Beginning July 1, 2022, the act prohibits a local jail with a bed capacity of over 400 beds from involuntarily placing an individual in restrictive housing if the individual meets any one of the following conditions:The individual is diagnosed with a serious mental illness or is exhibiting grossly abnormal and irrational behaviors or breaks with reality or perceptions of reality indicating the presence of a serious mental illness; The individual has self-reported a serious mental illness or suicidality, or is exhibiting self-harm, unless a licensed mental health professional or psychiatrist evaluates the individual and finds serious mental illness is not present; The individual has a significant auditory or visual impairment that cannot otherwise be accommodated; The individual is pregnant or in the postpartum period; The individual is significantly neurocognitively impaired by a condition such as dementia or a traumatic brain injury; The individual is under 18 years of age; or The individual has an intellectual or developmental disability. The prohibition does not apply if:Any indication of psychological distress is present and the jail transferred the individual to a health-care facility to receive treatment and the individual is refused treatment or discharged by the health-care facility; and The individual poses an imminent danger to themselves or others; and No other less restrictive option is available and the individual is not responding to ongoing de-escalation techniques. When an individual is placed in restrictive housing under the above circumstances, the local jail shall:Document the facts and circumstances that led to placing the individual into restrictive housing; Notify its medical or mental health professionals in writing within 12 hours of placing an individual in restrictive housing; Notify the individual's appointed or retained legal representative, designated emergency contact, or legal guardian within 12 hours of the individual's involuntary placement and removal in restrictive housing; At least twice per hour, check on an individual involuntarily placed in restrictive housing. If the individual is violent, demonstrating unusual or bizarre behavior, or has indicated suicidality or self-harm, the local jail staff shall monitor the individual every fifteen minutes or more frequently, unless a medical or mental health professional recommends more frequent or less frequent checks. Every 24 hours, assess the individual involuntarily placed in restrictive housing by a medical or mental health professional and have a mental health professional assess the individual every 48 hours for ongoing placement in restrictive housing; Provide the individual a clear explanation of the reason the individual has been placed in restrictive housing, the monitoring procedures that the local jail will employ to check the individual, the date and the time, when the individual's next court date is, and the behavioral criteria the individual must demonstrate to be released from restrictive housing; Not hold the individual in restrictive housing for more than 15 days in a 30-day time period without a written court order; and Supply the individual with basic hygiene necessities; exchanges of clothing, bedding, and linen; access to writing letters or receiving letters; opportunities for visitation; access to legal materials; access to reading materials; a minimum of one hour of outdoor exercise 5 days a week outside of the cell; telephone privileges; and access to programs and services. The act requires medical or mental health professional to assess any individual placed in restrictive housing within 24 hours of placement.The act requires a local jail to use an adequate screening tool to complete a health screening of each inmate when the inmate arrives at the jail.Beginning January 1, 2022, the act requires each local jail to keep and maintain a record of certain data regarding each individual placed in restrictive housing and certain data regarding each individual with a mental illness or substance use disorder.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Sponsored bills
The act implements various recommendations of the legislative oversight committee concerning the treatment of persons with mental health disorders in the criminal and juvenile justice systems regarding juveniles who have committed sex offenses, including:Specifying that if a juvenile who is moving to Colorado would be otherwise required to register on Colorado's sex offender registry (registry) but the juvenile's duty to register in another state has been terminated by a court order, then the juvenile is not required to register or petition the court for removal from the registry; Expanding judicial discretion at the time of sentencing to exempt from registration or from requiring juveniles to register for all first offense registerable juvenile sex crimes if a sex offender management board evaluator recommends exemption and the juvenile is otherwise statutorily eligible; Adding language to adult or juvenile provisions that currently reference only crimes defined as "unlawful sexual behavior" to also include convictions and adjudications for nonsexual crimes where there has been, pursuant to statute, a judicial finding of an underlying factual basis involving unlawful sexual behavior; Adding a requirement for the court to send notice before the end of each juvenile's sentence concerning a juvenile's duty to register and set a hearing to consider the juvenile's ongoing duty to register; Adding language that if a person is required to register due to an adjudication or disposition as a juvenile, the duty to register automatically terminates either when the person reaches 25 years of age or 7 years from the date the juvenile was required to register, whichever occurs later; Adding language that if a person whose duty to register has automatically terminated either attempts to register or inquires with local law enforcement as to whether the duty to register has automatically terminated, local law enforcement shall advise the person that the person's duty to register terminated, remove the person from any local law enforcement registry, and notify the Colorado bureau of investigation (CBI) that the person's duty to register has terminated. Local law enforcement or the CBI may charge a fee, not to exceed $15, to determine whether a person's duty to register has terminated. Allowing a person whose duty to register arose from an adjudication or disposition as a juvenile, and whose duty to register automatically terminated when the person reached 25 years of age or 7 years had passed from the date the person was required to register, whichever was later, but the person's name has not already been removed from the sex offender registry, to petition for an order to remove the person's name from the sex offender registry; Changing the current law that allows