
As the session draws to a close in Colorado, lawmakers mindful of shortfalls in the state budget have introduced legislation that adjusts spending authorities and various requirements for state contracted services.
This past week, a bipartisan bill was introduced in the Senate that would remove the term “homosexuality” from the definition of sexual conduct in the Colorado Criminal Code. According to the bill’s fiscal note, it wouldn’t cost the state anything. Specifically, the bill removes the term “homosexuality” from the definition of sexual conduct in Part 5 (Sexually Explicit Materials Harmful to Children) of Article 7 (Offenses Related to Morals) of Title 18 of the state’s criminal code.
Under the bill’s comparable crime analysis, lawmakers noted the “bill creates a new factual basis for existing offenses regarding sexually explicit materials harmful to children, all class 2 misdemeanors, by removing the term ‘homosexuality.’” It also noted that from fiscal year 2021-22 to fiscal 2023-24, no offenders have been sentenced or convicted for this offense. The bill has been assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Another bipartisan bill introduced this week would adjust the spending authority of the Division of Criminal Justice in the Colorado Department of Public Safety as it relates to community corrections programs. The bill would repeal the division’s authority to transfer up to 10% of annual appropriations among or between line items for community corrections program services and it would allow the division to overexpend up to $2 million in any one fiscal year for felony placements in community corrections programs.
A fiscal note for that bill also states no appropriation would be needed since it doesn’t make any changes to programs. Lawmakers noted that the bill may increase the state general fund expenditures in CDPS by up to $2 million per year. The bill has been assigned to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Bill Number: SB25-273
Title: 14 Days Hospitals Retain Blood Draws for Investigations
Introduced: April 3
Sponsors: D. Roberts, L. Smith, M. Soper
Summary: Current law doesn’t require hospitals to hold on to blood draws for any specific amount of time. The bill requires hospitals or other health care facilities to retain blood draws or admission blood samples for 14 days if a peace officer submits a blood draw retention form. The bill also lists the requirements for a blood draw retention form.
Bill Number: SB25-275
Title: Nonsubstantive Relocation of Definitions in Colorado Revised Statutes
Introduced: April 3
Sponsors: M. Ball, M. Catlin, S. Luck, C. Espenoza
Summary: For parts and articles of the Colorado Revised Statutes, readers expect to find definitions at the beginning of each part or article. However, a number of definitions are “hidden” in the statutes, meaning a definition for an entire article, part or title is not in a definitions section. Instead, the definition is one sentence of many in a section within the part or article. The purpose of the bill is to “unhide” these definitions by moving them into definitions sections where readers would expect to, and can more easily, find them.
Bill Number: SB25-279
Title: Colorado Code of Military Justice Updates
Introduced: April 5
Sponsors: M. Ball, B. Pelton, M. Duran, A. Hartsook
Summary: The bill incorporates the federal Uniform Code of Military Justice into the Colorado Code of Military Justice, including specifically the punitive articles and general article of the federal code, which describe punishable offenses, and the statute of limitations that applies to charges brought pursuant to the state code. The bill repeals sections of the state code that are duplicative of the incorporated federal code.
Bill Number: HB25-1329
Title: Foreign Third-Party Litigation Financing
Introduced: April 12
Sponsors: J. Mabrey, M. Soper, L. Frizell, J. Gonzales
Summary: The bill requires a foreign third-party funder that enters into a litigation financing agreement to disclose and submit certain information to the Colorado attorney general. The bill prohibits a foreign third-party funder from taking part in certain activities. The bill subjects a litigation financing agreement to discovery under the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure and Colorado Rules of Evidence. The bill deems a litigation financing agreement entered into by a foreign third-party litigation funder void if the foreign third-party litigation funder fails to comply with the activity and disclosure requirements.
Bill Number: SB25-291
Title: Division Criminal Justice Spending Authority Community Corrections
Introduced: April 16
Sponsors: J. Amabile, B. Kirkmeyer, E. Sirota, R. Taggart
Summary: The bill makes two changes to the spending authority of the Division of Criminal Justice in the Department of Public Safety in relation to community corrections programs. It repeals the division’s authority to transfer up to 10% of annual appropriations among or between line items for community corrections program services and allows the division to overexpend up to $2 million in any one fiscal year for felony placements in community corrections programs.
Bill Number: SB25-298
Title: Remove Term Homosexuality from Criminal Code
Introduced: April 16
Sponsors: L. Daugherty, P. Lundeen, M. Lindsay, M. Lukens
Summary: The bill removes the term “homosexuality” from the definition of sexual conduct in the Colorado Criminal Code.
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