House Bill 25-1098

BY REPRESENTATIVE(S) Stewart R. and Soper, Duran, Bacon, Bird, Boesenecker, Clifford, Froelich, Hamrick, Jackson, Lieder, Lindsay, Valdez, McCluskie;

also SENATOR(S) Michaelson Jenet and Gonzales J., Amabile, Bridges, Carson, Cutter, Daugherty, Exum, Hinrichsen, Jodeh, Kipp, Mullica, Roberts, Simpson, Snyder, Wallace, Weissman, Winter F., Coleman.

Concerning establishing an automated protection order notification system in the division of criminal justice.

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

SECTION 1.  In Colorado Revised Statutes, add 24-33.5-539 as follows:

24-33.5-539.  Automated protection order notification system - definitions. (1)  As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:

(a)  "Advocate" means a person whose regular or volunteer duties include supporting a protected person.

(b)  "Immediate family" means a protected person's spouse, child, or parent, or a blood relative who lives in the same residence as the protected person and is not a restrained person.

(c)  "Interested person" means a law enforcement officer, a judicial officer, a district attorney, or an advocate.

(d)  "Protected person" means the person identified in a protection order as the person for whose benefit the protection order was issued.

(e)  "Registered user" means a protected person, protected person's immediate family, or other interested persons who are registered with the automated protection order notification system established in subsection (2) of this section.

(f)  "Restrained person" means the person identified in the protection order as the person prohibited from engaging in specified acts.

(2)  Subject to available appropriations and subsection (10) of this section, the division shall establish an automated protection order notification system to provide a protected person, the protected person's immediate family, and other interested persons with information related to a protection order issued pursuant to section 18-1-1001 or article 14 of title 13.

(3)  The automated protection order notification system must include, but is not limited to, the following information, if available:

(a)  The date the protection order was served or was attempted to be served;

(b)  An advance notice occurring one hundred twenty days before and again occurring thirty days before the protection order expires;

(c)  Whether the restrained person filed a motion to terminate the protection order, regardless of whether the motion was granted;

(d)  Whether an extreme risk protection order was issued against the restrained person pursuant to article 14.5 of title 13, and if so, the date the extreme risk protection order was served or was attempted to be served;

(e)  Whether the restrained person applied for and was denied the purchase or transfer of a firearm as the result of a background check; and

(f)  Whether the restrained person completed and submitted a firearm purchase or transfer application that indicated the restrained person was ineligible to possess a firearm pursuant to state or federal law.

(4)  The Colorado bureau of investigation in the division shall make the information described in subsection (3) of this section available to the division for the purpose of providing the information to a protected person, the protected person's immediate family, or other interested persons pursuant to subsection (2) of this section.

(5)  The automated protection order notification system must disseminate the information described in subsection (3) of this section to registered users in English and Spanish through a telephone call, email, text message, or mobile phone application.

(6)  The division may contract with a third-party entity to provide the functionality for the automated protection order notification system. The third-party entity must be able to:

(a)  Operate a support center that is open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week;

(b)  Send emails and text messages to registered users through a mobile phone application;

(c)  Provide Spanish interpretation services; and

(d)  Provide directory or contact information for available supportive resources, including, but not limited to, housing, health care and behavioral health care, domestic violence victim assistance, and financial assistance.

(7)  The Colorado bureau of investigation, the division, and the third-party entity, if one was contracted pursuant to subsection (6) of this section, shall implement any necessary data-sharing standards in order to protect data from being transferred from the Colorado bureau of investigation and the division to the contracted third-party entity.

(8)  The automated protection order notification system must be compatible with the state's existing automated victim notification system described in section 24-4.1-303 (15)(c).

(9)  A public entity, as defined in section 24-10-103, is immune from liability in any civil action based on the public entity's release of information or the failure to release information related to the automated protection order notification system.

(10) (a)  The division may seek, accept, and expend gifts, grants, or donations from private or public sources for the purposes of this section.

(b)  The division shall not establish or operate the automated protection order notification system until the division receives sufficient money to establish and operate the system for at least one year from gifts, grants, or donations, including federal funds, or money appropriated to the division from the Colorado crime victim services fund established in section 24-33.5-505.5. The general assembly shall not appropriate any money from the general fund for the purposes of this section. Notwithstanding section 24-75-1305, the general assembly may appropriate money to the division from the Colorado crime victim services fund in any state fiscal year.

SECTION 2.  Federal funds. For the 2025-26 state fiscal year, the general assembly anticipates that the department of public safety will receive $500,000 in federal funds to implement this act. This figure is subject to the "(I)" notation as defined in the annual general appropriation act for the same fiscal year.

SECTION 3. In Session Laws of Colorado 2025, amend section 4 of chapter 154 as follows:

Section 4.  Effective date - applicability. (1)  Except as provided in subsections (2) and (3) of this section, this act takes effect July 1, 2025, and applies to protection orders issued in relation to offenses committed on or after said date.

(2)  Section 18-1-1001 (1)(b), C.R.S., as amended in section 1 of this act, takes effect October 1, 2025, and applies to protection orders issued on or after said date.

(3)  Sections 2 and 3 of this act apply to offenses committed on or after July 1, 2025.

SECTION 4.  Effective date. (1)  Except as otherwise provided in this section, this act takes effect upon passage.

(2)  Sections 1 and 2 of this act take effect August 6, 2025.

(3)  Section 3 of this act takes effect only if House Bill 25-1148 becomes law, in which case section 3 takes effect on July 1, 2025.

SECTION 5.  Safety clause. The general assembly finds, determines, and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety or for appropriations for the support and maintenance of the departments of the state and state institutions.