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April 29, 2024 HB 24-1460
Legislative Council Staff
Nonpartisan Services for Colorado’s Legislature
Revised Fiscal Note
(replaces fiscal note dated April 20, 2024)
Drafting Number:
Prime Sponsors:
LLS 24-0945
Rep. Herod; Bacon
Date:
Bill Status:
Fiscal Analyst:
April 29, 2024
House Second Reading
Aaron Carpenter | 303-866-4918
aaron.carpenter@coleg.gov
Bill Topic: LAW ENFORCEMENT MISCONDUCT
Summary of
Fiscal Impact:
☐ State Revenue
☒ State Expenditure
☐ State Transfer
☐ TABOR Refund
☒ Local Government
☒ Statutory Public Entity
The bill requires law enforcement agencies and peace officers to investigate
allegations of unlawful conduct and provides additional protections for whistleblowers
from retaliation. The bill increases state and local workload and decreases local
revenue.
Appropriation
Summary:
No appropriation is required.
Fiscal Note
Status:
This revised fiscal note reflects the introduced bill, as amended by the House Judiciary
Committee.
Summary of Legislation
The bill requires law enforcement agencies and peace officers to investigate allegations of
unlawful conduct and provides additional protections for whistleblowers from retaliation.
Investigation of unlawful conduct required. The bill requires a law enforcement agency or
peace officer who receives an allegation of unlawful conduct under the duty to report statute to
investigate the allegation and retain all reports and related investigation documentation for ten
years, or the length of the officer’s employment, whichever is longer. If the investigation does
not occur, the person making the allegation may file a discrimination complaint with the
Colorado Civil Rights Division in the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA). If a peace
officer in a supervisory capacity fails to report unlawful conduct, the Peace Officer Standards and
Training (POST) Board may revoke the officer’s POST certification and the Attorney General may
add the peace officer to its peace officer misconduct database.
Audits by the Attorney General. Under current law, law enforcement agencies must report
certain information regarding peace officer misconduct to the POST Board for posting on its
officer misconduct database. The bill requires the Attorney General to annually notify all law
enforcement agencies and peace officers in the state of this reporting requirement. The bill
allows the Attorney General to audit law enforcement agencies to ensure compliance with this
reporting requirement, accept and investigate reports of noncompliance, and to make requests Page 2
April 29, 2024 HB 24-1460
for information or issue subpoenas as necessary. If an audit reflects that a peace officer should
be added or removed from the misconduct database, the Attorney General may make that
change.
Fee prohibition. The bill prohibits law enforcement agencies from charging a fee to release
unedited video and/or audio recordings of officer-involved shootings or incidents involving
alleged misconduct from body-worn cameras, dash cameras, or otherwise collected through
investigation. The bill requires recordings to be released within 45 days of the request.
Whistleblower protections. The bill expands the list of actions that constitute retaliation
against a whistleblower and allows a peace officer who was retaliated against to file a
discrimination complaint with the Colorado Civil Rights Division.
Investigation documentation. In addition to retaining investigation documents for ten years or
the length of an officer’s employment, an investigating law enforcement agency must provide a
copy of the investigation file to the subject of the investigation once the investigation is
complete.
Assumptions
The fiscal note assumes that “unlawful conduct” means conduct that is against the law. It
assumes that allegations of peace officer unlawful misconduct are already being reported to law
enforcement agencies and that agencies are following internal policies to investigate and
respond to such complaints, and reporting certain findings to the POST Board. To the extent
that there are law enforcement agencies or individual peace officers who do not follow the law,
workload will increase for internal investigations in that agency.
State Expenditures
Starting in FY 2024-25, the bill increases workload in the Department of Law and state agencies
employing peace officers.
Department of Law. Workload for the Attorney General will increase to audit law enforcement
agencies to ensure compliance with misconduct reporting requirements and to investigate
reports of noncompliance. Because the bill gives permissive authority to audit and investigate
reporting, the fiscal note assumes the department will prioritize requests within existing
resources. However, if the General Assembly intends for the Attorney General to perform regular
auditing and investigate every report of noncompliance, the department requires 2.0 FTE at a
cost of about $150,000 per year.
Workload for the POST Board will increase to the extent determinations are required on whether
a POST certification should be revoked for failure to report unlawful conduct. The fiscal note
assumes that this workload can be accomplished within existing appropriations.
