Sen. Robert Rodriguez

The act removes the requirement that if a defendant is in jail or an inpatient setting, a finding that the defendant is an imminent danger to the defendant's self or others is required for the competency evaluation and report. If the competency evaluation determines that the defendant meets the criteria for civil certification and inpatient services, the behavioral health administration (BHA) shall, directly or through a contract, provide care coordination services for the defendant. If the court orders, as a condition of bond, that restoration to competency take place on an outpatient basis, the department of human services is responsible for the oversight of restoration education and coordination of services. Under specific conditions, the act allows that upon petition of the district attorney, a professional person, a representative of the BHA, a representative of the office of civil and forensic mental health, or other responsible person, a court may certify a respondent for short-term treatment in the custody of the BHA for not more than 3 months without requiring an emergency 72-hour hold. A court shall not accept a petition for certification for short-term treatment unless the respondent has a documented refusal to certified treatment. Upon filing of the petition, the court shall immediately appoint an attorney to represent the respondent. The respondent's attorney may request a jury trial within 14 days after receipt of the petition. The respondent has the right to an attorney for all proceedings conducted related to the respondent's competency and certification for treatment and services. The respondent may, at any time, file a written request to contest the petition, in which case the court shall set the hearing no later than 14 days after the petition was filed. If, after hearing all of the relevant evidence, the court finds grounds for certification have been established by clear and convincing evidence and that the BHA is able to provide adequate and appropriate treatment for the respondent that will likely be beneficial to the respondent's recovery, the court shall commit the respondent to the BHA's custody. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2023 EFFECTIVE July 1, 2024. NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The law regulating campaign finance did not set limits on contributions to candidates for municipal elected office. For municipal elections held on or after January 1, 2024, the act sets aggregate limits on contributions to candidates for municipal office from persons, including any political party and excluding any small donor committee, for any election cycle in the amount of $400. The act sets aggregate limits on contributions to candidates for municipal office from small donor committees for any election cycle in the amount of $4,000. The act subjects the new contribution limits to existing statutory provisions governing the disclosure of campaign contributions. The act requires campaign contribution reports for candidates for a municipal office for a municipality that has a population of 1,000 or more to be filed with the municipal clerk no later than 60 days, 30 days, and 15 days before and 30 days after the major election in election years and annually in off-election years; except that, for a runoff election, reports must be filed no later than 15 days before and after the runoff election. The act clarifies that an independent expenditure committee that makes expenditures in connection with a municipal election must file its disclosure reports with the applicable municipal clerk. The act also extends the retention requirements for campaign contribution reports from one year to 10 years for a candidate that is not elected and from one year to 6 years after the candidate leaves office for a candidate that is elected and requires that reports be made publicly available without charge on a website or for in-person inspection. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2023 EFFECTIVE January 1, 2024 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act clarifies that the department of corrections (DOC) shall provide voice penal communications services, and may supplement these services with other communication services, including video calls or electronic mail or messaging, (penal communication services) to persons in DOC custody in a correctional facility or private prison in the state. In administering the penal communications services, the DOC is prohibited from receiving any revenue, including commissions or fees, and the penal communications services, excluding video calls or electronic mail or messaging, must be free of charge to the person initiating and the person receiving the call. DOC shall provide the free penal communication services according to a staggered implementation timeline, as follows: Beginning September 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, DOC shall cover 25% of the total penal communication services costs; Beginning July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025, DOC shall cover 35% of the total penal communication services costs; and Beginning July 1, 2025, and thereafter, DOC shall cover 100% of all penal communication services costs. The department of human services, in its role overseeing juvenile detention facilities, shall provide voice communications services, and may supplement these services with other communication services, including video calls or electronic mail or messaging, in those facilities and is prohibited from receiving any revenue from the communications services, including commissions or fees, and the communications services must be free of charge to the person initiating and the person receiving the call. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, $229,783 is appropriated to the department of corrections from the general fund for use by institutions. The department may use this appropriation for inmate telephone calls related to the superintendent's subprogram. