Under current law, there exists a working group formed by the department of human services and the state court administrator in the judicial department to perform various duties related to the allocation of juvenile detention beds. The act amends these duties. Under current law, 22 emergency detention beds are available statewide. The act expands this to 39 emergency detention beds available statewide. The act requires the department of human services to publish a monthly report concerning the status of all youth who are in detention and are awaiting services that would mitigate the substantial risk of harm to others that are presented by the juvenile or the juvenile's risk of flight from prosecution and the number of emergency beds used by each judicial district or facility. The act requires the division of youth services to: Publish a report by July 1, 2027, concerning available placements for juveniles who are awaiting mitigating services in the state; and Establish a pilot program for certain staff members to wear a body-worn camera while in a facility while interacting with youth. The act requires a court to dismiss a delinquency petition or charges against a juvenile if the court determines that the juvenile is incompetent to proceed and the highest charged act constitutes a class 2 misdemeanor, petty offense, drug misdemeanor, or traffic offense. The act amends and expands considerations for a juvenile's case management plan, if the court determines that a juvenile is incompetent to proceed. The act creates the deflection and community investment grant program in the division of criminal justice to provide grants to eligible applicants to implement a mixed-delivery system of trauma-informed health and development deflection programs for youth, including Native American youth. The grant program repeals on January 1, 2031. For the 2025-26 state fiscal year, the act: Appropriates $6,854,420 from the general fund to the department of human services to implement the act; Reappropriates $122,279 of general funds to the department of education to the department of human services for use by the division of youth services to implement the act; Appropriates $437,264 from the general fund to the department of public safety for use by the division of criminal justice to implement the act; and Appropriates $2,708,316 from the general fund to the department of public safety for use by the division of criminal justice for the deflection and community investment grant program.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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The act authorizes local authorities to enforce the state requirement that a vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, or motor vehicle (vehicle) be registered. A conviction by a local authority does not bar a subsequent state prosecution if the subsequent prosecution does not arise from the same event. A court may dismiss a violation for failing to register a vehicle if: The vehicle was unregistered for no more than 4 months at the time of the violation; The owner registered the vehicle before the owner's first court date; and The owner pays a $30 administrative dismissal fee if the court is a municipal court. A peace officer who charges a person for a violation must notify the defendant of the opportunity to have the charge dismissed by the court. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates a specific criminal offense related to wrongfully interfering with a transit worker and adds it to the criminal harassment statute, as well as making the offense subject to the victim rights act. The act eliminates similar criminal conduct from the regional transportation district (district) statutory scheme. Further, a law enforcement agency may grant money received from the peace officer training and support fund to the district for training, equipment, and other purposes deemed necessary to ensure the safety of employees and patrons of the district. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act adds species that appear in Appendix I to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES Appendix I) to the wildlife covered under Colorado's wildlife trafficking and wildlife possession laws. The act clarifies that species listed on Colorado's endangered and threatened species list or the endangered and threatened species list pursuant to the federal "Endangered Species Act of 1973", 16 U.S.C. sec. 1531 et seq. (federal act) are also covered under Colorado's wildlife possession and wildlife trafficking laws. The act establishes penalties for violating wildlife trafficking laws. A person who violates wildlife trafficking laws commits a class 1 misdemeanor; except that: If a person violates wildlife trafficking laws and the aggregate value of the wildlife involved is more than $1,000 but less than $10,000, the person commits a class 5 felony; If a person is convicted of trafficking wildlife and the wildlife involved is an endangered species or threatened species under Colorado law or the federal act or is a species that appears in CITES Appendix I, the person commits a class 4 felony; or If a person violates wildlife trafficking laws and the aggregate value of the wildlife involved is more than $10,000, the person commits a class 4 felony. The act grants the parks and wildlife commission (commission) in the department of natural resources (department) authority to suspend wildlife licenses held by a person convicted of a violation of wildlife trafficking laws. The act clarifies that the division of parks and wildlife (division) in the department has the authority to pursue a civil action against an individual to recover the possession or value of wildlife that was unlawfully taken and the minimum value that the division may recover for certain animals that are on the federal endangered and threatened species lists. The act requires the division to conduct investigations and surveys to collect information and data related to wildlife trafficking and determine appropriate conservation, management, and law enforcement measures based on those investigations and surveys. The general assembly is required to appropriate sufficient money to implement the act from the wildlife cash fund; except that money from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses in the wildlife cash fund must not be used for these purposes. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act establishes a process for a person to voluntarily waive the right to purchase a firearm (voluntary waiver). The Colorado bureau of investigation (bureau) in the department of public safety (department) shall deny a firearm transfer to the person while the voluntary waiver is in effect. The bureau shall develop an online portal (portal) for a person to electronically file for a voluntary waiver, update contact information, and revoke a voluntary waiver. The bureau is required to verify the filer's identity before accepting a voluntary waiver or revocation. The bureau shall enter a voluntary waiver into the national instant criminal background check system and any other federal or state computer-based systems used to identify prohibited purchasers of firearms. A person may revoke the voluntary waiver by filing for revocation with the bureau. The waiver remains in effect for 30 days after the bureau accepts the revocation. A person filing the voluntary waiver form may provide the name and contact information of a person who will be contacted if the person attempts to purchase a firearm while the voluntary waiver is in effect or if the filer revokes the voluntary waiver. The act prohibits a person from attempting to purchase a firearm while subject to a voluntary waiver. Attempting to purchase a firearm while subject to a voluntary waiver is a civil infraction, punishable by a maximum $25 fine. The voluntary waiver process and the prohibition on attempting to purchase a firearm while subject to a voluntary waiver are contingent on the department receiving $200,000 of gifts, grants, or donations to develop and operate the portal. The act permits the department to seek, accept, and expend gifts, grants, or donations for the portal. (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 sunset law requires that new advisory committees and task forces be repealed and undergo a review before the repeal. The act changes the towing task force's scheduled repeal from September 1, 2025, to September 1, 2035. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)