Sen. Dafna Michaelson Jenet

The act establishes a procedure allowing a federal firearms licensee (licensee) to request a firearm serial number check prior to purchasing a firearm from an individual and requires a local county sheriff's office or police department to complete the serial number check within 3 days after the request. The firearm serial number check must include information regarding whether the firearm is stolen, lost, or is involved in an open criminal investigation. If a licensee is located within incorporated city limits, they must request the firearms serial number check from the police department within its city limits. If a licensee is located in an unincorporated part of the county, they must request a firearms serial number check from the sheriff's department of the county in which it is located. A police department or sheriff's office may charge a reasonable fee to complete the firearm serial number check. The act also allows a licensee to perform a firearm serial number search themself if the federal government allows the licensee access to the federal government's firearm tracing program. The licensee is still subject to the reporting requirements if the licensee performs the firearm serial number search themself. The act imposes a penalty on a licensee if the licensee fails to file a report with law enforcement when the licensee reasonably believes, knows or should know, or becomes aware that a person sold or attempted to sell a firearm that is stolen, lost, or involved in an open criminal investigation. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Current law does not require hospitals to hold on to blood draws for any specific amount of time. The act requires hospitals or other health-care facilities to retain blood draws or admission blood samples for 14 days if a coroner submits a blood retention form upon a hospital or health-care facility for a blood draw or admission blood sample of a deceased individual that is the subject of a coroner's death inquest or investigation. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

In addition to individuals who may already request that their address included in certain records be kept confidential (address confidentiality) under certain circumstances, the act allows an individual or the spouse of an individual who is or has been a peace officer, firefighter, volunteer firefighter, emergency medical service provider, or emergency communications specialist (first responder) to also request address confidentiality for voter registration records that are in the custody of a county clerk and recorder or in the centralized statewide registration system maintained by the secretary of state (secretary) and financial disclosures that certain public officials are required to file with the secretary. A first responder may request address confidentiality with the county clerk and recorder of the county where the first responder who is making the request for address confidentiality resides. The secretary is required to approve the application form for a request for address confidentiality. Each county clerk and recorder is required to make the address confidentiality request application forms available in their office, provide the address confidentiality request application forms to interested persons by United States mail, email delivery, or facsimile transmission, and to process applications for address confidentiality without imposing a processing fee or any other charge. The custodian of any records specified in the act that concern a first responder who has requested address confidentiality is required to deny, with limited exceptions, the right of inspection of the first responder's address contained in the records on the ground that disclosure would be contrary to the public interest. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Current law states that a person who commits careless driving and thereby causes the death of an individual commits a class 1 misdemeanor traffic offense. The act expands current law to include careless driving resulting in serious bodily injury and states that if a person commits careless driving and thereby causes the serious bodily injury or death of more than one individual, each individual injure or killed is a separate violation. The act also clarifies that careless driving resulting in serious bodily injury or death is an included crime for the purposes of the "Victim Rights Act". (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates a cause of action against a person who discloses or threatens to disclose a highly realistic but false visual depiction of another individual (depicted individual) that has been created, altered, or produced by generative AI, image editing software, or computer-generated means and that depicts the intimate body parts of the depicted individual or certain sexual acts involving the depicted individual (intimate digital depiction). A depicted individual who has suffered harm from the nonconsensual disclosure or threatened disclosure of an intimate digital depiction has a cause of action against the person who disclosed or threatened to disclose the intimate digital depiction if the person knew or acted with reckless disregard for whether the depicted individual: Did not consent to the disclosure; Would experience severe emotional distress due to the disclosure or threatened disclosure; and Was identifiable. The act creates an exception to its civil liability provisions for a provider of the technology used to create an intimate digital depiction. Other exceptions include disclosures related to matters of public concern, parody, satire, and impersonation; disclosures made in good faith in various circumstances; and broadcasts of third-party content under certain conditions. A successful plaintiff may recover the defendant's monetary gain from the intimate digital depiction; either actual damages or liquidated damages of $150,000; exemplary damages; and litigation costs, including reasonable attorney fees. A court may also order the defendant to cease disclosure of the intimate digital depiction. In the context of the criminal law punishing sexual exploitation of a child, the act updates the definition of "sexually exploitative material" to include realistic computer-generated digital depictions that depict an identifiable child. The act changes the criminal offenses of posting a private image for harassment and posting a private image for pecuniary gain to the related offenses of disclosing a private intimate image or intimate digital depiction for the same purposes. A person who is eighteen years of age or older commits disclosure of a private intimate image or intimate digital depiction for harassment or for pecuniary gain if the person discloses or threatens to disclose a private intimate image or intimate digital depiction without consent. The harassment offense now requires that the disclosure or threatened disclosure cause physical, emotional, or reputational harm to the depicted individual. Like the offenses for posting a private image in current law, disclosing a private intimate image or intimate digital depiction is a class 1 misdemeanor; except that the act increases the penalty to a class 6 felony if the person made the disclosure and the disclosure posed an imminent and serious threat to the safety of the depicted individual or the depicted individual's immediate family and the person knew or reasonably should have known of the imminent and serious threat. The act changes the offenses of posting, possessing, or exchanging a private image by a juvenile to the related offenses of disclosing, possessing, or exchanging a private intimate image or intimate digital depiction by a juvenile. The penalties remain the same. