Criminal Justice

The act repeals the office of the judicial discipline ombudsman, effective July 1, 2027, which was established in 2023 to act as an independent and confidential advisor on judicial discipline procedures and workplace culture.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act clarifies that video and audio recordings (recordings) depicting an incident of a peace officer's use of force that resulted in death (incident) must be provided to the decedent's immediate family within 21 days after the incident regardless of whether there is a complaint of peace officer misconduct for the incident.     The act requires the multi-agency team investigating the incident or the law enforcement agency that employs the peace officer who used force in the incident to notify the decedent's immediate family about the multi-agency team investigation into the incident within 24 hours after the scene of the incident is cleared. The notification must include the names of the law enforcement agencies that comprise the multi-agency investigating team and the status of the investigation.     The act prohibits a peace officer participating in the investigation of a criminal matter involving an incident from making an extrajudicial statement on behalf of a law enforcement agency that the peace officer knows or reasonably should know will be disseminated by means of public communication and will have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing an adjudicative proceeding on the matter. Video of an incident produced for purposes of a community or critical incident briefing must include certain disclaimers, and narration or commentary must be limited to the facts of the incident.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the attorney general to submit to the peace officers standards and training board (P.O.S.T. board) a proposal by December 31, 2030, to update current basic, reserve, and refresher law enforcement training academy programs and improve the peace officer performance of future academy graduates.     The act changes the makeup of the P.O.S.T. board by reducing the number of law enforcement head officials, reducing the number of non-law-enforcement persons, increasing the number of line officers, and adding representatives from law enforcement training academies and reserve officers. A person who has had their P.O.S.T. certification revoked is not eligible to serve on the P.O.S.T. board.     The P.O.S.T. board is prohibited from approving skill instructors whose P.O.S.T. certification has been revoked for training academies and from approving training academies with an instructor whose P.O.S.T. certification has been revoked after September 1, 2026.     The act requires that a person be at least 21 years old in order to be a certified peace officer.     The act makes a peace officer academy full-time instructor eligible to attend P.O.S.T. certification classes funded with grant money, but the instructor is not eligible to receive individual grant funding from the P.O.S.T. board.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates a statutory cause of action for a person who has their federal constitutional rights violated by another person who, acting under color of law, is participating in civil immigration enforcement. A person who violates the United States constitution while participating in civil immigration enforcement and whose conduct was the proximate cause of violating another person's constitutional rights is liable to the person whose rights are violated for legal or equitable relief or any other appropriate relief. The action must be commenced within 2 years after the cause of action accrues.     The act appropriates $125,604 to the department of law from the legal services cash fund to provide legal services for the department of personnel.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the department of health care policy and financing and the behavioral health administration to publish on each department's website an easily accessible list of secure transportation providers that have contracts with managed care entities and behavioral health administrative services organizations, as applicable.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Risk assessments assess a parolee's criminogenic needs and risk of recidivism and are used to guide parole supervision planning, identify appropriate interventions, and establish parole supervision levels or categories.     The act requires the department of corrections (department) to establish a risk assessment quality review team to develop policies and implement practices that determine whether risk assessments are completed accurately and consistently and to ensure a sustained process of review and training.     For its 'SMART Act' hearing beginning in 2027, and each year thereafter, the department is required to include information concerning reviewed risk assessments, including findings and measures implemented to mitigate recent high error rates in risk assessments.     The act clarifies that risk assessment outputs are criminal justice records for purposes of public inspection. The act prohibits an agreement that prohibits the disclosure of information in a risk assessment output that is subject to disclosure under the law.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Beginning June 1, 2027, a person convicted for the first time of certain offenses related to driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol is required to hold an interlock-restricted license for a consecutive period of nine months following reinstatement of the person's driver's license prior to being eligible to obtain any other driver's license, except in limited circumstances.      