Current law prohibits the use of restraints on a pregnant individual in custody with certain exceptions. The act requires the staff of a jail, the department of corrections, or a private contract prison to comply with current law regarding the use of restraints on individuals who are in custody and experiencing labor, delivery, or postpartum recovery. The act also requires a correctional facility or private contract prison to develop administrative policies, including a system for human milk storage, to ensure a newborn can receive the milk that the newborn's postpartum parent has pumped for the newborn's nourishment. The act requires each health-care facility that provides labor and delivery services to establish a policy creating a process for the facility to receive individuals who are pregnant, undergoing physiologic birth, or in the physiologic postpartum process from locations other than licensed facilities. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 5, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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The act establishes in statute a bill of rights for youth who are the responsibility of the department of human services (department), whether the youth is detained or committed to the care and physical custody of a juvenile facility operated by the department. APPROVED by Governor June 4, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the Chicana/o special license plate. An applicant becomes eligible to use the plate by providing a certificate to the department of revenue (department) confirming that the applicant has made a donation to a nonprofit organization (organization) chosen by the department based on the organization's provision of services to the Latin American community. The organization may implement the act by making grants to other organizations that also qualify under the standards of the act. In addition to the standard motor vehicle fees, the plate requires 2 one-time fees of $25. One of the fees is credited to the highway users tax fund and the other to the licensing services cash fund. To implement this act, $14,191 is appropriated to the department. This appropriation consists of $7,562 from the license plate cash fund and $6,629 from the Colorado DRIVES vehicle services account in the highway users tax fund. APPROVED by Governor June 4, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Current law subjects a peace officer who uses unlawful force or fails to intervene in the unlawful use of force to criminal and civil penalties as well as disciplinary measures through the peace officers standards and training board (P.O.S.T. board). The act defines prone restraint as a use of force. The act requires law enforcement agencies to adopt written policies and procedures concerning use of the prone position and prone restraint by officers certified by the P.O.S.T. board; sheriff's deputies, regardless of P.O.S.T. board certification; and Colorado state patrol officers. Law enforcement agencies must post the adopted policies and procedures on their publicly accessible websites or make them available upon request. The policies and procedures must address how and when to request or render medical aid for use of force involving prone restraint, when to get medical clearance for use of force involving a prone restraint when there are injuries or complaints of injuries, how and when to render appropriate medical aid within the scope of a peace officer's training for any use of force involving prone restraint, and how and when to transition a person placed in a prone position into a recovery position that allows the person to breathe normally. The act requires law enforcement agencies to review the adopted policies and procedures at least every five years and, beginning on or before July 1, 2026, to implement and train peace officers on their contents. The P.O.S.T. board must make its training on the use of the prone position available to all law enforcement agencies in the state. APPROVED by Governor June 3, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 3, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the state court administrator to annually report on probation supervision fees assessed in the previous year and the department of corrections to annually report on parole supervision fees assessed in the previous year during their respective "SMART Act" hearings. Unless inconsistent with another probation or parole condition, the act requires the court to allow an adult or juvenile on probation or parole to meet with the probation or parole officer through a telephone call or audio-visual communication technology. When scheduling probation or parole meetings, the probation or parole officer is required to schedule, in good faith, a mutually agreeable time for the meeting that does not conflict with the adult's or juvenile's essential obligations. The act eliminates non-payment of probation or parole fees as a grounds for the revocation of probation or parole. The act prohibits a court from requiring a defendant to pay probation supervision fees in more than one case when the defendant is granted probation in multiple cases. APPROVED by Governor June 3, 2024 EFFECTIVE September 1, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act repeals requirements for insurers that issue commercial and personal automobile, homeowners, and renters insurance policies to provide certain policy documents in an insured's selected language of choice and instead requires insurers that issue personal automobile insurance policies in the state (insurers), starting January 1, 2026, to: Provide to insureds who have completed a language selection form or, at the option of the insurer, to all insureds a summary document that is in Spanish, that is in a form specified by the commissioner of insurance (commissioner) by rule, that explains the coverages and exclusions under the policy and that specifies the coverages and