Page 1
April 11, 2022 SB 22-099
Legislative Council Staff
Nonpartisan Services for Colorado’s Legislature
Revised Fiscal Note
(replaces fiscal note dated February 22, 2022)
Drafting Number:
Prime Sponsors:
LLS 22-0502
Sen. Hisey; Rodriguez
Rep. Tipper
Date:
Bill Status:
Fiscal Analyst:
April 11, 2022
Senate Appropriations
Aaron Carpenter | 303-866-4918
Aaron.Carpenter@state.co.us
Bill Topic: SEALING CRIMINAL RECORDS
Summary of
Fiscal Impact:
☒ State Revenue
☒ State Expenditure
☐ State Transfer
☒ TABOR Refund
☒ Local Government
☐ Statutory Public Entity
The bill requires all records that are eligible to be sealed under current law to be
automatically sealed by July 1, 2024. The bill excludes the use of sealed records in
consumer reports. The bill increases state and local expenditures and decreases state
revenue on an ongoing basis.
Appropriation
Summary:
For FY 2022-23, the bill requires an appropriation of $738,145 to various state
agencies; see State Appropriations section.
Fiscal Note
Status:
The fiscal note reflects the introduced bill, as amended by the Senate Judiciary
Committee.
Table 1
State Fiscal Impacts Under SB 22-099
Budget Year
FY 2022-23
Out Year
FY 2023-24
Out Year
FY 2024-25
Revenue Cash Funds - ($227,290) ($227,290)
Total Revenue - ($227,290) ($227,290)
Expenditures General Fund $738,145 $1,283,969 $351,100
Centrally Appropriated $48,956 $131,121 $45,445
Total Expenditures $787,101 $1,415,090 $396,545
Total FTE 0.8 FTE 4.2 FTE 1.7 FTE
Transfers - - -
Other Budget Impacts TABOR Refund - ($227,290) ($227,290)
General Fund Reserve $110,722 $192,595 $52,665
Page 2
April 11, 2022 SB 22-099
Summary of Legislation
The bill automatically seals records that are eligible to be sealed under current law, and excludes the
use of sealed records in consumer reports.
Automatic sealing of criminal records. House Bill 21-1214 established a process to automatically seal
certain criminal records related to drug offenses. The bill expands the eligible offenses for automatic
record sealing to certain offenses that have no intervening conviction and are currently eligible for
sealing by petition, including:
civil infractions with four years since the final disposition;
petty offenses or misdemeanors with seven years since the final disposition; and
felonies with ten years since the final disposition.
If the defendant’s records are not automatically sealed, the defendant may still make a motion to seal
at no charge.
The bill requires the State Court Administrator to compile an initial list of eligible cases by
February 1, 2024, and to send the list to district attorneys. District attorneys have 45 days to remove
convictions from the list where the condition of a plea was that the defendant agreed not to have their
conviction record sealed and where the defendant has a pending criminal charge, an intervening
conviction, or convictions that are ineligible for sealing. For non-drug felony convictions, district
attorneys may object when the district attorney has a reasonable belief that the public interest and
public safety in retaining public access to the record outweighs the privacy interest of or adverse
consequence to the defendant. A defendant may request a court hearing for any objection relating to
a felony offense. The district attorney must send the final list back to the State Court Administrator
who then will remove the convictions objected to by the district attorneys and send the list to each
chief judge of each judicial district to enter sealing orders. The records on the initial list must be sealed
by July 1, 2024, and a new list must be updated quarterly.
Diversion sealing. The bill requires district attorneys to seal their records and to notify the Colorado
Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and other law enforcement entities to seal their records once an
offender’s diversion is complete.
Other process updates. The bill makes several updates to the current non-automatic process for
sealing records. First, the bill requires the court, instead of the defendant, to provide custodians of
the criminal record with a copy of a sealing order. Second, the bill allows defendants to seal their
record even if they have unpaid fines, court costs, late fees or other fees ordered by the court.
Sealing municipal violations. The bill allows a defendant to file a motion three years after the final
disposition of all criminal proceedings or the date of release from supervision, whichever is later, in
which any conviction records for a municipal violation are located if:
the defendant has not been charged with or convicted of a felony, misdemeanor, or misdemeanor
traffic offense in three or more years since the date of the final disposition; or
the defendant has a single subsequent conviction that was not a felony and did not involve
domestic violence, unlawful sexual behavior, or child abuse. Page 3
April 11, 2022 SB 22-099
For defendants with subsequent criminal cases, they may file a motion to seal records 10 years after
the date of the final disposition of all criminal proceedings or the date of release from supervision,
whichever is later. Prosecutors may file written objections within 42 days after a defendant files a
motion.