If a person's driving privileges have been revoked for one year or more because of a refusal related to certain offenses related to driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, current law authorizes the person to apply for early reinstatement with an interlock-restricted license after the driving privilege has been revoked for 2 months. Beginning June 1, 2027, the 2-month waiting period is repealed.     Under current law, a financial assistance program (assistance program) is available to assist people who apply for an interlock-restricted license and are unable to pay the full cost of an approved ignition interlock device. The act restricts eligibility for the program to those who satisfy certain income criteria.     A certified ignition interlock manufacturer (manufacturer) must provide a person who is eligible for the assistance program certain discounts on installation of, lease charges for, and removal of an interlock device. The manufacturer must provide certain information regarding the assistance program at the time the interlock device installation appointment is scheduled and when a person executes an interlock device lease or service agreement.     The act appropriates $15,225 to the department of revenue to implement the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act clarifies the conduct by which a person can commit criminally negligent homicide to include proximately causing the death of another person while operating or driving a motor vehicle with criminal negligence. The act repeals the class 1 misdemeanor traffic offense of a person being the proximate cause of death to another person while driving a motor vehicle, while clarifying it can be charged as a class 5 felony elsewhere in statute.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act permits a county or municipal jail (local detention facility) to conduct a strip search of a person who is detained in the local detention facility, only:When the facility is conducting intake of the detained person who has come in from outside the facility and a strip search upon intake is part of the detention facility's policy;When 2 personnel of the facility have determined and reasonably believe the detained person is concealing a controlled substance, a dangerous instrument, or contraband; or Under a circumstance or set of conditions in which there has been a prior incident of possession of a controlled substance, a dangerous instrument, contraband, or any other item that creates grave danger to property or injury to persons and substantially obstructs the performance of the institutional functions of the local detention facility, the circumstance or set of conditions give rise to a substantial likelihood that a similar incident may occur again, and the local detention facility has a written policy authorizing a strip search under the circumstances or set of conditions.     The act requires that each local detention facility document the number of, reason for, and results of a strip search in a report that each facility must submit annually to the jail standards advisory committee and the Colorado attorney general. The act requires detention facility personnel to record strip searches via body-worn camera and limits access to the recordings. The act requires each sheriff to coordinate with the sheriff's body-worn camera vendor to implement a tag for strip searches in body-worn camera footage tagging options and ensure that strip search footage has the most restrictive level of access available within the sheriff's body-worn camera system.     The act requires local detention facilities to have a policy detailing staff protocol for responding to suspected, alleged, or witnessed sexual abuse and requires staff to report suspected, alleged, or witnessed sexual abuse. The act creates whistleblower protection policies for jail staff and creates a right of action against a local detention facility for a staff member who was subject to an adverse employment action because the staff member disclosed information to the proper supervising authority about sexual abuse or sex-based harassment in the local detention facility.     The act requires local detention facilities to inform prisoners of their rights and the resources available to them if they are a victim of sexual abuse while in jail and allow sexual assault advocates to access prisoners who request advocacy services. The act requires local detention facilities to designate a 'Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003' (PREA) coordinator and requires jails to provide the coordinator's contact information to prisoners and the public.     The act requires the removal of peace officers standards and training board (P.O.S.T. board) certification from any peace officer who is found by an administrative law judge, hearing officer, or internal investigation to have sexually abused a prisoner in a local detention facility.     The act appropriates $38,916 to the department of law from the P.O.S.T. board cash fund for P.O.S.T. board support.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act directs the division of brand inspection (division) in the department of agriculture and the state board of stock inspection commissioners in the department of agriculture to receive reports of lost or stolen livestock. On or before December 31, 2026, the division shall implement procedures that:Facilitate efficient coordination with law enforcement, including procedures to ensure that reports of stolen livestock are provided to relevant law enforcement within 24 hours after the division receives a report of stolen livestock; andEnsure that the public is notified of lost or stolen livestock.     The procedures implemented by the division may vary by geographic region depending on the needs of the region.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)