Beginning in state fiscal year 2027-28, the act requires the department of public safety (department) to submit a budget request for community corrections and to include in its budget request information regarding projected community corrections program needs, including certain data points and analysis related to residential and nonresidential bed capacity, the per diem reimbursement rate for each bed type, and other guideposts related to community corrections appropriations. The department must include information on the budget request in its yearly 'SMART Act' hearing.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Current law disqualifies a person convicted of committing a sexual offense against a child from being a school director of a school district, commonly known as a school board member. The bill adds convictions for crimes of violence and for felony drug offenses involving distribution, manufacturing, dispensing, or sale of a controlled substance to the list of offenses that disqualify a person from being a school board member. The bill specifies that a person is disqualified only for crimes of violence offenses and felony drug offenses committed when the person was an adult and when fewer than 10 years have passed since the person satisfied every aspect of the sentenced imposed for the conviction, including incarceration, financial penalties, and parole .(Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.)(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
An inmate who is serving a sentence to the department of corrections (DOC) for certain lower level criminal offenses, has not incurred a penal discipline violation within a specified time period, and is program compliant is currently eligible to earn 12 days of earned time per month. The act increases eligibility to 14 days per month. An inmate who is serving a sentence for, or who has been previously convicted of, certain higher level criminal offenses, including a felony offense listed in the 'Victim Rights Act', is currently eligible to earn 10 days of earned time per month. The act increases eligibility to 12 days per month. An inmate who completes a milestone or phase of a behavioral health program in an area related to recovery from a condition that contributed to the inmate's underlying offense may be awarded up to 150 days of earned time. The DOC is directed to enact policy changes to incentivize inmates to pursue activities that award earned time. The act creates a working group to make recommendations for a capacity management plan (plan) for the DOC with input from impacted groups. The plan must be informed by strategies to assess prison programming and clinical care, inmate release processes, services for successful release outcomes, prison population management, and prison capacity changes. Members of the house of representatives judiciary committee, the senate judiciary committee, and the joint budget committee may submit in writing to the chair of the working group a request to prioritize specific issues or provide other relevant information. The working group shall submit an interim and a final report to the general assembly, the DOC's certified employee organization, and the governor's office.(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.)
The act requires a court to sentence a defendant convicted of second degree assault by strangulation in an enhanced range as a crime of violence subject to mandatory incarceration if the defendant has previously been convicted of second degree assault by strangulation. A previous conviction must be set forth in the complaint, indictment, or information for the present act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The bill allows defendant veterans to request an eligibility assessment to determine if they are eligible for veteran deferred sentencing. The bill states the offenses eligible and the requirements that must be met by veteran defendants to qualify for veteran deferred sentencing. The bill establishes what a court must include in a veteran defendant's deferred sentence and establishes what a veteran defendant must do to complete their deferred sentence and when they are eligible for discharge from probation and for dismissal of their charges.The bill requires courts to consider veteran status, when disclosed, when considering the sentence of a veteran defendant. The bill requires law enforcement, courts, and corrections personnel to receive training regarding justice-involved veterans. The bill requires courts to track and report the number of veteran defendants receiving, completing, declining, and denied veteran-deferred sentences. The bill requires the division of criminal justice in the department of public safety to develop a plan to track and evaluate outcomes of veteran defendants who receive veteran-deferred sentences.The bill requires the department of corrections (department) to create a veteran identification process that must be implemented in all offender diagnostic centers that allows the department to record which offenders are veterans. The bill requires that veteran offenders be considered, when appropriate, for correctional facility veteran housing units and veteran services and have their veteran status be considered in structuring their rehabilitation program.