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April 3, 2024 HB 24-1350
Legislative Council Staff
Nonpartisan Services for Colorado’s Legislature
Revised Fiscal Note
(replaces fiscal note dated March 8, 2024)
Drafting Number:
Prime Sponsors:
LLS 24-0326
Rep. Froelich; Story
Sen. Winter F.
Date:
Bill Status:
Fiscal Analyst:
April 3, 2024
House Appropriations
Aaron Carpenter | 303-866-4918
aaron.carpenter@coleg.gov
Bill Topic: PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITIES PROCEEDINGS CHILD SAFETY
Summary of
Fiscal Impact:
☐ State Revenue
☒ State Expenditure
☐ State Transfer
☐ TABOR Refund
☐ Local Government
☐ Statutory Public Entity
The bill makes several changes to family court proceedings. Starting in FY 2024-25,
the bill increases state expenditures.
Appropriation
Summary:
For FY 2024-25, the bill requires an appropriation of $74,257 to the Judicial
Department.
Fiscal Note
Status:
This revised fiscal note reflects the introduced bill, as amended by the House Judiciary
Committee.
Table 1
State Fiscal Impacts Under HB 24-1350
Budget Year
FY 2024-25
Out Year
FY 2025-26
Revenue
- -
Expenditures General Fund $74,257 $124,883
Centrally Appropriated $16,047 $20,059
Total Expenditures $90,304 $144,942
Total FTE 0.8 FTE 1.0 FTE
Transfers - -
Other Budget Impacts General Fund Reserve $11,138 $18,732
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April 3, 2024 HB 24-1350
Summary of Legislation
The bill makes several changes to domestic relations court proceedings and requirements for
court personnel, as described below.
Child and family investigator and evaluator requirements. The bill requires child and family
investigators and evaluators to provide options that serve the best interest of the child for the
court to consider. In their written reports, investigators and evaluators must include all
information acquired during the investigation concerning domestic violence and child abuse,
regardless of the manner in which the information was acquired or who presented the
information, and strive to ensure the report does not include information and recommendations
that are biased. The bill increases the hours of training required for investigators and evaluators
and requires them to provide written disclosures to each party describing their duties, their
compliance with training requirements, and information on filing a complaint about an
investigator with the State Court Administrator. Finally, courts may cap fees paid to family
investigators and evaluators, and allocate the responsibility for paying these fees.
Domestic relations court proceedings. When determining the best interest of the child for
allocating parenting time, the bill requires the court to:
strive not to consider biased information and recommendations,
give paramount consideration to the safety and the physical, mental and emotional
conditions and needs of the child and abused party; and
give strong consideration to a child’s preference when there are allegations of domestic
violence or child abuse.
If the court orders unsupervised parenting time for a parent accused of domestic violence, child
abuse, or child sexual abuse, the court must make a statement on why the decision is in the best
interest of the child. The court must also make a finding explaining why the court granted or
denied a request to interview a child. The bill allows courts to seek the advice of professional
personnel, and for advice to be made available to counsel, parties, and other expert witnesses
and that the personnel be cross-examined.
Coercive control and domestic violence training. The bill defines coercive control and
requires training opportunities for recognizing coercive control for court personnel in domestic
violence and child abuse cases, including for family investigators, evaluators and judges. Courts
must consider evidence on coercive control in these cases. The bill requires training for child and
family investigators, evaluators, and legal representatives of children to include interviewing and
forensic report writing and for the training to be culturally informed. The bill allows
non-governmental professional trainers conduct the training. An investigator who completed
the training before January 1, 2025, is not required to complete supplemental training.
Reporting. The State Court Administrator must accept complaints against family investigators
and evaluators. Annually, the Judicial Department must report these complaints and other family
court metrics to the legislature during their SMART Act hearing. Finally, the Judicial Department Page 3
April 3, 2024 HB 24-1350
must publish certain information on its website regarding family court proceedings, judges who
have completed domestic violence and child abuse trainings, and actions.
State Expenditures
The bill increases state expenditures in the Judicial Department by about $90,000 in FY 2024-25
and $145,000 in FY 2025-26 and ongoing, as shown in Table 2 and described below.
Table 2
Expenditures Under HB 24-1350
FY 2024-25 FY 2025-26
Judicial Department
Personal Services $66,827 $83,533
Operating Expenses $760 $950
Capital Outlay Costs $6,670 $400
Contract Training Facilitator - $40,000
Centrally Appropriated Costs
1
$16,047 $20,059
Total Cost $90,304 $144,942
Total FTE 0.8 FTE 1.0 FTE
1
Centrally appropriated costs are not included in the bill's appropriation.
Judicial Department. Starting in FY 2024-25, Judicial Department expenditures will increase to
hire additional staff and to contract with a trainer, as described below.
Staff. The Judicial Department requires 1.0 FTE to develop update the 20-hour domestic
violence and child abuse training with the requirements of the bill, collect and report the
required data, and to provide administrative support to trainers. Standard capital outlay
costs and operating expenses are included and staff costs are prorated for a September start
date.
Contract training facilitator. There are currently no programs available offering the
required 20-hour training on domestic violence to family investigators and evaluators. The
department is required to establish a training and it will take one year to develop. Starting in
FY 2025-26, the Judicial Department requires $20,000 per training to contract with
professional trainers. It is assumed trainings will occur twice a year, and costs include an
online platform to host trainings virtually.
IT costs. Workload will increase for the department to update its case management system
to collect the required data and post certain information about family court proceedings on
the department website. No change in appropriations is required.
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April 3, 2024 HB 24-1350
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.
Technical Note
The bill’s timelines do not allow adequate time for the Judicial Department to develop and
implement required training. Costs in the fiscal note assume the department will have one year
to develop training.
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 2024-25, the bill requires a General Fund appropriation of $74,257 to the Judicial
Department, and 0.8 FTE.
State and Local Government Contacts
Child Welfare Counties 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 the General Assembly website.