A number of bills focusing on youth and children were introduced to the legislature this week. One bill would create a bill of rights for K-12 students involved in any capacity with the juvenile or criminal justice system. Two separate bills address the placement and classification of juveniles in state care. One of these bills would create an interstate compact to create a process to place children in safe and suitable homes in a timely manner, and the other clarifies the term “abandonment” in juvenile cases.
Several of the bills on the docket address Colorado’s justice system. One of the bills would allow the judicial district drug offender treatment board and the local juvenile services planning committee for the new 23rd Judicial District to begin work before the district exists. Another bill would reduce the appropriations to the community crime victims grant program by $4 million and transfer the money to the program’s associated cash fund.
Other bills would affect firearm rights in Colorado. One bill would prohibit the carrying of a firearm into sensitive spaces defined by the bill. Another would add certain drug-related felonies and motor vehicle theft to the list of convictions that prohibit a person from owning a firearm.
Bill Number: HB24-1212
Title: Board & Committee of 23rd Judicial District
Introduced: Feb. 2
Sponsors: E. Sirota, R. Taggart, J. Bridges, B. Kirkmeyer
Summary: The new 23rd Judicial District exists beginning Jan. 7, 2025. The bill makes changes to allow the judicial district drug offender treatment board and the local juvenile services planning committee to begin work before the new judicial district exists.
Bill Number: HB24-1214
Title: Community Crime Victims Funding
Introduced: Feb. 2
Sponsors: S. Bird, R. Taggart, J. Bridges, B. Kirkmeyer
Summary: Under current law, there is a community crime victims grant program and associated cash fund that provides funding for support services to crime victims. The bill reduces the current general fund appropriation for the program by $4 million and requires that $4 million be transferred from the general fund to the cash fund. The bill appropriates $1 million in fiscal year 2023-24 to the Department of Public Health and Environment from the cash fund for the program. The bill exempts the cash fund from the statutory reserve limit and makes the cash fund subject to annual appropriations.
Bill Number: HB24-1216
Title: Supports for Youth in Juvenile Justice System
Introduced: Feb. 5
Sponsors: J. Bacon, T. Hernandez
Summary: The bill establishes a bill of rights for K-12 students who are involved in any capacity with the juvenile or criminal justice system. School districts, boards of cooperative services, charter schools and institute charter schools must follow the bill of rights for justice-engaged students.
Bill Number: SB24-107
Title: Weapons Possession Previous Offender Add Crimes
Introduced: Feb. 5
Sponsors: B. Gardner, G. Evans
Summary: Under current law, it’s illegal for a person to possess a firearm if the person was convicted of or adjudicated for certain felonies. The bill adds felonies for drug manufacture, dispensation, sale and distribution; drug possession with intent to manufacture, dispense, sell and distribute; and first and second-degree motor vehicle theft to the list of convictions that prohibit a person from possessing a firearm.
Bill Number: SB24-113
Title: Safer Youth Sports
Introduced: Feb. 5
Sponsors: J. Coleman, T. Exum
Summary: The bill requires each public and private middle school, junior high school and high school and organization that operates a youth athletic activity to have each coach of a youth athletic activity complete an abuse prevention training program. The bill requires the Office of School Safety to develop a code of conduct for coaches, parents, spectators and athletes and requires coaches to comply with the code.
Bill Number: SB24-118
Title: Indeterminate Sex Offender Sentencing
Introduced: Feb. 5
Sponsors: J. Gonzales
Summary: Under current law, a person convicted of certain sex offenses is subject to an indeterminate prison sentence. The bill eliminates indeterminate prison sentences except for Colorado Jessica’s Law convictions and imposes mandatory minimum determinate sentences with a requirement to serve 75% of the sentence before parole eligibility and an indeterminate term of parole. The bill specifies which sex offenders must complete mandatory sex offender treatment while in prison and which sex offenders may complete the treatment in the community while serving the community portion of the sex offender’s sentence.
Bill Number: SB24-119
Title: Term Abandonment for Federal Classification Juvenile
Introduced: Feb. 5
Sponsors: T. Exum, L. Garcia, J. Mabrey
Summary: Current law states if there is sufficient evidence to determine reunification of a child or youth with one or both parents isn’t viable due to abuse, neglect, abandonment or a similar basis, the child or youth is eligible for federal classification as a special immigrant juvenile. The bill clarifies “abandonment” includes the death of one or both parents.