Reports. The bill requires two reports related to automatic sealing. First, the bill requires the Judicial
Department to report on the number of conviction records received and were considered for automatic
sealing by February 1, 2024. In addition, the bill requires the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI)
to report on the number of arrest records that were sealed.
Sealed criminal record information in reports. The bill adds to a consumer reporting agency’s duty
of accuracy to include accuracy of criminal justice records and requires the agency to exclude sealed
and expunged criminal records unless otherwise required to disclose by law. Finally, the bill removes
the exception of including prohibited information in consumer reports for employment of an
individual who is expected to make at least $75,000.
Background
Under current law there are three main processes to have one’s criminal record sealed: a simplified
process, a petition process, and an automatic process.
Simplified process. Under current law, the court must order a defendant’s criminal justice records
sealed when a case is dismissed; the defendant is acquitted of all counts; the defendant completes a
diversion agreement; or the defendant completes a deferred judgement and sentence and all counts
are dismissed. Defendants who have their records sealed must pay a $65 processing fee.
Petition process. Under current law, a defendant may file a motion to seal their record if:
it has been one year since the final disposition of an eligible petty or drug petty offense;
it has been two years since the final disposition of an eligible class 2, 3, or drug misdemeanor;
it has been three years since the final disposition of an eligible class 4, 5, or 6 felony, level 3 or level
4 drug felony, or a class 1 misdemeanor; or
it has been five years since the final disposition for any other offense that is eligible for sealing.
After receiving the motion, the court must review the motion and determine if there are grounds to
proceed to a hearing. If the motion is sufficient, the court proceeds to a hearing if the motion is sealing
a class 3 misdemeanor or higher. If the motion is for a petty offense or petty drug offense, the court
must order the record sealed. Conviction records cannot be sealed if the defendant still owes
restitution, fines, court costs, late fees, or other fees unless the court vacates the order. Finally,
defendants must pay a $65 processing fee.
Automatic process. House Bill 21-1214 established a process to automatically seal certain drug
convictions if seven years have passed since the disposition of a petty offense or misdemeanor, or
ten years have passed since the disposition of a felony. The process for automatic sealing mirrors the
process outlined in the bill.
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April 11, 2022 SB 22-099
Other processes. There are other processes for sealing certain records under current law. This
includes expungement of arrest records of mistaken identity, of arrest records when no charges are
filed, of conviction information for offenses committed by victims of human trafficking, of conviction
records for municipal offenses, of criminal conviction records for multiple convictions, and of criminal
conviction records for offenses that receive a full and unconditional pardon.
Data and Assumptions
Historical cases eligible for sealing. According to the Judicial Department’s case management
system, there are about 1.5 million cases since 2000 that could be subject to automatic sealing under
the bill. The fiscal note assumes that of these cases, 25 percent of them have sealed their records under
current sealing statutes. Of the remaining 1.12 million, it is assumed that 50 percent of cases,
562,500 cases, will be will be immediately eligible for automatic sealing on the initial list required by
the bill.
Yearly cases eligible for sealing. According to the Judicial Department’s case management system,
from 2017 to 2021, there were 273,958 unique cases flagged as being eligible for sealing, or
54,792 annually. The fiscal note therefore assumes that 54,792 cases annually will be sealed starting
in FY 2024-25.
State Revenue
The bill will decrease state cash fund revenue to the Judicial Stabilization Cash Fund in the Judicial
Department and the CBI Identification Unit Cash Fund in the Department of Public Safety (DPS) by
an estimated $227,290 per year starting in FY 2023-24. Estimated revenue decreases are shown in
Table 2 and described below. Revenue collected from the sealing of records is subject to the state’s
TABOR limit.
Table 2
Annual Revenue Impact Under SB 22-099
Type of
Fee
Proposed
Fee
Number
Affected
Total Fee
Impact
Civil Filing Fee $65 (2,674) ($173,810)
CBI Sealing Fee $20 (2,674) ($53,480)
Annual Total ($227,290)
Civil filing fee. The fiscal note assumes that under the bill, there will be 3,415 fewer cases that file
with the court to have records sealed then under current law. Assuming a 25 percent indigency rate,
the fiscal note assumes the Judicial Department will receive 2,674 fewer petitions that pay the
$65 processing fee.
