This week, Colorado legislators introduced a bill that would require parole boards to notify victims 15 days before granting early discharge to a parolee, a bill that would establish a domestic relations training program for judges and court personnel and a bill that would require every county to participate in a local collaborative management program serving children ages 10 to 12.
Also introduced this week was a bill that would require sellers and landlords of residential real estate to provide prospective buyers and tenants a written warning about radon and the need for testing, and disclose any knowledge they have about the property’s radon concentrations and history.
Bill Number: SB23-193
Title: Victim Notification of Proceedings
Introduced: March 16
Sponsors: R. Fields, M. Weissman
Summary: If the adult or juvenile parole board decides to discharge a parolee early, the bill would require it to set the date of discharge at least 15 days after notice is provided to the victim of the discharge or at least 15 days after the decision to grant early discharge if the victim chose not to receive victim notifications. The bill would also require victim notifications to be communicated in plain and easy-to-understand language and in a manner intended to increase the likelihood of the victim noticing it.
Bill Number: SB23-194
Title: Improve Domestic Relations Judicial Proceedings
Introduced: March 16
Sponsors: C. Hansen, J. Amabile, J. Joseph
Summary: The bill would establish a domestic relations judicial training advisory committee to develop a domestic relations training program for judges, magistrates and court personnel to improve decision-making in domestic relations cases. The bill also lists other requirements for the committee and the training program.
Bill Number: SB23-195
Title: Calculation Of Contributions to Meet Cost Sharing
Introduced: March 16
Sponsors: F. Winter, P. Will, I. Jodeh, R. Pugliese
Summary: The bill would require a health insurer or pharmacy benefits manager to include the calculation of a covered person’s contributions toward cost-sharing requirements, including any annual limitation on out-of-pocket costs and any payments made by or on behalf of the covered person.
Bill Number: SB23-198
Title: Clean Energy Plans
Introduced: March 17
Sponsors: F. Winter, M. Weissman
Summary: Current law requires certain entities to submit a clean energy plan to the division of administration in the Department of Public Health and Environment and the Public Utilities Commission to reduce the entity’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 relative to 2005 levels. In addition to meeting the 2030 clean energy target, the bill would require a clean energy plan submitted to the division to achieve at least a 46% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions caused by the entity’s Colorado electricity sales by 2027 relative to 2005 levels.
Bill Number: HB23-1249
Title: Reduce Justice-involvement for Young Children
Introduced: March 20
Sponsors: R. Armagost, S. Gonzales-Gutierrez, C. Simpson, J. Coleman
Summary: Under current law, counties can form a local collaborative management program to provide services to youth. Among other provisions, the bill would require every county to participate in a local collaborative management program serving children ages 10 to 12 and to form a team to create service and support plans for children ages 10 to 12.
Bill Number: HB23-1254
Title: Habitability of Residential Premises
Introduced: March 21
Sponsors: K. Brown, J. Mabrey
Summary: The bill would expand the conditions covered under the warranty of habitability for residences. The bill would add water damage, fire damage and damage due to a natural or an environmental event as conditions under which a residential premise is deemed uninhabitable. Among other provisions, the bill would also require a landlord to have residential premises inspected and tested by a certified or non-certified industrial hygienist to determine if the premises are safe.
Bill Number: SB23-199
Title: Marijuana License Applications and Renewals
Introduced: March 20
Sponsors: N. Hinrichsen
Summary: A person applying for a marijuana license is required to pay both an application fee and a licensing fee. The bill would clarify that the state licensing authority can issue a refund of a licensing fee if the marijuana license application is denied but that the respective licensing authorities retain the application fees. The bill would also provide an applicant the opportunity to renew, for up to one year, a state license that would otherwise expire because of failure to receive local jurisdiction approval if the applicant demonstrates good cause.
Bill Number: SB23-203
Title: Authorize Department of Corrections Inspector General to Apprehend Fugitives
Introduced: March 20
Sponsors: R. Fields, M. Soper
Summary: The bill would require the Office of the Inspector General in the Department of Corrections to, upon request, seek out and arrest any fugitive from a correctional facility and assist law enforcement agencies in the apprehension of state fugitives throughout Colorado.
Bill Number: SB23-206
Title: Disclose Radon Information Residential Property
Introduced: March 20
Sponsors: F. Winter, D. Michaelson Jenet, E. Sirota
Summary: The bill would require the seller of residential real estate and a landlord of residential real estate to provide prospective buyers and tenants a written warning statement about the dangers of radon and the need for testing, any knowledge the seller or landlord has of the residential real property’s radon concentrations and history, including tests performed, reports written and mitigation conducted and a copy of the most recent brochure published by the Department of Public Health and Environment that provides advice about radon in real estate transactions. Failure to provide the written disclosures would grant the buyer a claim for relief against the seller and a tenant may void a lease without penalty in qualifying circumstances. A real estate broker would also need to take reasonable steps to ensure the real estate broker’s clients comply with the bill.
Law Week’s legislative tracking is done through State Bill, a product of our publisher, Circuit Media.