Current law prohibits an individual who is under 18 years of age from using a wireless telephone when driving. Effective January 1, 2025, the act applies the prohibition to an individual who is 18 years of age or older and updates the term "wireless telephone" to " mobile electronic device". The act does not apply to an individual with a commercial driver's license who is operating a commercial vehicle. The following uses of mobile electronic devices are exempted: By an individual contacting a public safety entity; By a individual during an emergency; By an employee or contractor of a utility when responding to a utility emergency; By an employee or contractor of a city or county acting within the scope of the employee's or contractor's duties as a code enforcement officer or animal protection officer; or By a first responder. It is not a violation of the act to use a mobile electronic device in a motor vehicle that is at rest in a shoulder or lawfully parked. To cite an individual for a violation of the act, a law enforcement officer must see the individual use a mobile electronic device in a manner that caused the individual to drive in a careless and imprudent manner. The penalties for a violation are: For a first offense, $75 and 2 license suspension points; For a second offense within 24 months, $150 and 3 license suspension points; and For a third or subsequent offense within 24 months, $250 and 4 license suspension points. A violation will be dismissed if the individual produces proof of purchase of a hands-free accessory and affirms, under penalty of perjury, that the defendant has not previously claimed this option to dismiss. Current law requires a peace officer who makes a traffic stop to record the demographic information of the violator, whether a citation has been issued, and the violation cited. The act clarifies that the peace officer must record whether the act has been violated. The executive director of the department of transportation, in consultation with the chief of the Colorado state patrol, is required to create a campaign raising public awareness of the requirements of the bill and of the dangers of using mobile electronic devices when driving. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2024 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE January 1, 2025(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
In common interest communities for real property, Colorado law allows a unit owners' association (association) to require, without starting a legal proceeding, a unit owner to reimburse the association for collection costs, attorney fees, or other costs resulting from the owner failing to timely pay assessments or other money owed. The act limits the reimbursement amount for attorney fees to $5,000 or 50% of the original money owed. Colorado law allows the association to require, also without starting a legal proceeding, a unit owner to reimburse the association for collection costs and attorney fees resulting from the owner failing to obey the bylaws or rules of the association. The act limits the reimbursement amount for attorney fees to $5,000 or 50% of the actual costs the association incurred for the failure to obey. Colorado law requires a court to award an association reasonable attorney fees, costs, and collection costs in an action in which the association seeks to collect unpaid assessments or enforce or defend the association's bylaws or rules and the association prevails in the matter. The act limits the award for attorney fees to $5,000 or 50% of the balance owed to the association; except that the court may award attorney fees in excess of these limits if the court finds that the unit owner was able to comply but willfully failed to comply. Each of the mentioned limitation is adjusted for inflation. The court, when determining reasonable attorney fees, is required to consider relevant factors, including the amount of the unpaid assessments, whether foreclosure action was contested, and whether the attorney fees incurred are disproportionate to the needs of the case. Colorado law grants an association a lien on a unit for amounts owed to the association by the unit owner. The act prohibits foreclosing on the lien until: The association has: Obtained a personal judgment against the unit owner in a civil action; Attempted to bring a civil action against the unit owner but was prevented by the death of or incapacity of the unit owner; or Attempted to bring a civil action against the unit owner but the association was unable to serve the unit owner within 180 days; or The unit owner is in a bankruptcy civil action. These foreclosure requirements: Apply to a unit owned by an individual who occupies the unit as a principal residence; Do not apply to a unit owned by an entity other than an individual or a unit that is not occupied as the unit owner's principal residence; and Apply to a unit used for workforce housing. At least 30 days before initiating legal action to foreclose a lien under the act, an association must provide notice to the unit owner that the unit owner has the right to engage in mediation prior to litigation. The association must also provide notice to all lienholders identified on the unit owner property records of the pending legal action for foreclosure. The notice must include the amount of any outstanding assessment and other money owed. Colorado law requires the association to attempt to enter into a payment plan to collect amounts due from a unit owner. The act prohibits foreclosure on a lien if the unit owner is in compliance with the payment plan. Colorado law prohibits certain persons from purchasing the property foreclosed upon under an association lien as a conflict of interest. The act adds the following persons to the prohibition: A community association management company representing the association; and An individual or a community association management company that was, at any time during the 5-year period immediately preceding the sale of the foreclosed unit, a person that was subject to, or that was owned by or affiliated with a person that was subject to, the prohibition. A person that purchases a unit through the foreclosure of a lien held by an association acquires the unit subject to any covenants or limitations on the use or sale of the unit to which the previous unit owner was subject. The act creates a right of redemption for 180 days following a foreclosure sale. In general, the procedures for the act's right of redemption are based on the procedures in current law. A person wanting to redeem the unit under the act must file a notice of intent to redeem within 30 days after the foreclosure sale. The following people have the right of redemption in order of priority: The unit owner; A tenant of the unit; A nonprofit entity whose primary purpose is the development or preservation of affordable housing; A community land trust; A cooperative housing corporation; and The state of Colorado or a political subdivision of the state of Colorado. If 2 or more people with the right of redemption attempt to redeem the property, the person with the highest priority is awarded the property. If the highest priority lienor has not redeemed the property, each subsequent lienor is entitled to redeem, in succession, within five business days. To redeem a unit, the redeemer must reimburse the foreclosure purchaser or association in accordance with the standards set by the act. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The Colorado fire commission (commission) was created in the division of fire prevention and control in the department of public safety. The commission is set to be repealed, effective September 1, 2024, and is subject to a sunset review prior to its repeal. The act implements the recommendations in the department of regulatory agencies' 2023 sunset report to extend the commission's repeal date until September 1, 2033, and requires a sunset review prior to its repeal. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act prohibits price gouging in the provision of or offer to provide rent-based housing during a disaster period and within the designated disaster area if the disaster declaration specifically declares a material decrease in residential housing units. A violation of the act is an unfair and unconscionable act or practice. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 5, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
With exceptions, school districts, district charter schools, institute charter schools, and boards of cooperative services that operate one or more public schools (local education provider), are required to provide free menstrual products: In at least 25% of applicable student bathrooms in all applicable school buildings by June 30, 2025; In at least 50% of applicable student bathrooms in all applicable school buildings by June 30, 2026; and In at least 75% of applicable student bathrooms in all applicable school buildings by June 30, 2025. By June 30, 2028, all local education providers, the Colorado school for the deaf and the blind, and approved facility schools are required to provide free menstrual products to students in all applicable student bathrooms in all applicable school buildings. The act provides exceptions for applicable school buildings that do not have a gender-neutral bathroom, for applicable school buildings that provide educational services only to students who are enrolled in kindergarten through grade 6, and if the local education provider, Colorado school for the deaf and the blind, or approved facility school is experiencing vandalism or destruction of property because of complying with the act. The act expands eligibility for the menstrual hygiene products accessibility grant program (grant program) to make rural school districts, small rural school districts, or charter schools within these districts eligible for a grant award. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $100,000 to the department of education (department) for the grant program. The act allows the department to retain up to 10% of the appropriation on actual administrative costs for the grant program and allows grant awards to be used to acquire a dispensing machine or disposal receptacle for menstrual hygiene products. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires an online dating service (service) to have a safety policy that includes certain elements, as detailed below. It is a deceptive trade practice if a service does not have a compliant safety policy. A safety policy must include: A description of prohibited content and conduct used by the online dating service, which must include misconduct that threatens public or personal safety; Information about whether and under what circumstances the service conducts background screenings of members who use the service (members) and whether the service excludes from membership individuals with criminal convictions; A description of whether and when the service verifies a member's identity or that the member is at least 18 years of age; A description of whether and when the online dating service, after receiving a report of prohibited content and conduct committed by a member, provides actual notice that it received the report to other members who have had contact with the member and, if so, the types of content and conduct that result in notice; A description of whether and when the service suspends a member profile or bars a member from the service as a result of reports of prohibited content and conduct committed by the member and whether the service allows a member to appeal an adverse action against the member; Guidelines for reporting prohibited content and conduct committed by a member to the service; A notice that engaging in sexual conduct with another person without the other person's consent violates the safety policy and criminal laws, and may result in criminal or civil liability; Information about resources available for members in Colorado who experience sexual assault, domestic violence, and other crimes; and Measures taken by the service that are reasonably designed to promote safer online and in-person dating experiences for members. A service shall post a link to its safety policy on the front page of its website, on the settings or similar screen of its mobile application, and in its dating service contract. A service shall submit the URL for its safety policy, including any updates, to the attorney general's office. On or before January 31, 2026, a service shall annually file a report with the attorney general's office concerning member safety and the service's compliance with the requirement to have a safety policy. Prior to commencing a deceptive trade practice enforcement action against an online dating service, the attorney general or a district attorney must issue a notice of violation to the service if the attorney general or district attorney determines it is possible for the online dating service to cure the violation. The service has 30 days after receiving notice to cure the violation. If the service does not cure the violation, the attorney general or district attorney may commence an enforcement action. The act creates a civil cause of action for a person who was tracked by means of a tracking device or tracking application to bring a claim against the actor who installed a tracking device on the person's property or who caused a tracking device or tracking application to track the person or person's property without the person's consent. Existing law prohibits posting a private image for harassment; posting a private image for pecuniary gain; and posting, possession, or exchange of a private image by a juvenile. Posting a private image for harassment or for pecuniary gain involves posting an image that depicts the private intimate parts of a person. Posting, possession, or exchange of a private image by a juvenile involves an image that depicts specified intimate parts of a person. The act makes those offenses apply to images that include simulated intimate parts of a person. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act clarifies what constitutes an abbreviated school day and describes the effects of placing children with disabilities on abbreviated school day schedules (abbreviated schedule). The act requires the department of education (department) to create and implement a policy that explains the: Definition of an abbreviated school day, including how the definition applies to attendance and school discipline; Circumstances in which abbreviated schedules are permissible and impermissible; Roles of the teams who determine whether to assign children with disabilities to abbreviated schedules; Extent to which children with disabilities may participate in field trips, school functions, and extracurricular activities; Documentation and maintenance of records relating to children with disabilities' abbreviated schedules; Review of abbreviated schedules on a regular basis by the teams who determine whether to assign children with disabilities to abbreviated schedules; Information that parents, legal guardians, or custodians of children with disabilities (parents) must receive regarding whether parents may consent to, revoke consent to, or oppose abbreviated schedules; and Procedural safeguard information distributed to parents prior to meetings in which abbreviated schedules are discussed. Each administrative unit shall adopt the department's policy and create a plan to support children with disabilities who are assigned an abbreviated schedule. The plan must include the outcomes for placing children with disabilities on an abbreviated schedule and a description of the stages for gradual reintroduction to return children with disabilities to full-time school day schedules. The department shall provide annual training and ongoing technical assistance to administrative units. On or before July 1, 2026, and each July 1 thereafter, a school district, a district charter school, an institute charter school, or a board of cooperative services shall submit a report to the department summarizing: The number of children with disabilities who were placed on abbreviated schedules during the preceding school year; The number of days and the percentage of the school year that each child with disabilities was placed on an abbreviated schedule; The student demographic information for each child with disabilities placed on an abbreviated school day schedule, including race, gender, English language learner status, and whether the child has a disability pursuant to federal law, to the extent possible while maintaining student privacy; and The student demographic data collected, disaggregated by race, gender, English language learner status, and disability status pursuant to federal law, to the extent possible while maintaining student privacy. The act requires the department to post the reports to the department's website on an annual basis. Beginning in January 2027, and in January every year thereafter, the department shall include as part of its presentation during its "SMART Act" hearing information concerning abbreviated schedules. By the beginning of the 2025-26 school year, the department shall standardize the reporting method that schools of a school district, district charter schools, school districts, institute charter schools, and the state charter school institute use to collect and report data concerning: Instructional hours; School calendars; and The number of hours students spend on instructional time during the school year. Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, and each school year thereafter, the department shall collect from schools of a school district, district charter schools, school districts, institute charter schools, and the state charter school institute, at a minimum, the following data: Days of instruction for elementary and secondary schools; Instructional hours for elementary and secondary schools; Estimated non-instructional hours, school closures, snow days, and time spent on lunch and passing between classes; and The number of days and percentage of the school year students were placed on abbreviated schedules. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, $250,108 is appropriated to the department from the general fund to implement this act. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 5, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Effective July 1, 2026, the act increases the minimum compensation for a district attorney to match the compensation of a full-time district court judge. Effective July 1, 2026, the act requires the minimum compensation of an assistant district attorney to match the compensation of a full-time county court judge and requires the state to pay 50% of the minimum amount of an assistant district attorney's compensation. The district attorney, with the approval of the board or boards of county commissioners of the county or counties comprising the judicial district or with the approval of the city council of a city and county affected, may set an amount in excess of the minimum requirement. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
On or before July 1, 2026, the act requires the department of education to: Create, deliver, and make publicly available a training program, in plain and easy-to-understand language, regarding individualized education program laws and procedures, including parent and student rights; and Deliver the training program in person and make the training program and related information publicly available online. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $75,288 from the general fund to the department to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under existing law, the department of corrections may, for an inmate who was sentenced for a nonviolent felony offense, deduct earned time from the inmate's sentence for each accredited degree or other credential awarded by an institution of higher education to the inmate while the inmate is incarcerated or on parole (degree or credential earned time). The act exempts degree or credential earned time from the statutory limit on earned time. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The state received money from the federal coronavirus state fiscal recovery fund pursuant to the "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021" (ARPA money). ARPA money was deposited into the "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021" cash fund and then transferred to various cash funds (recipient funds) and appropriated for various programs. The act requires the state treasurer to transfer specified amounts of ARPA money from specified recipient funds at the close of the 2023-24 state fiscal year to the "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021" cash fund. The act requires the state treasurer to transfer money from the general fund to a new ARPA refinance state money cash fund. Money in the new ARPA refinance state money cash fund is transferred to the specified recipient funds. The act requires the general assembly to appropriate ARPA money from the "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021" cash fund to state departments for personal services in fiscal year 2023-24. For fiscal year 2024-25, the general assembly shall appropriate the balance of the cash fund for personal services or for other purposes permitted under the "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021", and that money must be expended on or before January 31, 2025. On December 1, 2024, any unspent and unobligated ARPA money in a recipient fund, other than money designated for personal services or operating costs that will be spent by January 31, 2025, reverts to the "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021" cash fund. The reverted money is continuously appropriated to any department designated by the governor for any purpose that was funded with general fund money in the general appropriations act for fiscal year 2024-25. After December 31, 2024, any ARPA money in a recipient fund that was obligated as of December 31, 2024, but not expended on an eligible activity at the conclusion of the appropriation reverts to the "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021" cash fund and is continuously appropriated to any department designated by the governor for any purpose for which a general fund appropriation was made in the general appropriation act for the state fiscal year in which the reversion occurred. The amount of general fund money appropriated in a line item in a general appropriations act is reduced by the amount of ARPA money appropriated pursuant to the act's provisions that is spent for the line item. The act repeals the requirement for a subrecipient to obligate ARPA money by November 30, 2024. The act authorizes the state controller to take certain measures to implement the act and ensure that ARPA money is expended within the time allowed by federal law. The governor and the state controller shall jointly submit a report to the joint budget committee, the speaker of the house of representatives, the minority leader of the house of representatives, the president of the senate, and the minority leader of the senate about the transfers in the act and about spending ARPA money. The act makes changes to various programs related to refinancing ARPA money, including clarifying spending and obligation deadlines for program money that is not ARPA money and exempting the use of state money from requirements for capital construction projects that use federal money. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the act makes the following appropriations from the "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021" cash fund for personal services: $495 million to the department of corrections, $214 million to the department of human services, and $309 million to the judicial department. The total general fund appropriation made in the annual general appropriation act for the 2023-24 state fiscal year to each department is reduced by the same amount. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act makes the following appropriations from the "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021" cash fund for personal services: $324 million to the department of corrections, $63,182,048 to the department of human services, and $200 million to the judicial department. The total general fund appropriation made in the annual general appropriation act for the 2024-25 state fiscal year to each department is reduced by the same amount. The act changes the source of funds for existing appropriations involving refinanced ARPA money. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 5, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act implements certain recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies (department), as specified in the department's sunset review of the "Bingo and Raffles Law" (law), as follows: Continues the regulation of charitable gaming under the law for 7 years, until September 1, 2031; Modifies the secretary of state's (secretary's) fining authority by increasing the maximum fine amount to $250 per violation and eliminating the provision for a fine in lieu of license suspension or revocation; and Makes technical changes to the law, including the use of gender-neutral language. The act also modifies the structure, powers, and duties of the Colorado bingo-raffle advisory board, recreated in the act as the Colorado charitable gaming board (board). The board's membership is reduced and one member must be the secretary's designee. All members who are licensees under the law are appointed by the governor. In addition to the secretary's designee, the secretary must appoint the member who is a registered elector with no connection to charitable gaming. The board must meet at least 6 times each year and fulfill the following duties: Conduct a continuous study of charitable gaming in Colorado to improve such gaming and ascertain any defects in existing laws or rules; Advise the secretary regarding subjects such as licensing requirements, qualifications, and special conditions; license revocations, suspensions, and summary suspensions; a schedule of fines and the amounts of fees to be imposed pursuant to the "Bingo and Raffles Law"; criteria and training for licensees, games managers, and other individuals involved in the conduct of charitable gaming; and standard licensee audit procedures; and At the board's discretion, submit an annual report to the general assembly including recommendations for legislation related to charitable gaming. The secretary is encouraged to collaborate with the board on proposals developed by the board related to existing and potential future types of charitable gaming activities and all charitable gaming rules. The act also clarifies the requirements and limitations for a strip bingo game. The act appropriates $226,445 for the 2024-25 state fiscal year from the department of state cash fund to the department of state for implementation of the act. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 5, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
