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March 6, 2023 HB 23-1199
Legislative Council Staff
Nonpartisan Services for Colorado’s Legislature
Fiscal Note
Drafting Number:
Prime Sponsors:
LLS 23-0080
Rep. Froelich; Soper
Sen. Winter F.
Date:
Bill Status:
Fiscal Analyst:
March 6, 2023
House Judiciary
Clayton Mayfield | 303-866-5851
clayton.mayfield@coleg.gov
Bill Topic: FORENSIC MEDICAL EVIDENCE PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS
Summary of
Fiscal Impact:
☐ State Revenue
☒ State Expenditure
☐ State Transfer
☐ TABOR Refund
☒ Local Government
☐ Statutory Public Entity
The bill requires the Department of Public Safety to establish a tracking system for
sexual assault forensic medical evidence examinations and prohibits medical facilities
from billing victims for costs of obtaining evidence or for treating injuries directly
relating to assaults. Starting in FY 2023-24, the bill increases state expenditures and
local workload on an ongoing basis.
Appropriation
Summary:
For FY 2023-24, the bill requires an appropriation of $1.6 million to the Department of
Public Safety.
Fiscal Note
Status:
This fiscal note is preliminary and reflects the introduced bill. The fiscal note will be
updated as more information on technology costs becomes available.
Table 1
State Fiscal Impacts Under HB 23-1199
Budget Year
FY 2023-24
Out Year
FY 2024-25
Out Year
FY 2025-26
Revenue
- - -
Expenditures General Fund $1,550,086 $611,916 $552,692
Centrally Appropriated $17,518 $35,060 $50,809
Total Expenditures $1,567,604 $646,976 $603,501
Total FTE 6.2 FTE 3.4 FTE 4.3 FTE
Transfers - - -
Other Budget Impacts General Fund Reserve $232,513 $91,787 $82,904
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March 6, 2023 HB 23-1199
Summary of Legislation
The bill requires the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to establish a secure statewide system that
allows victims of sexual assault to monitor the status of evidence obtained from their forensic medical
evidence examinations. Every state or local law enforcement agency, medical facility, crime
laboratory, or other entity that supplies, performs, analyzes, stores, or destroys examinations must
participate in the system. The system must track certain information about stages of evidence analysis
based on whether or not the victim consents to having the evidence analyzed and must also provide
victims with certain information about navigating the criminal justice system and community
resources. The system must be operational by December 31, 2024. By January 30, 2026, DPS must
report annually on examination data to the General Assembly.
Additionally, the bill prohibits medical facilities from charging victims for costs associated with
examinations, including treating injuries directly related to assaults. The DPS must establish a
maximum amount payable to medical facilities that seek reimbursement for these costs and develop
a system to track, process, and analyze these reimbursements. By January 30, 2026, DPS must report
annually on reimbursement data to the General Assembly.
Finally, the bill makes the DPS sexual assault victim emergency (SAVE) payment program responsible
for covering exams and associated medical costs for victims who report to law enforcement. It
removes statutory provisions designating the SAVE program as the payer of last resort and that makes
exam and associated medical costs eligible for other victim compensation programs.
Background
Under current law, costs of medical forensic exams for victims who report to law enforcement are
borne by the local law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the assault. Medical costs from
injuries related to the assault are the responsibility of the victim, who may apply for reimbursement
from local victim compensation programs.
When a victim receives a medical forensic exam and does not report to law enforcement, exam costs
and medical care are reimbursable by the SAVE program, which is funded subject to the discretion of
the General Assembly. The FY 2023-24 budget request for the DPS indicates $167,933 in General Fund
appropriations, and 0.2 FTE, for the SAVE program in its current form, which also currently utilizes
approximately $320,000 in federal Victim of Crime Act grant funds.
Assumptions
This fiscal note assumes that:
most law enforcement agencies will continue to pay for medical forensic exam costs except for
those whose current budgets cannot absorb unforeseen caseload increases;
the SAVE program will modify service levels to cover any increase in total exams reimbursed; and
the SAVE program will continue to pay for costs that are not otherwise covered by other victim
compensation programs—see Technical Note. Page 3
March 6, 2023 HB 23-1199
State Expenditures
The bill increases state expenditures in the DPS by about $1.6 million in FY 2023-24, $650,000 in
FY 2024-25, and $600,000 in FY 2025-26 paid from the General Fund. Expenditures are shown in
Table 2 and detailed below.
