House Bill 25-1049

BY REPRESENTATIVE(S) Garcia, Bacon, Boesenecker, Brown, Clifford, Froelich, Jackson, Lindsay, Mabrey, McCormick, Sirota, Smith, Titone, Woodrow, Zokaie;

also SENATOR(S) Amabile and Gonzales J., Ball, Cutter, Exum, Hinrichsen, Jodeh, Kipp, Michaelson Jenet, Sullivan, Wallace, Weissman, Coleman.

Concerning communication rights for persons in custody.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:

SECTION 1.  In Colorado Revised Statutes, add 16-3-400.3 as follows:

16-3-400.3.  Definitions.As used in this part 4, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1)  "Authorized representative" means a professional person who is employed by or under contract with an attorney, the attorney's office, or with a state agency to assist in providing legal representation to a person committed, imprisoned, or arrested and who has been authorized by the attorney to consult with their clients and the authorization can be confirmed by law enforcement prior to allowing the consultation.

(2)  "Place of confinement" means a jail or other fixed place of confinement operated by the county or other governmental authority to hold persons committed, imprisoned, or arrested for any cause, or a facility or other fixed place of confinement operated by the department of corrections or under contract with the department of corrections at which the in-custody person is held for more than twenty-four hours.

SECTION 2.  In Colorado Revised Statutes, 16-3-402, amend (1), (2), and (3) as follows:

16-3-402.  Right to communicate with attorney and family. (1)  Persons who are arrested shall haveA person who is arrested has the right to communicate with an attorney of theirthe person's choice and a member of theirthe person's family by making a reasonable number of telephone calls or by communicating in any other reasonable manner. SuchThe communication shallmust be permitted at the earliest possible time after arrival at the police station, sheriff's office, jail, or other like confinement facility to which suchthe person is first taken after arrest.

(2)  If the accused person is transferred to a new place of custody, histhe accused person's right to communicate with an attorney and a member of histhe accused person's family is renewed.

(3) (a)  Consistent with the provisions of section 21-1-103, C.R.S., if anya person in custody indicates in any manner histhe desire to speak with an attorney, or the court determines that an inquiry into the matter of indigency should occur, thea public defender shall beor the public defender's authorized representative is permitted to communicate with that person to determine whether thatthe person in custody has counsel, and, ifwhether the person in custody desires thatrepresentation from the public defender, represent him,and to make an initial determination as to whether the person in custody is indigent. If the public defender or the public defender's authorized representative determines that the person in custody is indigent, suchthe person in custody shall apply for representation by the public defender in accordance with section 21-1-103. C.R.S.

(b)  The public defender, upon his request and with due regard for reasonable law enforcement administrative and operational procedures, shall beis permitted to determine whether or not anya person in custody has been taken without unnecessary delay before the nearest available county or district judge.

SECTION 3.  In Colorado Revised Statutes, amend 16-3-403 as follows:

16-3-403.  Right to consult with attorney.AnyA person committed, imprisoned, or arrested for any cause, whether or not suchthe person is charged with an offense, shall beis allowed to consult with an attorney-at-law of this state or the attorney's authorized representative whom suchthe person desires to see or consult, alone and in private at the place of custody, as many times and for sucha period each time as is reasonable. Except where extradition proceedings have been completed or are not required by law, when any sucha person is about to be moved beyond the limits of this state, the person to be moved shall beis entitled to a reasonable delay for the purpose of obtaining counsel and of availing himself ofbenefiting from the laws of this state for the security of personal liberty.

SECTION 4.  In Colorado Revised Statutes, 16-3-404, amend (1); and add (1.5) as follows:

16-3-404.  Duty of officers to admit attorney. (1)  All peace officers or persons having in custody anya person committed, imprisoned, or arrested for any alleged cause shall forthwith admit anyan attorney-at-law in this state or the attorney's authorized representative, upon the demand of the prisonerconfined person or of a friend, relative, spouse, or attorney of the prisonerconfined person, to see and consult the person so imprisonedconfined person, alone and in private, at the jail or other place of custody, if such person so imprisonedthe confined person expressly consents to see or to consult with the attorney or the attorney's authorized representative.

(1.5)  In addition to in-person communication, a peace officer or person employed at a place of confinement shall provide an attorney-at-law in this state or the attorney's authorized representative the ability to initiate communication with the confined person through telephone calls, interactive audiovisual conferencing, or any other reasonable method of electronic communication, as determined by the jail or correctional facility administration, that allows the confined person and the attorney or authorized representative to speak to each other. The communication must be private, unrecorded, and without cost to the confined person and attorney or the attorney's representative. Peace officers or persons having custody of the confined person shall allow the communication described in this section on a forthwith basis, subject to all reasonable administrative and operational procedures and in the manner as determined by the facility administration.

SECTION 5.  Act subject to petition - effective date. This act takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on the day following the expiration of the ninety-day period after final adjournment of the general assembly; except that, if a referendum petition is filed pursuant to section 1 (3) of article V of the state constitution against this act or an item, section, or part of this act within such period, then the act, item, section, or part will not take effect unless approved by the people at the general election to be held in November 2026 and, in such case, will take effect on the date of the official declaration of the vote thereon by the governor.