exclusions the insured selected and rejected; and Offer insureds or applicants for insurance a form to select to receive the summary document. If an insurer fails to comply with the requirements of the act, the insured may elect to void any mandatory coverage rejections or exclusions in the automobile insurance policy, may recover reasonable attorney fees and costs incurred for reinstating or rewriting the coverage, and is not required to pay any premium for the policy period applicable for the reinstated or rewritten coverage. Additionally, the act includes on the consumer insurance council a consumer whose first language is not English and requires the commissioner to work with councils established within the division of insurance to engage with bilingual insurance brokers regarding the insurance market for non-English-speaking consumers. APPROVED by Governor May 31, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 31, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the 911 services enterprise in the department of regulatory agencies (enterprise). The enterprise is authorized to impose a fee on service users (fee). A service user is a person who is provided a 911 access connection in the state. The fee is set annually by the enterprise and, together with the 911 surcharge that the public utilities commission (commission) imposes on service users for the benefit of meeting the needs of governing bodies to pay for basic emergency service and provide emergency telephone service (911 surcharge) and must not exceed $0.50 per month per 911 access connection. The fee is collected in the same manner as the 911 surcharge. Revenue from the fee will fund expenses and costs related to the provision of 911 services, including: Training initiatives and programs and public education campaigns for the public as determined by individual governing bodies or public safety answering points (PSAPs) throughout the state; Public education campaigns; Cybersecurity support; GIS programs; Grant programs for the benefit of governing bodies and PSAPs; Providing matching money for federal, state, or private grants related to 911 services or emergency notification services; Any other items related to a benefit for governing bodies and PSAPs for 911 services across the state as proposed by a group of such entities or by statewide associations representing Colorado 911 stakeholders; and Administrative expenses of the enterprise. The act also creates the 911 services enterprise cash fund, adds a requirement for the commission to include in its "state of 911" annual report the activity of the enterprise including its use of its revenue, and makes several technical updates to the statutes concerning the 911 surcharge and the commission's "state of 911" report. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $107,695 from the general fund to the department of regulatory agencies and reappropriates $38,406 of that appropriation to the department of law to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor May 31, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The law has required county clerk and recorders must make best efforts to coordinate with the county sheriff or the county sheriff's designee at each county jail or detention center to facilitate voting for all confined eligible electors. The act requires a county sheriff to designate at least one individual to facilitate voting for confined eligible electors at the county jail or detention center (sheriff's designee) and requires the sheriff's designee to coordinate with the county clerk and recorder. The sheriff's designee must provide information to confined individuals regarding eligibility to vote, how confined individuals can verify or change their voter registration, and how eligible confined individuals can register to vote and ensure there is reasonable access to resources to verify or change a voter registration or register to vote. The sheriff's designee must also ensure that all confined eligible electors have reasonable access to the ballot information booklet, certain information about local ballot issues, and any election-related materials that are prepared and provided to the designee in support of or in opposition to any candidate or issue on the ballot. The act also requires that the county clerk and recorder and the sheriff's designee coordinate to provide one day of in-person voting at the county jail or detention center for all confined eligible electors. The in-person voting must be open for at least 6 hours and be held on any day between the fifteenth day before election day and the fourth day before election day. Additionally, the clerk and recorder is required to confirm through the department of corrections online offender database that a confined individual is not serving a felony sentence before the individual can register to vote or is permitted to vote on the day of in-person voting. Additionally, for mail ballot elections, the sheriff's designee is required to: Establish a location at the county jail or detention center for ballots voted by confined eligible electors to be returned; Ensure that confined eligible electors have information regarding the methods by which they may return voted ballots, the designated location for voted ballots to be returned, and the latest time on election day that ballots may be deposited at the designated location; and Inspect outgoing mail at the county jail or detention center for ballots and ensure that any ballots in outgoing mail are placed instead in the designated location for collection. By not earlier than 3:00 p.m. on election day, a team of bipartisan election judges acting at the direction of the county clerk and recorder is required to conduct a final collection of ballots from the county jail or detention center that have been deposited at the designated location. The act further requires the election plan that is required under current law to include information concerning how the clerk and recorder and the sheriff's designee will facilitate the process for confined eligible electors to cure a deficiency on a voted ballot and requires the sheriff's designee to establish a process for a confined eligible elector to cure a deficiency on their ballot. The failure of the sheriff or the sheriff's designee to comply with the requirements set forth in the act is subject to assessment of a civil penalty determined by the court and payable by the county in the amount of $5,000 per violation. The civil penalty is to be credited to the department of state cash fund. The office of the secretary of state is required to create training materials for county clerk and recorders to minimally use in providing training and technical assistance to the sheriff's designee. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates: $75,240 from the general fund to the department of state for use by the elections division for local election reimbursement; and $92,160 from the department of state cash fund to the department of state for use by the information technology division for personal services. APPROVED by Governor May 31, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 31, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The division of housing (division) within the department of local affairs must submit an annual public report on the funding of affordable housing preservation and production (public report). The act requires that the division include in the report specific information on uses of existing state and federal funds to provide best use of subsidies to maximize unit production and confirmation of rules and practices to ensure developments are not disqualified for funding support from the division if the development has previously received money from funds established by proposition 123. The act further requires the division to add to the public report information on applications for affordable housing programs that the division administers, including the number of applications approved, denied, and pending, the amount of money awarded from approved applications, and the amount of money applied for but not awarded from denied applications. The act also requires the division to add to the public report information regarding money in the housing development grant fund, including amounts in the fund and the use of the money in the preceding year, and information about the timing for drafting, delivering, and executing contracts that are required in connection with receiving money from the fund. The act also establishes procedures and timelines for the division to follow for affordable housing programs administered by the division. The act requires that the division accept applications once a quarter, with the cycle beginning at the start of a state fiscal year, and requires that the division review applications and issue any requests for additional information, forms, or questions to applicants within 10 calendar days of an application period closing. The division is required to publish the application schedule by May 1 for the upcoming cycle and update the schedule 60 days before the start of the next quarter; except that the division must publish the application schedule for the second half of the 2024-25 state fiscal year by November 1, 2024. If the division will not be accepting applications for any affordable housing program for an upcoming quarter, the division must publish notice of this with an explanation as to why applications won't be accepted for the program. The division must either issue final decisions on applications or submit applications to the board of housing for final decision within 45 days following the submission of completed applications. If applications are submitted to the state housing board, the state housing board must make a final decision on an application at its next regularly scheduled meeting. After a final decision approving an application, the division shall issue an award letter that includes information on the timeline for issuing money to the applicant, any terms for a loan or grant period, and any conditions that must be met before a contract in connection with the approval is executed. The division shall also provide a draft contract to the approved applicant within 30 days of the application being approved. Within 90 days of the division receiving a substantially complete post-award due diligence package from an approved applicant, the division shall execute any required contracts for the affordable housing program and send it to the approved applicant within 10 days of execution; except that the 90 day period pauses for the period from when an approved applicant receives a preliminary draft contract from the division until the division receives the executed contract from the approved applicant. The act also amends existing grant, loan, and other affordable housing programs administered by the division to require the application process to be followed for any applications submitted under these programs and requires any programs that have adopted policies, procedures, or guidelines for the application process to be amended if they are inconsistent with the application process established by the act. The act also modifies the "City Housing Law". The act expands the term "housing project" to include the provision of dwelling accommodations to persons without regard to income as long as the housing project substantially benefits persons of low income. The act clarifies that, in addition to the authority to construct a housing project, a city is authorized to acquire, own, or lease a housing project and that a city can manage, operate, and maintain, or contract for the management, operation, and maintenance of any housing project owned or leased by the city. The act adds an alternative option to the requirement that the city deliver possession of a housing project to a housing authority within the city's boundaries to