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the general assembly to annually appropriate $3,340,119 to the department of human services (department) for services for youth who are detained or can be placed in lieu of detention. Of the money, the department shall: Allocate $200,000 to judicial districts for services for detained youth and supports for youth moving from detention to treatment or other placements; Use $1,780,137 to incentivize and remove barriers for licensed providers to serve youth who may be placed in community residential facilities or family-like settings in lieu of detention; and Use $1,359,982 of the money for temporary emergency detention beds for juveniles. Existing law limits the number of juvenile detention beds available for juveniles statewide, which are allocated to catchment areas. The act establishes 22 temporary emergency detention beds that may be used, pursuant to a court order, when there are no available beds in a judicial district's catchment area. The act establishes the process for a court to order the use of a temporary emergency detention bed. Temporary emergency detention beds do not count toward the statewide juvenile detention bed limit. If a juvenile detention bed within a judicial district's allocation becomes available, the act requires a juvenile utilizing a temporary bed to revert to the nonemergency detention bed. A court is required to appoint, at a juvenile's detention hearing, a guardian ad litem for each detained juvenile. The appointment terminates upon the release of the juvenile from detention unless the court finds a basis for continuing appointment pursuant to other state law. The act requires the working group for criteria for placement of juvenile offenders, known as the CYDC working group, to review data collected by the division of youth services annually rather than every 2 years. The department is required to collect statewide data about: Youth eligible for release from a detention facility without an additional court order if services or placements are available for the youth; The use of temporary emergency detention beds; and Youth released from detention solely because the number of youth detained statewide exceeds the statewide detention bed cap. The act requires the department to annually report the statewide data to the CYDC working group, the house of representatives and senate judiciary committees, the house of representatives public and behavioral health and human services committee, and the senate health and human services committee, or any successor committees. The act requires the CYDC working group to conduct a study to determine the best method to collect and report data and information concerning youth released from detention because a detention bed was unavailable. For fiscal year 2023-24, the act appropriates $3,340,119 from the general fund to the department. The department may use the appropriation as follows: $1,174,816 for use by the division of youth services (DYS) for program administration related to institutional programs; $11,792 for use by DYS for medical services related to institutional programs; $300,816 for use by DYS for certain programs related to community programs; $1,780,137 for use by the division of child welfare for community provider incentives; and $72,558 for use by the division of child welfare for Colorado's statewide automated child welfare information system (TRAILS). The act also appropriates $463,000 from the general fund to the judicial department for use by the office of the child's representative for court-appointed counsel. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 7, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Under current law, a person commits an unfair and unconscionable act or practice if the person engages in price gouging with regard to the sale or provision of certain goods or services during, and for a certain period after, a declared emergency disaster (disaster period). The act extends the disaster period from 180 days after the first declaration of the disaster to 180 days after the final declaration concerning the disaster expires. The act also repeals and reenacts the "Colorado Antitrust Act of 1992" as the "Colorado State Antitrust Act of 2023" (antitrust act) and: Establishes that the facilitation or aiding and abetting of another person's violation of the antitrust act is itself a violation of the antitrust act; Authorizes the attorney general (AG) to request discovery from any person that the AG believes may in the future engage in, or has information related to, a violation of the antitrust act; Authorizes the AG to deem investigatory or intelligence records related to the antitrust act available for public inspection and allows the AG to issue public statements or warnings regarding conduct forming the basis of the investigatory or intelligence records; Authorizes a court, upon request of the AG, to compensate a person that has been injured from a violation of the antitrust act as part of a civil action that the AG brings on behalf of the person; Increases the maximum civil penalty that a court may award for a violation of the antitrust act from $250,000 to $1,000,000 per violation; and With regard to the statute of limitations for commencing a civil action under the antitrust act: Clarifies that a cause of action accrues on the date of the last in a series of acts or practices that, in the aggregate, constitute a violation of the antitrust act; and Tolls the statute of limitations for any civil action pertaining to an alleged violation of the antitrust act during the pendency of a federal proceeding regarding the conduct forming the basis of the alleged violation of the antitrust act. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 7, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)