Table 2
Expenditures Under HB 23-1199
FY 2023-24 FY 2024-25 FY 2025-26
Department of Public Safety
Personal Services $81,145 $150,826 $213,128
Operating Expenses $1,350 $2,835 $3,780
Capital Outlay Costs $6,670 $13,340 -
Tracking Systems $1,441,531 $427,525 $318,394
Statewide Training $4,390 $2,390 $2,390
Forensic Exam Kits $15,000 $15,000 $15,000
Centrally Appropriated Costs
1
$17,518 $36,060 $50,809
FTE – Personal Services 0.9 FTE 1.9 FTE 2.8 FTE
FTE – Information Technology 5.3 FTE 1.5 FTE 1.5 FTE
Total $1,567,604 $646,976 $603,501
Total FTE 6.2 FTE 3.4 FTE 4.3 FTE
1
Centrally appropriated costs are not included in the bill's appropriation.
Staffing. The DPS requires 2.8 FTE to administer the program. This includes an Administrator to
oversee the program, help customize the tracking system, coordinate and conduct outreach with
stakeholders, train tracking system users and community stakeholders, review and process
reimbursements, and assist with preparing required reports; a Data Manager to collect contact
information for tracking system participants needed at the beginning of the project, manage updates
to this information, and coordinate with the administrator on training and report preparation; and
0.8 FTE Administrative Assistant to enter initial billing data, track status of reimbursements, and
follow-up with medical facilities.
The administrator will start in the first year, while the data manager and administrative assistant will
start in December of the second year, one month before the system comes online. Amounts include
standard operating and capital outlay costs and costs are prorated for the General Fund pay date shift.
Tracking systems. The Office of Information Technology (OIT) will obtain an existing statewide
tracking system, adapt the system for Colorado’s security and accessibility requirements, and
maintain the system on an ongoing basis thereafter. The OIT will also create an invoicing system for
DPS. First-year costs for the two systems involve project intake, system requirements, hardware, and Page 4
March 6, 2023 HB 23-1199
the majority of system build-out using both OIT staff and contract project management. Ongoing
maintenance costs are reflected in the third year of Table 2.
Statewide training. In the first year of implementation, DPS will receive training and consultation
from Oregon officials that have implemented a similar tracking system at $2,000 for travel and lodging
expenses. Additionally, program staff will train stakeholders across the state on system utilization at
a total cost of $2,390, which includes travel and lodging for three events across the state per year.
Forensic exam kits. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) currently supplies kits to law
enforcement agencies and medical facilities through a vendor at a cost of approximately $35,000. To
supply kits that are integrated with the tracking system, it is estimated that the department will need
an additional $15,000 to deploy bar code information on these kits.
Cost reimbursements. The bill allows law enforcement and hospitals to seek reimbursement from
DPS for costs related to forensic medical evidence examinations. As discussed in the Assumptions
section, the fiscal note assumes these reimbursements will be paid from existing SAVE funds.
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.
Other Budget Impacts
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. Based on this fiscal note, the
bill is expected to increase the amount of General Fund held in reserve by the amounts shown in
Table 1, decreasing the amount of General Fund available for other purposes.
Local Government
Local government workload will increase for law enforcement agencies to fulfill tracking system
reporting requirements. Some law enforcement agencies may have decreased expenditures resulting
from exam cost reimbursements from the SAVE program.
Technical Note
Currently the bill eliminates the responsibility of local law enforcement to cover medical forensic exam
costs, making the SAVE program responsible for the costs, and removes the requirement that the
SAVE program is a payer of last resort. This fiscal note assumes that a future amendment will clarify
that the SAVE program will only cover costs local law enforcement agencies are unable to absorb.
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March 6, 2023 HB 23-1199
Effective Date
The bill takes effect upon signature of the Governor, or upon becoming law without his signature.
State Appropriations
For FY 2023-24, the bill requires a General Fund appropriation of $1,550,086 to the Department of
Public Safety, and 0.9 FTE. Of this amount, $1,441,531 is reappropriated to the Office of Information
Technology, and 5.3 FTE.
State and Local Government Contacts
Corrections Counties District Attorneys
Higher Education Judicial Law
Public Health and Environment 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.