CBI sealing fee. The CBI currently charges a $20 fee to seal cases. Because the bill will automatic seal
the cases without a fee, fee revenue to CBI will decrease. Assuming 2,674 individuals pay the fee,
revenue will decrease by $53,480. Page 5
April 11, 2022 SB 22-099
Other court fines and fees. Because the bill removes the requirement that the defendant repay any
fees or fines issued by the court before having their record sealed, revenue from those fees and fines
may decrease. This revenue impact has not been estimated.
State Expenditures
The bill increases state expenditures in the Judicial Department and the DPS by $787,101 in FY 2022-23,
$1.4 million in FY 2023-24, and $396,545 in FY 2024-25, paid from the General Fund. Expenditures are
shown in Table 2 and detailed below. Any staffing costs identified below include costs for personal
services, operating expenses, and capital outlay as shown in Table 3, with first year costs prorated for
the General Fund pay date shift.
Table 3
Expenditures Under SB 22-099
Cost Components FY 2022-23 FY 2023-24 FY 2024-25
Judicial Department
Personal Services $57,872 $287,052 $123,805
Operating Expenses $760 $3,990 $1,615
Capital Outlay Costs $6,520 $39,600 $680
Probation Contract Staff - $90,000 -
IT Modifications $659,993 $863,327 $225,000
Centrally Appropriated Costs
1
$48,956 $131,121 $45,445
FTE – Personal Services 0.8 FTE 4.2 FTE 1.7 FTE
Judicial Subtotal $774,101 $1,415,090 $396,545
Department of Public Safety
IT Modifications $13,000 - -
DPS Subtotal $13,000 - -
Total $787,101 $1,415,090 $396,545
Total FTE 0.8 FTE 4.2 FTE 1.7 FTE
1
Centrally appropriated costs are not included in the bill's appropriation.
Judicial Department. The bill increases expenditures in the Judicial Department to automatically seal
eligible records, including both the one-time sealing of historical records and annual sealing of newly
eligible records. The bill impacts a variety of divisions within the department, as described below.
State Court Administrator's Office. Starting in FY 2022-23, the State Court Administrator's Office
will require 1.0 FTE to assist in the development of required IT modifications, provide and receive
quarterly lists through the automatic sealing process, to amend lists as necessary, to provide
amended and annotated lists to the chief judges, to research specific cases as needed, provide
technical assistance to both internal and external stakeholders, and to prepare an annual report.
Page 6
April 11, 2022 SB 22-099
Trial courts. The trial courts require 4.2 FTE in FY 2023-24 and 0.7 FTE in FY 2024-25 court staff
to process and send sealing orders. In FY 2024-25, it is assumed that seventy percent of the
assumed 562,500 cases immediately eligible for sealing will require court staff work to process
returned mail and update contact information for defendants, taking 2 minutes per case. Starting
in FY 2023-24, the staff is required to process return mail for defendants, to send sealing orders
that are requested through the non-automatic sealing process to CBI and custodians, and to notify
defendants that a district attorney has objected to including them on the automatic sealing list.
In addition, the bill will impact judge workload in two ways. First, to the extent district attorneys
object to including a defendant on the sealing list, and the defendant requests a hearing workload
will increase to conduct the hearing. The fiscal note assumes that 1 percent of cases will go to a
hearing. Second, to the extent that defendants file a motion in municipal court instead of civil
district court to have their municipal records sealed, workload will decrease. The fiscal note
assumes that district courts will see a decrease of 138 cases filed annually. Overall, based on these
assumptions, the fiscal note assumes that judge workload will be minimally impacted. If
workload is more or less than expected, changes to appropriations will be requested through the
annual budget process.
Probation. In FY 2023-24 only, the Probation Division will require temporary contract staff to seal
historical records that are stored digitally. The fiscal note assumes that out of the assumed
historical cases identified, 225,000 will have records with the Probation Division. Assuming that
it takes 1 minute per case to mark any digital records sealed, the division will require 3,750 hours
of contract work at an estimated rate of $24 per hour. This amount assumes the division will have
two months to seal records by July 1, 2024.