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the office of gun violence prevention (office) in the department of public health and environment (department) to post the office's gun violence prevention materials (materials) in an accessible manner on the office's website for school districts, boards of cooperative services, district charter schools, institute charter schools, and the Colorado school for the deaf and the blind (local education providers) to access and distribute to parents, guardians, and legal custodians of elementary or secondary school students. The act requires each local education provider to: Provide the materials in a written or electronic format to students' parents, guardians, and legal custodians at the beginning of each school year; and Post the materials or a link to the materials on the local education provider's website. Beginning in January 2026, and in January every year thereafter, the department shall include in its "SMART Act" hearing information concerning the materials. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act establishes the twenty-third judicial district commission on judicial performance on December 1, 2025, and specifies the initial terms for members of the commission. The act repeals outdated provisions concerning the terms of members of judicial commissions. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act continues the just transition advisory committee (advisory committee) until September 1, 2030. Prior to its repeal, the department of regulatory agencies will conduct a sunset review of the advisory committee. The act requires the just transition office in the department of labor and employment (office) to consult with the advisory committee on issues related to the impact of facility closures and job layoffs in coal-related industries in a manner that best ensures continued economic stability and prosperity for impacted workers and communities during and after the transition away from coal as an economic driver. The office is also directed to develop and implement plans to maximize the economic stability and prosperity of coal workers and communities. When the general assembly created the advisory committee in 2019, the advisory committee was required to develop a draft just transition plan (plan) before July 1, 2020. The act repeals obsolete references to the development of the plan and requires the director of the office to update the plan as needed. The act increases the number of coal transition workers appointed to the advisory committee from 3 to 5 and requires that at least one advisory committee member works at a coal mine and at least one member works at an electric utility. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the following regarding the application for a license to practice medicine in Colorado (application) and the questionnaire accompanying the form for a license renewal (questionnaire): The Colorado medical board (board) must consider the recommendations of the Federation of State Medical Boards and the requirements of the federal "Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990" when developing the application questions; The application and questionnaire must not require the disclosure of personal medical or health information that is not relevant to the applicant's ability to provide safe, competent, and ethical patient care at the time of application; The application and questionnaire must not include questions seeking information about past health-related conditions that do not impact an applicant's ability to practice safe, competent, and ethical patient care at the time of application; and The board shall include information in the application about the board's peer health assistance program, the applicant's ability to self-refer to the peer health assistance program at any time, and the applicant's ability to self-refer in lieu of disclosure to the board. The act clarifies that an individual subject to the licensing requirements of the "Colorado Medical Practice Act" is not required to disclose a physical illness, physical condition, behavioral health disorder, mental health disorder, or substance use disorder that no longer impacts the individual's ability to practice the applicable health-care profession or occupation with reasonable skill and safety to patients or clients. Current law requires that if a health-care professional has a physical illness, physical condition, or behavioral or mental health disorder that renders the person unable to practice the applicable health-care profession or occupation with reasonable skill and safety to patients or clients, the licensee, registrant, or certificate holder shall notify the regulator that regulates the person's profession or occupation of the physical illness, physical condition, or behavioral or mental health disorder. The act requires that a health-care professional must additionally provide notice of a substance use disorder and specifies that the health-care professional is required only to provide notice of a current physical illness, physical condition, behavioral health disorder, mental health disorder, or substance use disorder. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Current law allows a person who is committed, imprisoned, or arrested (person in custody) the right to communicate with an attorney or family member by making a reasonable number of telephone calls or through any other reasonable manner. The act adds the attorney's authorized representative to those whom a person in custody can communicate with. Current law allows a person in custody the right to consult with an attorney. The act requires a peace officer or person employed at a place of confinement to provide an attorney or the attorney's authorized representative the ability to initiate communication with a person in custody through telephone calls, interactive audiovisual conferencing, or any other reasonable method of electronic communication, as determined by the jail or correctional facility administration. The communication must be private, unrecorded, and without cost to the confined person and attorney or the attorney's representative, subject to all reasonable administrative and operational procedures. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)