HB 25-1138: Protect Victims in Civil Sex Misconduct Suits - Colorado

Rerevised (03/07/2025) → Revised (03/06/2025) · 2 edits

MINOR

The bill was revised to remove Senate sponsors and update the revision date, while adding new language to strengthen protections against discovery of alleged victims' sexual conduct or history. This addition requires courts to issue protective orders limiting discovery scope when a prima facie showing of relevance is made, ensuring victim privacy is maintained during legal proceedings.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on protecting alleged victims' sexual conduct history from discovery, but the new language explicitly mandates court protective orders to enforce this protection.

TECHNICAL

Removed Senate sponsorship names (Kirkmeyer, Daugherty, Frizell, Bridges, Bright, Carson, Coleman, Exum, Lundeen, Michaelson Jenet, Pelton B., Roberts, Rodriguez, Simpson, Weissman) and updated revision status from 'Rerevised' to 'Revised'.

REQUIREMENT

Added new language requiring courts to issue comprehensive protective orders that limit discovery scope and protect against unwarranted, irrelevant, or overly broad discovery into alleged victims' sexual conduct or history.

PA1 (02/05/2025) → Rerevised (03/07/2025) · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill was revised to include all amendments adopted in the second house, expanding the list of co-sponsors from both the House and Senate. The substantive policy content regarding evidentiary requirements for sexual misconduct cases remains consistent with the previous version, though formatting and markup indicators were updated to reflect the bill's current legislative status.

Scope change

The bill's scope and applicability remain unchanged; only the sponsor list was expanded and the document was updated to reflect its amended status after second reading.

TECHNICAL

Expanded list of House co-sponsors to include 25 additional legislators (Armagost, Bacon, Boesenecker, Bradley, Caldwell, Duran, English, Espenoza, Froelich, Garcia, Gonzalez R., Hamrick, Hartsook, Jackson, Keltie, Lieder, Lindsay, Lindstedt, Mabrey, Martinez, Mauro, McCluskie, Rutinel, Sirota, Stewart K., Stewart R., Story, Titone, Valdez, Willford, Winter T., Woodrow).

Expanded list of Senate co-sponsors to include 13 additional legislators (Bridges, Bright, Carson, Coleman, Exum, Lundeen, Michaelson Jenet, Pelton B., Roberts, Rodriguez, Simpson, Weissman).

Updated document headers and reading status indicators to reflect the bill's progression from 'Preamended' to 'Rerevised' with all amendments adopted in the second house.

Removed committee markup indicators and preliminary notes that were present in the earlier version.

Final Act (03/13/2025) → PA1 (02/05/2025) · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was reorganized and reformatted from a final act version to a pre-amended version with committee amendments included. The substantive policy content regarding evidentiary requirements for sexual misconduct cases remains unchanged, though the document structure, headers, and formatting have been significantly altered to reflect different legislative stages.

Scope change

No substantive change to the bill's scope or applicability; changes are primarily formatting and structural reorganization from final act to pre-amended version.

TECHNICAL

Document structure changed from final act format to pre-amended format with committee amendments included.

Removed final act signatures and approval sections including Governor's signature and legislative officers' signatures.

Added bill summary and explanatory notes about current law and proposed changes.

Reorganized legislative sponsorship information and committee assignments.

Changed page headers and formatting to reflect different legislative stages.

Signed Act (03/13/2025) → Final Act (03/13/2025) · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill was finalized for signature on March 13, 2025, with no substantive changes to the legislative text itself. The primary differences are formatting updates, including the addition of a note about the bill's signature status, correction of the Speaker's name from 'McCluskie' to 'McCluskie' (removing a typo), and formatting adjustments to signature lines. The actual policy provisions regarding evidentiary requirements for sexual misconduct cases remain unchanged.

Scope change

No change to the bill's scope or applicability; the substantive legal text remains identical between versions.

TECHNICAL

Added a note explaining that the bill has been prepared for signatures and directing readers to consult legislative status sheets for Governor's action.

Corrected formatting of the Speaker of the House's signature line, changing 'Julie M le' to 'Julie McCluskie'.

Adjusted signature line formatting for the Governor, changing 'Jared S. P is' to 'Jared S. Polis' and adding proper signature lines.

Reformatted the document layout with additional spacing and indentation throughout the text.

Reengrossed (02/07/2025) → Signed Act (03/13/2025) · 5 edits · Mar 13, 2025

MODERATE

This bill strengthens protections for victims of sexual misconduct in civil lawsuits by eliminating an exception that previously allowed evidence of a victim's sexual conduct with the defendant to be admitted. The changes also clarify what types of evidence are admissible, require stricter court procedures before such evidence can be introduced, and mandate protective orders to limit discovery into a victim's sexual history.

Scope change

The bill's scope was narrowed by removing an exception that allowed evidence of a victim's sexual conduct with the defendant to be admitted in civil proceedings.

ELIGIBILITY

Removed an exception that previously allowed evidence of a victim's sexual conduct with the defendant to be admitted in civil cases involving sexual misconduct.

REQUIREMENT

Added specific requirements for courts to conduct in camera hearings and provide victims the right to attend and be heard before admitting evidence of sexual conduct.

Added requirements for courts to issue protective orders that limit discovery into a victim's sexual conduct or history when evidence is permitted.

Modified the evidentiary standard to require parties to make a prima facie showing at a pretrial conference that evidence is relevant and discovery is likely to rebut the presumption of inadmissibility.

TIMELINE

Added an effective date of July 1, 2025, for proceedings occurring on or after that date.

Engrossed (02/06/2025) → Reengrossed (02/07/2025) · 3 edits · Mar 7, 2025

MINOR

The bill was reengrossed to include additional co-sponsors and updated the document header to reflect that amendments were adopted during the House of Introduction. A significant substantive change was the removal of a requirement for courts to conduct in camera hearings before admitting certain victim evidence, which previously ensured victims could attend and be heard on confidentiality matters.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on evidence admissibility regarding victim prior conduct, but the procedural requirement for victim participation in pre-admission hearings has been eliminated.

TECHNICAL

Added multiple new co-sponsors to the House sponsorship list, expanding the bill's legislative support.

Updated the document header from 'Engrossed' to 'Reengrossed' and changed the note to indicate that a summary for the reengrossed version will be available after third reading.

REQUIREMENT

Deleted the requirement that courts must conduct an in camera hearing and provide the alleged victim the right to attend and be heard before admitting evidence under this section, reducing procedural protections for victims in this specific context.

Introduced (01/29/2025) → Engrossed (02/06/2025) · 4 edits · Mar 7, 2025

MODERATE

This bill amendment strengthens protections for sexual assault victims by removing exceptions that allowed evidence of their sexual conduct to be admitted in court. The changes eliminate loopholes that previously permitted defense attorneys to introduce evidence about a victim's prior or subsequent sexual activity, manner of dress, or lifestyle to suggest consent or credibility. The amendment also clarifies procedures for handling such evidence, requiring courts to conduct in camera hearings and issue protective orders to prevent unwarranted discovery into victims' sexual histories.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to explicitly prohibit admission of evidence regarding victim's manner of dress, hairstyle, mode of speech, or lifestyle in addition to prior or subsequent sexual conduct

REQUIREMENT

Removed exceptions allowing evidence of victim's sexual conduct to prove the act was not committed by the defendant

Added explicit prohibition against evidence of victim's manner of dress, hairstyle, mode of speech, or lifestyle

Strengthened in camera hearing requirements and protective order provisions for evidence involving victims

Added requirement for prima facie showing that evidence is relevant and likely to rebut presumption against admissibility

Protect Victims in Civil Sex Misconduct Suits

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