Sen. Robert Rodriguez

The act extends the repeal date for the legislative oversight committee concerning the treatment of persons with mental health disorders in the criminal and juvenile justice systems (committee), and the associated task force (task force), to July 1, 2023. The act suspends activities of the committee and task force for the 2020 interim, as well as any interim for which the general assembly suspends the activities of all interim committees. An additional member is added to the task force who represents a nonprofit organization that works on statewide legislation and organizing Coloradans to promote behavioral, mental, and physical health needs. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The Legislative Oversight Committee Concerning the Treatment of Persons with Mental Health Disorders in the Criminal and Juvenile Justice Systems. The bill 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 require 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 and 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; Creating a process for the court to reconsider its ruling on whether to require registration if new information is discovered after the court made its initial ruling; Adding a requirement for the court to issue a ruling or set a mandatory hearing no later than 14 days before the end of each juvenile's sentence concerning a juvenile's ongoing duty to register; Changing the current law that allows the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to inform the 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.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill provides that, for purposes of the "Workers' Compensation Act of Colorado", if an essential worker who works outside of the home contracts COVID-19, the contraction is: Presumed to have arisen out of and in the course of employment; and A compensable accident, injury, or occupational disease. An essential worker is considered to have contracted COVID-19 if the worker tests positive for the virus that causes COVID-19, is diagnosed with COVID-19 by a licensed physician, or has COVID-19 listed as the cause of death on the worker's death certificate. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Prison Population Management Interim Study Committee. The bill requires the department of corrections (department) to conduct a study to examine how individuals proceed through the various stages of criminal proceedings, including the various sentences and programs to which a person may be sentenced or placed. Subject to available appropriations, the department shall issue a request for proposals for an entity to assist with the study. The department is required to produce a report of its findings to the joint budget committee of the general assembly and the judiciary committees of the house of representatives and the senate. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

By January 1, 2021, the bill requires the marijuana state licensing authority to promulgate rules regarding the process and procedure for filing and approving contingency plans for outdoor cultivation facilities when there is a threat to operations due to an adverse weather event or other catastrophe. A medical marijuana cultivation facility or retail marijuana cultivation facility may file a contingency plan with the state licensing authority and, if the plan is approved, may follow the plan if there is an adverse weather event or other catastrophe. Prior to January 1, 2021, a medical marijuana cultivation facility licensee or retail marijuana cultivation facility licensee that cultivates marijuana outdoors may take any reasonable and necessary action to prevent or ameliorate crop loss due to an adverse weather event. The action is not a violation of state or local law or regulations unless the state licensing authority or local authorities can show that the action was not reasonable and necessary to prevent or ameliorate crop loss due to an adverse weather event. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill amends the "Colorado Consumer Protection Act" (act) to state that a plaintiff in an individual action may be awarded damages equal to the sum of $500 per violation. The bill also amends the act to state that, under the act, a class action may be brought and damages may be awarded to the class. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

The bill: Increases the statutory limitation period for actions based on construction defects from 6 years to 10 years; Allows tolling of the limitation period on any statutory or equitable basis; and Requires tolling of the limitation period until the claimant discovers not only some physical manifestation of a construction defect but also its cause.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill clarifies that the existing authority of cities and counties (local governments) to plan for and regulate the use of land includes the authority to regulate development or redevelopment in order to promote the construction of new affordable housing units. The provisions of the state's rent control statute do not apply to any land use regulation that restricts rents on newly constructed or redeveloped housing units as long as the regulation provides a choice of options to the property owner or land developer and creates one or more alternatives to the construction of new affordable housing units on the building site.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill replaces the integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) program, which was repealed in 2019, with a mechanism by which an investor-owned public utility seeking to implement an innovative energy technology project (project) may apply to the public utilities commission (PUC) to acquire resources that demonstrate the use of low- and zero-emission dispatchable resources and other innovative energy technologies such as advanced renewable energy and storage. In determining whether to grant approval to a public utility seeking to implement a project, the PUC shall consider a number of factors regarding the project, including its economic and technical feasibility, its projected environmental and public safety impacts, and its carbon dioxide emissions rates. The PUC is required to provide an opportunity for public comment and an evidentiary hearing. A public utility may fully recover, from its retail customers in the state, the costs it incurs in researching, testing, planning, developing, constructing, starting up, and operating the project. The public utility may also recover capital investments made in connection with the project over the useful life of the project. The department of public health and environment, the governor's office of economic development, and the Colorado energy office may assist public utilities in seeking and obtaining support for a project from other federal and state agencies and institutions. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill authorizes human remains to be converted to soil using a container that accelerates the process of biological decomposition, also known as "natural reduction". The bill prohibits the following when done in the course of business: Selling or offering to sell the soil; Commingling the soil of more than one person without the consent of the person with the right of final disposition unless the soil is abandoned; Commingling the human remains of more than one person within the container wherein natural reduction produces soil; Using the soil to grow food for human consumption. Current law has a provision that governs the disposal of abandoned cremated remains. The soil from natural reduction is added to this provision, with an option to return the soil to the earth in a respectful manner. Current law has various provisions that deal with burial, cremation, interment, and entombment. In connection with authorizing natural reduction, the bill replaces these terms with the phrase "final disposition", which term is defined to include natural reduction. The following types of provisions are updated to reflect the option to use natural reduction: Life insurance statutes; Preneed funeral insurance contracts; The "Mortuary Science Code"; Funeral picketing statutes; Litigation damages; The "Colorado Probate Code"; The "Disposition of Last Remains Act"; The "Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act"; Missing person reports for unidentified human remains; Public peace and order statutes; Vital statistics statutes; The "Colorado Public Assistance Act"; and Firefighter pension plans. Natural reduction is added to the statutes that regulate funeral establishments, and this addition will result in the regulation of the natural reduction process. But the definitions of "cremation" and "mortuary science practitioner" are amended so that a practitioner of natural reduction is not regulated as a cremationist or mortuary science practitioner. (Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.) (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)