The bill establishes a state-level program (program) within the department of human services (department) for a check of the department's Colorado adult protective services (CAPS) data system. The CAPS check verifies whether a person is substantiated in a case of mistreatment of an at-risk adult, as defined in the bill. A person must be substantiated in a case of mistreatment of an at-risk adult, and the administrative appeals process must be concluded, before the person's name is included in a CAPS check for an employer. On and after a date stated in the bill, the bill requires certain employers at facilities or programs that serve at-risk adults to request a CAPS check prior to hiring employees who will provide direct care, as defined in the bill, to at-risk adults. The bill grants immunity from civil liability for employers who make an employment decision based upon the information obtained in the CAPS check, unless the employer knows that the information is false. The bill requires the department to promulgate rules relating to the investigation of reports of mistreatment of at-risk adults and the notification of perpetrators of the finding and of the right to administrative appeal to the department. The department shall provide training to county departments of human or social services relating to investigations, the accurate entry of documentation into CAPS, and confidentiality of information. Further, the department shall promulgate rules concerning the process and procedures for the CAPS check, including rules relating to submitting a CAPS check request, the timeline for completion of a CAPS check, the employer-paid fee for each check, department personnel granted access to CAPS, information provided to an employer as part of a CAPS check, the consequences of the improper release of the information in CAPS, and the expungement of records in CAPS. A person who improperly releases or willfully permits the release of CAPS information to persons not entitled to access to the information pursuant to the program commits a class 1 misdemeanor. The list of employers required to request a CAPS check includes: Health facilities licensed by the department of public health and environment; An adult day care facility; A community integrated health care service agency; A community-centered board or service agency; A single entry point agency; An area agency on aging; A facility operated by the department for persons with mental illness; A facility operated by the department for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities; and A veterans community living center. County departments of human or social services are required to conduct a CAPS check of adult protective services employees. The department is authorized to assess a fee for each CAPS check sufficient to cover certain expenses, including those related to the CAPS check. The bill includes conforming amendments concerning the CAPS check requirement in statutes relating to employers subject to the requirement. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
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With certain exceptions, the bill prohibits the use of a chemical, mechanical, or prone restraint upon a public school student. Each school district shall require any school employee or volunteer who uses any type of restraint on a student to submit a written report of the incident to the administration of the school not later than one school day after the incident occurred. The bill requires each school district to establish a review process, conduct the review process at least annually, and document the results of each review process in writing. Each annual review process must include a review of each incident in which restraint was used on a student during the preceding year. The bill requires the state board of education to promulgate rules on or before November 1, 2017, establishing a process by which a student or a parent or legal guardian of a student may formally complain about the use of restraint or seclusion by any employee or volunteer of any school, charter school, or institute charter school. The bill requires each school district and the state charter school institute to include in its conduct and discipline code information concerning the school district's or institute's policies for the use of restraint and seclusion on students, including information concerning the process for filing a complaint regarding the use of restraint or seclusion. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
Committee on Legal Services. Current law directs the Office of Legislative Legal Services to study the organizational recodification of title 12, Colorado Revised Statutes, which relates to professions and occupations. To implement the initial recommendations of the study, section 1 of the bill relocates article 12 of title 12, which relates to cemeteries, to title 6. Section 4 repeals the article where this law was previously codified, and sections 2 and 3 make conforming amendments.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
Committee on Legal Services - Revisor's Bill. To improve the clarity and certainty of the statutes, the bill amends, repeals, and reconstructs various statutory provisions of law that are obsolete, imperfect, or inoperative. The specific reasons for each amendment or repeal are set forth in the appendix to the bill. The amendments made by the bill are not intended to change the meaning or intent of the statutes, as amended.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
Committee on Legal Services. Current law directs the office of legislative legal services to study the organizational recodification of title 12 of the Colorado Revised Statutes, which relates to professions and occupations. To implement the initial recommendations of the study: Section 1 of the bill relocates article 18 of title 12, which relates to dance halls, to title 30, which pertains to counties; Section 2 relocates article 25.5 of title 12, which relates to escort services, to title 29, which relates to local governments; and Section 3 relocates article 56 of title 12, which relates to pawnbrokers, to title 29. Section 9 repeals the articles where these laws were previously codified, and sections 4 through 8 make conforming amendments.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
Upon receipt of a complaint alleging that a campaign finance disclosure report alleging a failure to file other information required to be filed or disclosed pursuant to the campaign finance provisions of the state constitution or the 'Fair Campaign Practices Act' (FCPA), the bill requires the secretary of state to give notice to the particular committee by e-mail of the deficiencies alleged in the complaint. Service of the notice does not toll or otherwise affect the 3-day period during which the secretary of state is required to refer a complaint to an administrative law judge under the state constitution. Upon receipt of the notice from the secretary of state, the committee may request from the appropriate officer a postponement of a hearing on the complaint and, if such request is timely submitted, has 15 business days from the date of the notice to file an addendum to the relevant report that cures any such deficiencies in the disclosure specified in the notice. The bill also requires the committee to also provide the complainant notice of the entity's intent to cure and a copy of the addendum on the same day that the addendum is filed with the secretary of state. Where the committee files an addendum that cures all deficiencies alleged in the complaint before the expiration of the 15-day period specified in the bill, the bill prohibits the appropriate officer from assessing a penalty against the committee that otherwise would have been assessed for the deficiencies for the period from the first date of the alleged violation through the expiration of the cure period. Upon filing an addendum to the relevant report by the committee that cures all such deficiencies, the appropriate officer is required to set a hearing within 30 days of the notice to determine whether all issues raised by the complaint have been resolved. If the committee or party treasurer fails to cure any such discrepancy, any penalty imposed for such deficiency continues to accrue until further resolution of the matter. The bill's requirements only apply in the case of a good faith effort by a committee to make timely disclosure in accordance with governing legal requirements or where the disclosure report is in substantial compliance with such legal requirements. The committee has the burden of demonstrating good faith or substantial compliance by a preponderance of the evidence at the hearing. Where the committee fails to satisfy its burden of demonstrating either good faith or substantial compliance, the bill requires the administrative law judge to impose a penalty of $50 per day for each day the committee has failed to file other information required to be filed or disclosed pursuant to the state constitution or the FCPA. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill conforms Colorado statutory language relating to the creation of a disability trust to conform to the language established in the federal '21st Century Cures Act'. Specifically, it clarifies that the individual who is the beneficiary of a disability trust can also be the person who establishes such trust. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
Colorado Commission on Uniform State Laws. The bill enacts the 'Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts' (the 'Act'), as amended by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws in 2016. The Act responds to current transactions and practices (in particular electronic records); seeks to promote uniformity among state laws regarding notarial acts; enhances the integrity of the notarial process; and provides for the recognition of notarial acts performed in this state, in other states, under the authority of a federally recognized Indian tribe, under federal authority, and in foreign jurisdictions. The bill postpones the sunset review of the notaries law from July 1, 2018, to September 1, 2023 and relocates the notaries law from the title governing professions and occupations to the secretary of state's article. The bill also creates a working group to study and make recommendations by December 1, 2017, regarding electronic remote notarization. The secretary of state must promulgate rules regarding electronic remote notarization, after which notaries may perform a notarial act by electronic remote notarization in compliance with the rules. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)