Finally, the Department of Law will advise agencies employing peace officers on the bill’s
requirements. No change in appropriations is required. Page 3
April 29, 2024 HB 24-1460
Civil Rights Division – Department of Regulatory Agencies. By designating failure to
investigate unlawful conduct and retaliating against a whistleblower as actions eligible for an
employment discrimination claim, the bill may increase workload to the Civil Rights Division. The
fiscal note estimates that any increased workload will be minimal, as whistleblower complaints
can be brought under current employment law and law enforcement agencies are assumed to
follow the law.
All state agencies. All state agencies that employ POST-certified law enforcement officers will
have a minimal workload increase to train officers on the bill's provisions, respond to reporting
audits from the Attorney General, and expedite the release of recordings. These agencies
include the Departments of Corrections, Human Services, Law, Natural Resources, Public Safety,
Regulatory Agencies, and Revenue and institutions of higher education. The fiscal note assumes
these agencies currently comply with the law and conduct investigations involving unlawful
conduct by a peace officer.
Local Government and Statutory Public Entity
Similar to the state, local and statutory public entity law enforcement will have a minimal
workload increase to train officers on the bill's provisions, respond to reporting audits from the
Attorney General, and expedite the release of recordings. In addition, costs may increase to the
extent there are additional investigations by law enforcement agencies or district attorney
offices. The fiscal note assumes these agencies currently comply with the law and conduct
investigations involving unlawful conduct by a peace officer; however, workload may increase in
agencies that are not following this practice.
To the extent local law enforcement agencies are charging requestors for recordings, the bill will
decrease revenue to those agencies. Estimates of lost revenue are in the tens of thousands.
Effective Date
The bill takes effect upon signature of the Governor, or upon becoming law without his signature.
Departmental Difference
Some departments canvassed for this bill estimate that the bill will result in increased
expenditures to investigate unlawful conduct. As discussed in the Assumptions section, the fiscal
note does not include these costs because “unlawful conduct” is something that law
enforcement agencies are already charged with investigating.
Law. As discussed above, if the bill’s intent is to have the Attorney General perform regular
audits of misconduct reporting requirements, the department requires about $150,000 and
2.0 FTE per year. The fiscal note interprets that the department’s audit and investigation
authority under the bill are permissive and will be prioritized within existing resources, and has
not included these costs. Page 4
April 29, 2024 HB 24-1460
The department also estimates costs of about $230,000 and 1.0 FTE per year to provide legal
services to the Department of Corrections and the Department of Public Safety in implementing
the bill. The Department of Corrections has responded that it has no fiscal impact under the
amended bill, and the Department of Public Safety is assumed to perform investigations of
unlawful conduct under current law. As a result, the fiscal note has not included these additional
legal services hours.
Natural Resources. The Department of Natural Resources estimates that the bill increases cash
fund expenditures by $133,000 in FY 2024-25 and $123,000 in FY 2025-26 to hire 1.3 FTE to
investigate complaints. The fiscal note assumes the department performs investigations of
unlawful conduct under current law and has not included costs for an investigator.
Public Safety. The Department of Public Safety estimates that the bill will increase General Fund
expenditures by about $4.3 million and 24.0 FTE in FY 2024-25 and $3.7 million and 24.0 FTE in
FY 2025-26. This estimate includes 4.0 FTE troopers and 4.0 FTE technicians for investigations at
the Colorado State Patrol (CSP), and 16.0 FTE agents for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to
assist local law enforcement in investigations. First-year costs also include an information
technology system update.
The fiscal note does not include the CSP’s costs because they are largely based on allegations of
misconduct that are already investigated under current law. Last year, the CSP received
331 allegations of misconduct, which resulted in 317 unique investigations, of which 68 were
investigated by the Professional Standards Unit in DPS and the remainder where investigated
locally. The fiscal note assumes that the CSP’s current practices meet the standards of the bill.
The fiscal note does not include the CBI’s costs because they are discretionary. Under current
law, local law enforcement agencies can request CBI’s assistance in criminal investigations, at the
discretion of CBI’s director. The bill does not require the CBI to assist local law enforcement in
investigations of peace officer unlawful conduct. The fiscal note assumes that if a peace officer is
being accused of committing a crime and a local law enforcement agency needs assistance, the
CBI will prioritize providing services within its appropriations.
Revenue. The Department of Revenue estimates the bill increases General Fund expenditures by
$98,000 in FY 2024-25 and $79,000 to hire an additional 1.0 FTE to investigate complaints. The
fiscal note assumes the department performs investigations of unlawful conduct under current
law and has not included costs for an investigator.
State and Local Government Contacts
Corrections Counties Higher Education
Human Services Judicial Law
Municipalities Natural Resources Personnel
Public Safety Regulatory Agencies Revenue
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.