Legislative Council Staff
Nonpartisan Services for Colorado’s Legislature
Legislative Council Staff ∙ 200 E. Colfax Ave, Room 029 ∙ Denver CO 80203
Fiscal Note
Memorandum
April 26, 2024
TO: Members of the Senate Finance Committee
FROM: John Armstrong, Fiscal Analyst
john.armstrong@coleg.gov | (303-866-6289)
SUBJECT: Fiscal Assessment of Proposed Amendment HB1286_L.010
This memorandum is an assessment of the fiscal impact of the attached proposed amendment
L.010 to HB24-1286. This fiscal assessment is for the impact of the bill with inclusion of this
amendment only. Any other added amendment could influence the fiscal impact.
Summary of Current Fiscal Impact
The latest published fiscal note, dated April 16, 2024, does not reflect the need for an
appropriation. However, based on new information obtained since publication of that fiscal
note, the Judicial Department is expected to require a General Fund appropriation $461,396 and
0.9 FTE to implement the bill. This appropriation is for information technology upgrades needed
to exempt individuals with incomes below 250% of the federal poverty line from paying the new
Equal Justice fee and to employ 0.9 FTE additional court staff to process fee waivers. A revised
fiscal note reflecting this new information is in progress and will be published if L.010 is not
adopted.
Fiscal Impact of Amendment
Amendment L.010 eliminates the costs described above in the Judicial Department by
eliminating the fee waiver for individuals with incomes below 250% of the federal poverty line.
Bill’s Revised Fiscal Impact with Amendment
With Amendment L.010, the bill will minimally increase state workload in the Judicial
Department and increase revenue to the new Equal Justice Authority as shown in Table 1, and
this spending will be used to support legal aid.
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State Expenditures
Judicial Department. The Judicial Department will update their information technology systems
to create a new financial code for the new Equal Justice Fee, establish a process for determining
if a person is not subject to the fee due to income, and transmit fee revenues to the Equal
Justice Authority. This additional workload is assumed to be minimal and can be accomplished
within existing appropriations.
Statutory Public Entity
Docket fee impact. Colorado law requires legislative service agency review of measures which
create or increase any fee collected by a state agency. In this case, the fee is collected by the
Judicial Department on behalf of the Equal Justice Authority. Fee amounts are outlined in the
bill, resulting in an increase of $30 for district civil, court of appeals and probate docket fees, as
shown in Table 1 below. County civil fee amounts are $10 and exclude small claims court.
Individuals with incomes below 250 percent of the federal poverty guidelines will not be
assessed the fee, accounting for approximately 23 percent of all case filers.
Table 1
Docket Fee Impact
Year Type of Case Cases Poverty Rate Payers Fee Total
FY 2024-25
half-year Impact
County Civil 30,661 22% 23,916 $10 $239,160
District Civil 20,753 28% 14,942 $30 $448,260
Court of Appeals 292 28% 210 $30 $6,300
Probate 9,211 16% 7,737 $30 $232,110
FY 2024-25 Fee Revenue $925,830
FY 2025-26 County Civil 61,322 22% 47,831 $10 $478,310
District Civil 41,506 28% 29,884 $30 $896,520
Court of Appeals 584 28% 420 $30 $12,600
Probate 18,421 16% 15,474 $30 $464,220
FY 2025-26 Fee Revenue $1,851,650
Equal Justice Authority spending. The newly created EJA will provide funding for legal aid to
indigent offenders using the revenue generated from the new docket fee, estimated at $925,000
in FY 2024-25 and up to $1.85 million in FY 2025-26 and ongoing. This revenue will also cover
the EJA’s administrative costs, which will be spent to convene commission members, and to
distribute and report on funding.