instead allow the city to contract with a nonprofit or private entity to manage, maintain, and operate the housing project. The act also allows a community land trust or nonprofit affordable housing homeownership developer or its authorized agent that is applying for a property tax exemption with the division of property taxation to submit only one application and one annual report if the property that is the subject of the exemption application and report has been subdivided. However, the application and the report must be accompanied by payment not to exceed the aggregate amount of payments that would be required if individual applications or reports were filed for each parcel and once a subdivided parcel has been split into a separate taxable parcel from the improvements and is leased to the owner of the improvements, the developer or their designee must file an individual annual report for the subdivided parcel. APPROVED by Governor May 31, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Colorado law authorizes the public utilities commission (commission) to deny or refuse to renew a towing carrier permit (permit) if: The towing carrier was convicted within the last 5 years of a felony or a towing-related offense or has failed to satisfy a civil penalty imposed by the commission; or The commission determines that it is not in the public interest for the towing carrier to hold a permit. The act: Authorizes the commission to suspend or revoke a permit for each of these specified violations; Authorizes the commission to suspend or revoke a permit if it is not in the public interest for the towing carrier to hold a permit; and Sets a rebuttable presumption that it is not in the public interest for a towing carrier to hold a permit if the towing carrier has willfully and repeatedly violated the towing laws. The act prohibits a member of the towing task force in the department of regulatory agencies, which advises the commission on towing matters, from voting on a matter if the matter concerns a rate-setting recommendation that will financially benefit the member or if the member is the subject of a complaint about which the task force is advising the commission. Colorado law requires the commission to report certain towing issues and financial information to certain committees of the senate and house of representatives of the general assembly. The act requires the commission to promulgate a rule to require towing carriers to provide any information needed to prepare the report as part of the towing carrier permitting process. The information required by rule may include the annual volume of tows by category, the current pricing per category of tow for all fees charged, and the number of tow trucks each towing carrier operates. A towing carrier is forbidden from patrolling or monitoring property to enforce parking restrictions on behalf of the property owner. If a motor vehicle is towed in violation of the rights granted in state statute, the towing carrier must, within 48 hours after the determination of a statutory violation, return the vehicle to the place it was towed from unless otherwise requested or if not practical, as determined by the commission. Colorado law prohibits a towing carrier from nonconsensually towing a vehicle from private property unless the carrier has received permission from the property owner or an agent of the owner within the last 24 hours. A towing carrier may not be the agent of the property owner. The act requires the permission to be documented and signed and prohibits automated or preapproved permission. If the property owner would earn income from the nonconsensual tow, the towing carrier is prohibited from making the tow but may authorize another towing carrier to make the tow. The act repeals the ability of the agent to authorize the tow and replaces it with authorization by an employee of the property owner or a property management service, except that employees that have a financial interest in or relationship with the towing carrier may not authorize the tow. Before the act, Colorado law required certain nonconsensual tows to occur only after the vehicle owner has been given 24-hours' notice, unless the vehicle is parked without displaying valid authorization in a parking lot used exclusively for residents. The act removes the requirement that the vehicle display valid authorization and replaces it with a requirement that the vehicle have valid authorization and broadens the type of parking lot to include a parking lot for invited guests. The sign requirement for conducting a nonconsensual tow is changed to require the sign to include certain lettering and placement requirements and to require print in both English and Spanish. Colorado law authorizes the owner of a nonconsensually towed vehicle to retrieve the vehicle without paying the full fees for the nonconsensual tow. The act prohibits a towing carrier from requiring a person to undergo an approval process other than signing the appropriate form to retrieve the vehicle. The act requires a towing carrier to be responsible for the security and safety of a towed vehicle, regardless of whether the vehicle was nonconsensually towed. A violation of the towing laws is made a deceptive trade practice in violation of the "Colorado Consumer Protection Act", which authorizes the attorney general or a district attorney to file a civil action for penalties of $10,000 or more. The sunset repeal of the commission's regulation of towing carriers is moved from September 1, 2025, to September 1, 2030. The act makes a violation of the towing laws an independent cause of action, which is not subject to administrative exhaustion, against the towing carrier. To implement the act, $165,629 is appropriated for the 2024-25 state fiscal year to the department of regulatory agencies from the public utilities commission motor carrier fund. APPROVED by Governor May 30, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)