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April 3, 2023 SB 23-194
Legislative Council Staff
Nonpartisan Services for Colorado’s Legislature
Fiscal Note
Drafting Number:
Prime Sponsors:
LLS 23-0225
Sen. Hansen
Rep. Amabile; Joseph
Date:
Bill Status:
Fiscal Analyst:
April 3, 2023
Senate Judiciary
John Armstrong | 303-866-6289
john.armstrong@coleg.gov
Bill Topic: IMPROVE DOMESTIC RELATIONS JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS
Summary of
Fiscal Impact:
☐ State Revenue
☒ State Expenditure
☐ State Transfer
☐ TABOR Refund
☐ Local Government
☐ Statutory Public Entity
The bill establishes an advisory committee in the Judicial Department to train court
personnel on domestic relations. The bill will increase state expenditures through
FY 2027-28.
Appropriation
Summary:
For FY 2023-24, the bill requires an appropriation of $158,395 to the Judicial
Department.
Fiscal Note
Status:
The fiscal note reflects the introduced bill.
Table 1
State Fiscal Impacts Under SB 23-194
Budget Year
FY 2023-24
Out Year
FY 2024-25
Revenue - -
Expenditures General Fund $158,395 $192,200
Centrally Appropriated $30,802 $39,602
Total Expenditures $189,197 $231,802
Total FTE 1.6 FTE 2.0 FTE
Transfers - -
Other Budget Impacts General Fund Reserve $23,759 $28,830
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April 3, 2023 SB 23-194
Summary of Legislation
The bill creates an advisory committee in the Judicial Department to develop a training program for
judges, magistrates, and court personnel to improve decision-making in domestic relations cases. The
bill specifies the membership of the advisory committee and that meetings of the committee are to be
convened by the chief justice. The Judicial Department is required to provide the following data for
domestic relations cases, by judicial district, to the advisory committee:
the number of cases and their percentage compared with the total number of cases in the district;
the number of cases where a party seeks to reopen a closed case;
the status of representation for parties;
the number of cases in which an unemancipated child is listed in a petition or motion;
the number of cases that are referred to mediation;
the number of status conferences and time spent by judicial officers in status conferences; and
the number of contested hearings on permanent orders and time spent on permanent orders
hearings by judicial officers.
The advisory committee must deliver a report based on the data described above to the legislature
and publish the report on the Judicial Department’s website. The committee is repealed on
September 1, 2027, following a sunset review.
The bill also requires the chief justice to establish domestic relations training standards after meeting
with the advisory committee. The committee will establish the standards should the chief justice not
establish standards by November 30, 2023. The committee must establish a training program no later
than March 31, 2024, and the State Court Administrator (SCA) must provide the initial training
program to judicial officers and domestic relations court personnel by July 1, 2024. The SCA must
also develop an assessment tool to evaluate the effectiveness of the training program.
The SCA must also study strategies for allowing judicial officers to attend the equivalent of one full
day of domestic relations training each year and deliver the results of the study to the chief justice by
December 31, 2023.
The bill requires the General Assembly to appropriate money necessary for the establishment of the
standards and training program in FY 2023-24 and requires the Judicial Department to include in its
budget request the costs to ensure the training is administered to all judges in FY 2024-25 and ongoing.
Finally, the bill expands the requirements to make children eligible for adoption benefits if the child
has been legally available for adoption within 90 days before the application for adoption benefits.
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April 3, 2023 SB 23-194
State Expenditures
The bill increases state expenditures in the Judicial Department by $189,197 in FY 2023-24 and $231,802
in FY 2024-25, paid from the General Fund. Expenditures are shown in Table 2 and detailed below.
Table 2
Expenditures Under SB 23-194
FY 2023-24 FY 2024-25
Judicial Department
Personal Services $140,625 $187,500
Operating Expenses $3,900 $3,900
Capital Outlay Costs $13,870 $800
Centrally Appropriated Costs
1
$30,802 $39,602
Total Cost $189,197 $231,802
Total FTE 1.6 FTE 2.0 FTE
1
Centrally appropriated costs are not included in the bill's appropriation.
Judicial Department. The Judicial Department requires 2.0 FTE under the bill, including 1.0 FTE
Program Analyst who will coordinate, provide data and analysis to, and staff the meetings of the
advisory committee. Additionally, to meet the bill’s credentialing requirements, 1.0 FTE Training
Specialist will develop the curriculum for the training standards and program, as well as administer
the delivery of the program. Costs for both positions are prorated for the bill’s effective date and the
General Fund paydate shift, and include standard operating and capital outlay expenses.
This fiscal note assumes that these staffing costs are not included in Judicial Department budget
requests for FY 2024-25 and in future years. The provision in the bill that requires training expenses
to be included in future budget requests is presumed to cover the time it takes to cover judges,
magistrates and other court personnel who attend trainings.
Department of Human Services. The Department of Human Services may see an increase in
workload in order to update materials for adoption procedures. This workload is assumed to be
minimal.
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.
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April 3, 2023 SB 23-194
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.
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 2023-24, the bill requires a General Fund appropriation of $158,935 and 1.6 FTE to the Judicial
Department.
Departmental Difference
The Judicial Department estimates the bill requires $426,634 and 5.2 FTE in FY 2023-24 and $439,194
and 5.2 FTE in FY 2024-25. The Judicial Department cost estimate is based on the expectation that
tracking time spent in status conferences and contested hearings by judicial officers will require
thorough and accurate accounting of the time for each judicial officer. This additional tracking of time
is estimated to require 8 minutes per hearing of court staff time for approximately 49,381 events across
the state, resulting in 3.2 FTE support staff.
The fiscal note differs from the Judicial Department’s response by interpreting that time spent can be
self-reported by judicial officers on a periodic basis or tracked by other existing support staff, and that
this work does not require the use of additional staff or a specific time-keeping system. This additional
workload is estimated to be minimal.
State and Local Government Contacts
Human Services Judicial
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.