HB 1134: Fairness & Transparency in Municipal Court - Colorado

Rerevised → Final Act · 4 edits · Apr 13, 2026

MODERATE

This bill updates Colorado laws to ensure municipal court defendants receive the same rights as state court defendants, specifically regarding remote court access and legal representation. It mandates that remote viewing of criminal proceedings be available to the public at no cost, even for defendants in custody facing jail time, while allowing exceptions only for temporary technology failures. Additionally, it requires courts to notify and allow preparation time for public defenders before holding bond hearings for detained defendants.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of remote observation requirements to explicitly include defendants in custody charged with municipal violations that allow for incarceration, whereas previous exceptions often excluded such cases. It also clarifies that municipal courts must follow these state-level requirements unless superseded by a home rule city charter.

REQUIREMENT

Added a specific exception to the remote observation rule for temporary or intermittent internet or technology issues, preventing these technical glitches from being used as a permanent excuse to deny public access.

Mandated that courts notify public defenders of defendants in custody and provide them sufficient time to meet with clients and prepare arguments before bond hearings.

Updated the list of exceptions to the municipal court applicability rules to explicitly include the right to counsel for indigent defendants, ensuring state-level protections apply unless a home rule city opts out.

ELIGIBILITY

Clarified that the right to remote observation applies to all criminal court proceedings in open court, including those involving defendants in custody charged with municipal offenses that allow for a possible sentence of incarceration.

Revised → Rerevised · 3 edits · Mar 31, 2026

MINOR

The bill was re-revised to include additional Senate sponsors and updated the header to reflect that amendments were adopted in the Second House. Substantive policy changes include adding new sponsors to the bill and modifying the procedural timeline by marking the version as '3rd Reading Unamended' with a specific date of March 31, 2026.

Scope change

The bill's scope of applicability remains unchanged, but the list of Senate sponsors has been expanded to include six new legislators.

ELIGIBILITY

Six new names were added to the list of Senate sponsors (Exum, Jodeh, Kipp, Marchman, Mullica, Sullivan).

TIMELINE

The document header was updated to indicate this is the 'REREVISED' version including amendments adopted in the Second House, and a specific date of March 31, 2026 was added for the 3rd Reading Unamended status.

TECHNICAL

The header text was changed from 'REVISED' to 'REREVISED' and the phrase 'on Second Reading in the Second House' was removed.

Reengrossed → Revised · 3 edits · Mar 30, 2026

MINOR

The bill's title and version status were updated to reflect its progression from the House to the Senate, changing the status from 'Reengrossed' to 'Revised' and adding a Senate reading date. The summary section was updated to reflect the Senate's review date, while the core text of the bill regarding municipal court defendants remains unchanged.

TECHNICAL

The bill header was updated to indicate it is now a 'Revised' version including amendments adopted on second reading in the Second House, rather than a 'Reengrossed' version adopted in the House of Introduction.

The summary date was updated from March 3, 2026, to March 30, 2026, to reflect the Senate's review timeline.

Minor formatting adjustments were made to the bill title and summary headers to align with Senate procedural standards.

Engrossed → Reengrossed · 3 edits · Mar 3, 2026

MINOR

The bill was reengrossed to include additional co-sponsors and updated the summary header to reflect that the text now includes all amendments adopted in the House of Introduction. The summary section was also updated to clarify that the current text represents the unamended version as of March 3, 2026, while noting that a future summary for the reengrossed version will be available online.

Scope change

The bill's substantive scope and applicability remain unchanged; the modifications are administrative updates to the sponsor list and summary metadata.

TECHNICAL

Added seven new co-sponsors to the House sponsorship list.

Updated the title header from 'ENGROSSED' to 'REENGROSSED' and adjusted the description of included amendments.

Inserted a new paragraph in the Bill Summary stating the text is unamended as of March 3, 2026, and that a future summary for the reengrossed version will be posted online.

Introduced → Engrossed · 4 edits · Mar 2, 2026

MODERATE

The bill was reclassified from 'Introduced' to 'Engrossed,' indicating it has passed its initial reading and includes all amendments adopted by the House. The text also shows a date update to March 2, 2026, and a page number formatting change. While the visible snippet contains deletions regarding municipal jail procedures, the primary observable change in this specific diff is the bill's status and metadata updates rather than new substantive policy text.

Scope change

The bill's status changed from 'Introduced' to 'Engrossed,' reflecting that it has been amended and approved for its next stage in the legislative process.

TECHNICAL

The bill title was updated from 'Introduced' to 'Engrosed' to reflect that all House amendments have been incorporated.

The page number footer was updated to remove the 'HB26-' prefix, displaying only '1134'.

A date stamp of 'March 2, 2026' was added to the document header.

REQUIREMENT

Deletions were made to a section detailing the availability of in-custody defendants and the responsibilities of the county sheriff or municipal jail administrator.

Fairness & Transparency in Municipal Court

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