. The act also requires the department of public safety to annually include, as part of its presentation during its "SMART Act" hearing, specified information concerning the acquisition of essential materials for and distribution of essential materials from the stockpile. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act substitutes gender-neutral language for gendered language in title 35, a title concerning agriculture, of the Colorado Revised Statutes. The act also updates archaic language in title 35. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act grants a right for defense counsel to review a tangible object related to a criminal case at least 35 days before a trial, except for cases involving sexually exploitative material, and create confidential work product following their review. Law enforcement shall designate a specific location for the evidence viewing and be present during the evidence viewing to ensure chain of custody and integrity of the evidence. The act does not limit the defense's ability to request testing or a hearing, or the court's ability to conduct a hearing, on a tangible piece of evidence. Law enforcement officers and other state officials may record an evidence viewing by either the prosecution or the defense for the purpose of ensuring the chain of custody, integrity, or safety of the evidence held by the law enforcement agency, and must provide notice to the prosecuting authority and defense if a recording occurs. Law enforcement may view the recording for purposes of organization or cataloguing the evidence, or as authorized by a court order. A trial court may enter protective orders relating to a recording of an evidence viewing. When a member of the defense team is viewing evidence and is incidentally recorded on a law enforcement body-worn camera, it is not an interaction with law enforcement for purposes of the body-worn camera statute and is not for the purpose of enforcing the law or investigating possible violations of the law. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The Colorado rangers law enforcement shared reserve, commonly known as the Colorado rangers (CLER), is a statewide law enforcement agency that has been established as a political subdivision of the state through the execution of an intergovernmental agreement for the public purpose of promoting the safety, security, and general welfare of all Coloradans by establishing a peace officers standards and training board (P.O.S.T. board) certified statewide shared peace officer reserve force. Sections 1 through 4 of the act update laws relating to civil defense workers and peace officers to clarify the status of the CLER as a governmental entity created by intergovernmental agreement rather than as a volunteer organization, as it was prior to 2018, the requirement that a Colorado ranger be a P.O.S.T. board certified peace officer, and the scope of a Colorado ranger's authority. Section 5: Authorizes the board of the CLER to establish policies to allow compensation to be paid to a Colorado ranger if the Colorado ranger: Is deployed as a peace officer to a jurisdiction for an extended period, as defined or described in the policies; or Is deployed as a peace officer outside the state as authorized by a specified interstate compact for any length of time; and Authorizes the CLER to accept gifts, grants, and donations.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the Colorado bureau of investigation (CBI) to spend $3,000,000 in specifically appropriated money from House Bill 24-1430, concerning the provision for payment of the expenses of the executive, legislative, and judicial departments of the state of Colorado, and of its agencies and institutions, for and during the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024, except as otherwise noted, on backlogged DNA evidence and sexual assault kit tests, as well as DNA retesting related to CBI's laboratory misconduct that was discovered in 2023. Additionally, the act allows CBI to contract with external labs to perform the testing. The act requires CBI to create a dashboard on the department of public safety's website to update the public on the backlog at least every 30 days. CBI shall provide the general assembly with updates on the sexual assault kit backlog, including the number of cases pending, the number of tests CBI's lab conducted, the number of tests CBI contracted out, an update on CBI's laboratory staffing levels, the average turnaround time for a sexual assault kit test, and other relevant data points every 30 days from March 10, 2025, through June 30, 2026. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act broadens the scope of the managed care entities that a local county department of human or social services may enter into memorandums of understanding with to coordinate and manage services for children and families who would benefit from integrated multiagency services. The act allows a court with jurisdiction to access records that are created by an individualized service and support team. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
A municipality has had full police power and control (authority) over land that it acquires outside its municipal limits for use as parks, parkways, boulevards, or roads. The act extends this authority to land that a municipality acquires for open space and natural areas and clarifies that this authority extends to all such acquired land whether or not it is open or closed to the public. The act exempts from this authority acquired land that is within the exterior boundaries of an Indian reservation. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)