the Colorado bureau of investigation (CBI) to inform a requesting party if a person is on the registry so that the CBI may release information about a juvenile only under certain restrictions; Requiring the CBI to collect data on the number of times information is requested and released concerning juveniles on the registry; Creating a new unclassified misdemeanor for members of the public who submit a false statement to the CBI for purposes of obtaining juvenile registry information or who use such information in a prohibited manner; Updating current law regarding the posting of information on the registry to the internet to specifically exclude juveniles; Clarifying that a local law enforcement agency may not release or post on its website information regarding juveniles on the registry; Changing current law that requires lifetime registration for an adult who has more than one adjudication as a juvenile so that juvenile adjudications alone may not trigger mandatory lifetime registration; and Updating language in the Colorado "Crime Victim Rights Act" to clarify victim rights when a petition or motion is made to terminate sex offender registration. For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $7,200 to the department of public safety for use by the Colorado bureau of investigation. This appropriation is from the general fund. To implement this act, the division may use this appropriation for CCIC program support operating expenses related to the Colorado crime information center.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act updates various provisions of the "Colorado Children's Trust Fund Act", including renaming it the "Colorado Child Abuse Prevention Trust Fund Act" (trust fund act). Changes include:Expanding the membership of the Colorado child abuse prevention board (board) from the current 9 members to 17 members; Expanding the powers and duties of the board to include advising and making recommendations to the governor, state agencies, and other entities regarding child maltreatment prevention; developing strategies to decrease the incidences of child maltreatment and other adverse childhood experiences; and implementing and monitoring the ongoing development of local child maltreatment prevention plans throughout the state; and Extending the repeal of the trust fund act from 2022 to 2027. For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $890 to the legislative department for use by the general assembly. This appropriation is from the general fund. To implement this act, the general assembly may use this appropriation for legislator per diem.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Section 1 of the act declares that customer-sited renewable energy generation facilities (distributed generation) such as rooftop solar can make important contributions toward meeting Colorado's declared goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions while providing a reliable, adaptable supply of electricity for homes, businesses, and the rapidly increasing numbers of electric vehicles, and that existing limits on customer-sited renewable energy generation facilities unnecessarily restrict this potential.Sections 3 and 5 remove most of the existing limitations on the size of distributed generation facilities, which currently cannot exceed 120% of a customer's historical annual usage, to qualify for renewable energy credits. Section 3 also expands an existing exemption from regulation as a public utility to include persons who sell excess power from distributed generation located anywhere on their property or on property owned or leased by others in a master meter operation, e.g., an apartment building or mobile home park. Section 4 grants master meter operators (MMOs) that sell power from distributed generation a limited exemption from the general requirement not to charge their end users any amount above what they are billed for electricity supplied by the serving electric utility. MMOs may retain refunds, rebates, rate reductions, net metering credits, and similar reductions offered by the serving utility in its net metering program. The public utilities commission (PUC) is directed to adopt rules encouraging landlords and tenants in multi-unit buildings to share in the costs and benefits of installing new distributed generation facilities.Section 5 requires a qualifying retail utility to allow, and to adopt standards for the approval of, customer-owned meter collar adapters in residential installations. The PUC retains authority to resolve any disputes concerning the standards or their application in specific cases. Section 2 defines a meter collar adapter as a device installed between the electric meter and the meter socket box that allows the customer to interconnect power from on-site sources.Section 5 also:Replaces the term "standard rebate offer" with "net metering service" where appropriate, to more accurately reflect current practice; Requires qualifying retail utilities, under their net metering service, to purchase energy produced from any renewable energy resources rather than exclusively solar energy resources; Doubles the size of eligible on-site renewable energy installations from 500 kilowatts to one megawatt; Limits the size of eligible off-site renewable energy installations to 500 kilowatts for a single-meter installation or 300 kilowatts per meter for a multi-meter installation; Narrows the requirements for small hydroelectric facilities that qualify as renewable energy resources to exclude those that require the construction of new dams or reservoirs; Adds renewable energy storage as an eligible energy resource under the renewable energy standard and defines "renewable energy storage" as a facility that stores energy that is derived only from renewable energy resources; Allows a customer to carry forward monthly bill credits from distributed generation indefinitely, at any service address within a qualifying retail utility's service territory, unless the customer chooses to be reimbursed annually or to donate the excess to a low-income energy assistance program; and Directs the PUC to adopt rules to accommodate the aggregation and interconnection of retail distributed generation, including the pooling of renewable energy resources under a master meter or similar arrangement and the allocation of credits among customers on different rate schedules. Section 6 appropriates $91,488 to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the PUC to implement the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires a licensed gun dealer to obtain approval for a firearms transfer from the Colorado bureau of investigation (bureau) prior to transferring a firearm.The act prohibits the bureau from approving the transfer of a firearm to a person who was convicted of specified misdemeanor offenses. The bureau is also prohibited from approving a firearms transfer until it determines that its background investigation is complete and that the transfer would not violate federal prohibitions on firearms possession or result in a violation of state law.A person may be denied a firearms transfer if there has not been a final disposition in criminal proceedings for certain offenses for which the prospective transferee, if convicted, would be prohibited from purchasing, receiving, or possessing a firearm. The act permits continued denial of the transfer when the bureau is unable to obtain the final disposition of a case that is no longer pending.A person who has been denied a firearms transfer following a background check can appeal the denial. The act establishes a 60-day deadline for the bureau to review background check records that prompted the denial and render a final administrative decision regarding the denial.