Bill Number: SB24-120
Title: Updates to the Crime Victim Compensation Act
Introduced: Feb. 5
Sponsors: R. Fields
Summary: The bill makes certain updates to the Crime Victim Compensation Act. It revises language to be gender neutral and includes state offenses specified in the “Victim Rights Act” under the definition of compensable crime, among other things. It also modifies the requirement to notify appropriate law enforcement officials to be eligible to receive compensation under the act by removing the 72-hour requirement. The requirement is met under the bill if the victim or applicant provides documentation that a forensic examination was conducted by a licensed or registered nurse or medical providers.
Bill Number: SB24-125
Title: Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children
Introduced: Feb. 6
Sponsors: B. Pelton, D. Michaelson Jenet
Summary: The bill enacts the Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children. The purpose of the compact is to: provide a process through which children subject to the compact are placed in safe and suitable homes in a timely manner and facilitate ongoing supervision of a placement, the delivery of services and communication between the states, among other provisions.
Bill Number: SB24-130
Title: Noneconomic Damages Cap Medical Malpractice Actions
Introduced: Feb. 7
Sponsors: K. Mullica, P. Will, K. Brown
Summary: Existing law limits the amount recoverable for noneconomic damages in medical malpractice actions to $300,000. Beginning Jan. 1, 2025, the bill incrementally increases the noneconomic damages limitation to $500,000 over the course of five years.
Bill Number: SB24-131
Title: Prohibiting Carrying Firearms in Sensitive Spaces
Introduced: Feb. 7
Sponsors: S. Jaquez Lewis, C. Kolker, K. Brown, M. Lindsay
Summary: The bill prohibits a person from carrying a firearm, both openly and concealed, in public locations specified in the bill. A violation is an unclassified misdemeanor, punishable by a maximum $250 fine and a second or subsequent offense is punishable by a maximum $1,000 fine. The bill includes exceptions for law enforcement officers, members of the U.S. armed forces or Colorado National Guard, security personnel, firearms stored in locked containers in vehicles and possession for instruction in conjunction with an organized class or team authorized by a college or university.
Bill Number: HB24-1223
Title: Improved Access to the Child Care Assistance Program
Introduced: Feb. 7
Sponsors: J. Willford, L. Garcia, L. Cutter
Summary: The bill overhauls the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program. The bill simplifies the application process by creating a universal application, limiting the application information to only what is necessary to determine eligibility, prohibiting counties from adding additional eligibility requirements and when applying for redetermination, requiring the recipients to provide only information that has changed. The bill creates presumptive eligibility for 90 days when basic federal requirements are met, among other provisions.
Bill Number: SB24-136
Title: Uniform Guardianship & Conservatorship Act
Introduced: Feb. 7
Sponsors: B. Gardner
Summary: The bill repeals the “Uniform Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Act” and enacts the “Uniform Guardianship, Conservatorship, and Other Protective Arrangements Act”, drafted by the uniform law commission. The bill provides guidance for guardians and conservators and clarifies how appointees must make decisions on behalf of a person under guardianship or conservatorship. The bill encourages the use of protective arrangements and less restrictive alternatives instead of conservatorship or guardianship if a person’s needs can be met with support services.
Bill Number: HB24-1224
Title: Personhood of Living Unborn Human Child
Introduced: Feb. 8
Sponsors: S. Bottoms
Summary: The bill defines “person” to include a living unborn human child at any stage of development from fertilization, as “person” relates to a private right of action and neglect provisions and current homicide and assault provisions.
Bill Number: HB24-1225
Title: First Degree Murder Bail & Jury Selection Statute
Introduced: Feb. 8
Sponsors: M. Duran, M. Lynch, R. Fields, B. Gardner
Summary: Under current law, all persons have the right to bail pending disposition of charges, with certain exceptions, including an exception for persons charged with capital offenses. Among other provisions, the bill adds an exception for first-degree murder when proof is evident or presumption is great. Under current law, in capital cases, each side is entitled to 10 peremptory juror challenges, and if there is more than one defendant, each side is entitled to an additional 3 peremptory challenges for every defendant after the first. The bill applies that existing law to cases in which a defendant is charged with first-degree murder.
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