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The act sets forth a process for a person in prison to petition within the next 3 years for resentencing and for a court to impose a new sentence if the petitioner is 60 years old or older at the time of filing the petition and has served at least 20 calendar years incarcerated for the offense. A person is not eligible to petition if the person is incarcerated as a result of conviction for a sex offense, human trafficking, an offense that resulted in a sentence to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, an offense for which the victim was a child younger than 12 years old, or an offense against a first responder engaged in the performance of their duties. At the hearing on the petition, the petitioner has the burden to show by a preponderance of the evidence that the petitioner no longer presents an identifiable danger to the safety of any person or the community and that there is good cause for the court to modify the sentence. Upon the court finding that the petitioner has met their burden, the petitioner is permitted to file a motion for reconsideration and reduction of the initial sentence pursuant to the Colorado rules of criminal procedure. At the hearing on the motion, the court shall determine and impose the appropriate sentence. If a person in prison is not eligible for resentencing pursuant to the act, the district attorney's office that prosecuted the offense resulting in the conviction may petition the court requesting that the court grant post-conviction relief. If the district attorney's office petitions the court, the same procedures apply as if an eligible person petitioned. The act appropriates $50,840 to the judicial department for use by the public defender and $50,326 to the department of corrections for use by community services, and reduces the appropriation in the annual general appropriation act for the 2026-27 state fiscal year to the department of corrections for payments to local jails by $168,980.(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 requires the department of corrections (department) to furnish an individual being discharged from the department's custody a release allowance of at least $100, free of any deductions. Beginning by September 15, 2027, and annually thereafter, the department is required to collect and report discharge data, including the number of individuals released from department correctional facilities, the number and percentage of released individuals who received the release allowance, and the total amount of money spent on release allowances. The department must issue a report to the general assembly annually. The act repeals provisions requiring the department to give an individual a ticket to leave prior to discharging the individual from a correctional facility. The act requires eligible offenders to participate in the department's existing program to procure state-issued identification cards for offenders (program), unless the offender affirmatively opts-out of the program. Beginning by September 15, 2027, and annually thereafter, the department is required to collect data on the process of securing necessary identification documents to issue state identification cards and issue a report to the general assembly. The report must include the number and percentage of offenders released with an identification card, birth certificate, and social security number and the number and percentage of offenders who were ineligible to participate in the program and the reason for ineligibility. The department is prohibited from charging an offender a fee to obtain a state identification card, and any fee incurred in the process of securing an offender's identification documents to create the state identification card must be assessed after the offender has been released and may be consolidated with existing restitution, fees, or other legal financial obligations owed by the offender. The department of public health and environment shall assist the department in securing necessary identification documents.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, a court is required to release a person on a personal recognizance bond if the person was charged with an offense for a violation with a maximum penalty that does not exceed 6 months' imprisonment and the court cannot require the person to give security of any kind for their appearance for trial other than their personal recognizance, unless certain conditions exist. The bill clarifies that these provisions apply in both state and municipal courts. The bill adds to the conditions for which a person may be required to give security that the defendant previously failed to appear in court 2 or more times in the present case.Existing law prohibits a court from imposing a monetary condition of release for a defendant charged with a traffic offense, petty offense, or comparable municipal offense, or a municipal offense for which there is no comparable state misdemeanor offense, with specified exceptions. The bill adds exceptions for:A petty offense for theft, criminal mischief, or arson, or a comparable municipal offense, or a municipal offense involving threats of violence, injury, or property damage, if the defendant has previously failed to appear in court 2 or more times in the present case; andAny other petty offense, traffic offense, or a comparable municipal offense, or a municipal offense for which there is no comparable state offense, if the defendant has previously failed to appear for a court proceeding 2 or more times in the present case and has another pending charge for the same offense in the same jurisdiction.The bill states that if a defendant's counsel is present at a court proceeding as required by a court and the defendant is not present, with the exceptions of trial, arraignment, contested hearings, and hearings in which a witness or victim is testifying before the court, the defendant's absence may not be considered a failure to appear. The bill applies the exceptions involving previous instances of a defendant's failure to appear for a municipal court proceeding only when, prior to issuing a warrant for the arrest of the defendant for the previous failure to appear, the court conducted a search to determine whether the defendant was being held in a correctional facility or county jail, and at the time of the previous failure to appear, the court had certain processes in place governing failures to appear.The bill requires municipal courts to not consider a person's absence from a place and time specified in a summons or summons and complaint as a failure to appear if the person's counsel is present on their behalf.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