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act expands the necessary referral services authorized by the Colorado 2-1-1 collaborative (collaborative) to include necessary referrals for behavioral health services and other social service resources in the state for Coloradans, particularly for individuals who are unemployed, regardless of whether they receive benefits.The act requires the department of human services' office of behavioral health to contract with the collaborative to hire and train specialized personnel. The act also requires the office of behavioral health to collaborate with the collaborative to engage in targeted marketing and outreach, and to ensure the marketing and outreach are targeted to traditionally underserved communities, such as immigrant, low-income, and communities of color.The act also requires the collaborative to coordinate with the department of labor and employment (department) to target, conduct outreach, and market to individuals who are unemployed, regardless of whether they receive benefits, and may need referrals for behavioral health services and other social service resources. The department is required to update its unemployment application web page and specified websites to include contact information for the collaborative.For the 2020-21 state fiscal year, $1,000,000 is appropriated to the department of human services (state department) from the general fund to implement the act. Any money that is not spent before July 1, 2021 is further appropriated to the state department for the 2021-22 state fiscal year for the same purpose.For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, $5,741 is appropriated from the general fund to the department for use by the division of unemployment insurance to implement the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the rural jump-start zone grant program (grant program) and authorizes the Colorado economic development commission (commission) to issue grants, subject to available appropriations, as follows:Up to $20,000 to new businesses to establish operations; Up to $40,000 to new businesses to establish operations in a tier one transition community; Up to $2,500 to new businesses for each new hire; and Up to $5,000 to new businesses for each new hire who is hired for operations established in a tier one transition community. The act also authorizes the commission to issue grants, at its discretion and subject to available appropriations, not to exceed $30,000 per applicant, to a state institution of higher education or an economic development organization that collaborates with a new business in order to support the new business in meeting the requirements for the business under the grant program.The act creates the rural jump-start zone grant fund account in the Colorado economic development fund, which consists of any money appropriated to the fund by the general assembly, and may be used:By the commission to issue grants; and For the direct and indirect costs that the Colorado office of economic development incurs, not to exceed a specified amount, to administer the grant program.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act clarifies the authorized distributions from the local government limited gaming impact fund by:Specifying that "documented gaming impacts" should be for negative impacts and defining that phrase; Requiring grant awards to be prioritized for: Eligible local governmental entities that have lower property values compared to all eligible local governmental entities; or prioritized for eligible local governmental entities located in counties with lower property values compared to the property values of all counties that are eligible local governmental entities. If an eligible local governmental entity has a jurisdictional boundary that includes more than one county, then the prioritization for that eligible local governmental entity is established based on the county in which the eligible local governmental entity's administrative offices are located; and Based on a methodological approach that incorporates a weighted decision matrix which includes community and impact scoring; Defining "property values" as the sum of the actual value of all property, including the actual value of all tax-exempt property, as of December 31 of the prior year; Requiring documented negative gaming impacts to be explicitly identifiable; Defining "negative impacts"; and Allowing grants from the gambling addiction account to be used to provide gambling addiction treatment training to staff at nonprofit community mental health centers or clinics; this is in addition to the current authorized use for gambling addiction counseling services to Colorado residents.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The limited gaming control commission consists of 5 members, 4 of whom are from specified professions and industries and one of whom is a registered elector of the state who is not employed in one of the specified professions or industries. The act requires the governor to prioritize appointing members who are registered electors of Gilpin county or Teller county and allows the registered elector members of the commission from Gilpin and Teller County to be employed in one of the specified professions or industries.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under existing law, offenders sentenced to the youthful offender system are housed and serve their sentences in a facility separate from, and are not brought into daily physical contact with, inmates 25 years of age or older who are sentenced to the department of corrections who have not been sentenced to the youthful offender system. The act adds an exemption to that facility separation that permits youthful offenders to be housed in a youthful offender facility with inmates 25 years of age or older who are participating in a mentoring program; except that the exemption does not apply to inmates who have been convicted of a sex offense.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)