Information technology. Starting in FY 2022-23 the Judicial Department will modify its
IT systems to allow for the department to send out an expanded list of eligible cases for sealing,
to develop various data transfers between different databases and parties, to process and send
sealing orders to parties that opt into the system, and to enter proper sealing codes automatically.
These modifications are estimated at a cost of $659,993 in FY 2022-23, $863,327 in FY 2023-24, and
$225,000 in FY 2024-25.
Department of Public Safety. In FY 2022-23 only, the department requires $13,000 to update its crime
record system to seal cases that are eligible for sealing. Starting in FY 2023-24, workload to the CBI
will increase to seal records received from the list. The fiscal note assumes that the list will be sent to
CBI electronically. However, if the list is sent via mail and the CBI is required to seal records manually,
staff will be required.
Centrally appropriated costs. Pursuant to a Joint Budget Committee policy, certain costs associated
with this bill are addressed through the annual budget process and centrally appropriated in the Long
Bill or supplemental appropriations bills, rather than in this bill. These costs, which include employee
insurance and supplemental employee retirement payments, are shown in Table 2.
Page 7
April 11, 2022 SB 22-099
Other Budget Impacts
TABOR refunds. The bill is expected to decrease the amount of state revenue required to be
refunded to taxpayers by the amounts shown in the State Revenue section. This estimate assumes the
March 2022 LCS revenue forecast. A forecast of state revenue subject to TABOR is not available
beyond FY 2023-24. Because TABOR refunds are paid from the General Fund, decreased cash fund
revenue will increase the amount of General Fund available to spend or save.
General Fund reserve. Under current law, an amount equal to 15 percent of General Fund
appropriations must be set aside in the General Fund statutory reserve beginning in FY 2022-23. Based
on this fiscal note, the bill is expected to increase the amount of General Fund held in reserve as shown
in Table 1, which will decrease the amount of General Fund available for other purposes.
Local Government
District attorneys. Starting in FY 2023-24, expenditures and workload within local district attorney
offices will increase to review the initial list eligible records, to object to any record, to attend any
hearings due to the objection, and to seal any records identified in the list. The exact increase will
depend on district attorney office and the amount of records they must review. For information
purposes, it is estimated that it would cost about $24 per case to review the list, conduct any research,
and to track any objection. Based on a breakdown of eligible cases by judicial district, costs may range
from $95,000 to $2.1 million per district in FY 2023-24 only. Using a similar portion of cases in the out
years, costs are estimated to increase by $13,000 to $200,000 per year depending on the office. Some
cases may cost less if there is no objection or if less research is necessary.
In addition, costs to district attorneys will also increase to seal diversion files. The fiscal note assumes
it will cost $7.50 per case to seal diversion files and that there will be 23,700 cases statewide that require
sealing at an overall statewide cost of about $178,000. Costs to individual offices will vary based on
diversion caseload. Local district attorney offices are funded by the counties located within each
judicial district.
Municipal courts. Expenditures and workload will increase for municipal courts to the extent
municipal courts receive more petitions to seal records. Costs will vary based on jurisdiction and an
exact increase in cost cannot be estimated at this time.
Effective Date
The bill takes effect 90 days following adjournment of the General Assembly sine die, assuming no
referendum petition is filed.
State Appropriations
For FY 2022-23, the bill requires the following appropriations from the General Fund:
$725,145 to the Judicial Department and 0.8 FTE; and
$13,000 to the Department of Public Safety. Page 8
April 11, 2022 SB 22-099
Departmental Difference
The Department of Public Safety estimates that the bill will cost $7.5 million in FY 2022-23 and
$10.8 million per year starting in FY 2023-24. This is based on the assumption that 1.0 FTE can review
1,167 records in one year and that the DPS will seal 112,500 records per year. As amended, the bill
removes the Department of Public Safety from the process of reviewing the automatic sealing list and
the fiscal note assumes that sealing orders from the list will be sent electronically to the department.
Therefore, the fiscal note assumes workload is absorbable.
State and Local Government Contacts
District Attorneys Information Technology Judicial
Law Public Safety Regulatory Agencies
The revenue and expenditure impacts in this fiscal note represent changes from current law under the bill for each
fiscal year. For additional information about fiscal notes, please visit: leg.colorado.gov/fiscalnotes.