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May 2, 2024 HB 24-1460
Legislative Council Staff
Nonpartisan Services for Colorado’s Legislature
Revised Fiscal Note
(replaces fiscal note dated April 29, 2024)
Drafting Number:
Prime Sponsors:
LLS 24-0945
Rep. Herod; Bacon
Date:
Bill Status:
Fiscal Analyst:
May 2, 2024
House Third 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 provides additional protection for whistleblower peace officers and prohibits
law enforcement agencies from charging for body-worn camera footage. 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 engrossed bill.
Summary of Legislation
The bill requires the suspension of a peace officer’s Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST)
certification in cases where an officer retaliates against another officer; expands the list of
actions that constitute retaliation against a whistleblower; prohibits law enforcement agencies
from charging a fee to release certain recordings; and requests the Executive Committee of
Legislative Council to appoint a working group to address protecting law enforcement
whistleblowers.
Revocation of POST certification in cases of retaliation. The POST Board is required to
suspend or revoke POST certification in cases where a peace officer retaliated against or caused
a peace officer’s employer to retaliate against another peace officer who disclosed information
about a peace officer who allegedly endangered public health or safety, violated law or policy,
or retaliated against another officer for disclosing that information.
Law enforcement whistleblower protections. The bill expands the list of actions that
constitute retaliation against a law enforcement whistleblower to include suspension; creating a
hostile work environment; subjecting the officer to corrective action; or reprimanding, poorly
evaluating, laying off, reducing work hours, or adversely affecting future employment
opportunities. Page 2
May 2, 2024 HB 24-1460
The bill allows a peace officer to use evidence of the retaliation to appeal or remediate any
adverse employment action. If an officer proves by a preponderance of the evidence that the
officer was unlawfully retaliated against, the peace officer’s employing agency must remediate
the action, including reinstatement. If the adverse action involved revocation or suspension of
Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) certification, the employing agency must notify the
POST Board to reverse the action.
Prohibition of certain fees. 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 peace officer 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.
Working group. Finally, the legislative declaration of the bill requests that the Executive
Committee of Legislative Council appoint a working group to address protecting law
enforcement whistleblowers.
State Expenditures
Starting in FY 2024-25, the bill increases workload in the Department of Law, state agencies
employing peace officers, and potentially the Legislative Department.
Department of Law. POST Board workload may increase to the extent determinations are
required on whether a POST certification should be revoked or reinstated related to unlawful
retaliation. The fiscal note assumes that this workload can be accomplished within existing
appropriations.
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, 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.
Judicial Department, the State Personnel Board, and Civil Rights Commission. To the extent
law enforcement whistleblowers file additional employment related legal actions due to the
expanded protections under the bill, workload may increase in the trial courts in the Judicial
Department, the State Personnel Board in the Department of Personnel and Administration, and
for the Colorado Civil Rights Commission in the Department of Regulatory Agencies to hear
these cases. Generally, retaliation against whistleblowers is already prohibited conduct and a
potential cause of action against an employer, so any increase is assumed to be minimal and no
change in appropriations is required.
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May 2, 2024 HB 24-1460
Local Government and Statutory Public Entity
Similar to the state, local and statutory public entity law enforcement will have a workload
increase to train officers on the bill's provisions and expedite the release of recordings. To the
extent local law enforcement agencies are charging requestors for recordings, the bill will
decrease revenue to those agencies. On a statewide basis, lost local revenue is estimated to be
in the tens of thousands of dollars.
Departmental Difference
Department of 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 state 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 (CBI) to assist local law enforcement in investigations.
First-year costs also include an information technology system update. The department’s
estimate was originally based on an increase of complaints received for peace officer
misconduct that would be required to be investigated. The bill was amended to change the term
to unlawful conduct and then Amendment L.006 removed this requirement entirely. Therefore,
the fiscal note does not include additional staff and appropriations to the DPS, based on the
changes under Amendment L.006 and the assumption that the state law enforcement agencies
will comply with the bill and not engage in whistleblower retaliation. Further, it is assumed that
complaints alleging whistleblower retaliation are currently being investigated. For informational
purposes, according to State Personnel Board reporting, there have been 6 whistleblower claims
brought against the DPS in the last 3 years, or about 2 per year. If the Department of Public
Safety retaliates against whistleblowers or fails to investigate these allegations, it may request
additional resources through the annual budget process to address these issues.
Other departments. While affected state agencies were canvased regarding this bill as
amended by L.006, due to time constraints not all agencies have provided a response. Therefore,
it is unknown if the Department of Law will have a departmental difference with this fiscal note
estimate. Based on responses received thus far, it is preliminarily assumed that the department
will concur with this fiscal note assessment, as departmental differences noted in prior fiscal
notes focused on provisions of the bill that have been removed by L.006—primarily
investigations of police misconduct for unlawful activities and POST Board auditing. Should any
other department provide a differing estimate, the fiscal note will be updated to include detail
on that department’s assessment of the bill.
Technical Note
The bill has a statement in the legislative declaration requesting that the Executive Committee of
Legislative Council appoint a working group to address protecting law enforcement
whistleblowers. The legislative declaration of a bill is non-binding, so the Executive Committee
has no formal mechanism to create a working group.
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May 2, 2024 HB 24-1460
Effective Date
The bill takes effect upon signature of the Governor, or upon becoming law without his signature.
State and Local Government Contacts
Counties Higher Education Law
Legislative Council Staff Municipalities Natural Resources
Personnel Public Safety 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.