HB 25-1275
Fiscal Note
Legislative Council Staff
Nonpartisan Services for Colorado’s Legislature
HB 25-1275: FORENSIC SCIENCE INTEGRITY
Prime Sponsors:
Rep. Soper; Zokaie
Sen. Weissman; Frizell
Published for: House Appropriations
Drafting number: LLS 25-0356
Fiscal Analyst:
Aaron Carpenter, 303-866-4918
aaron.carpenter@coleg.gov
Version: First Revised Note
Date: April 7, 2025
Fiscal note status: This revised fiscal note reflects the introduced bill, as amended by the House Judiciary
Committee. It has also been revised to reflect new information.
Summary Information
Overview. The bill creates a duty to report wrongful actions by crime lab employees, requires the crime
lab director to investigate such actions, and creates a process for individuals to seek post-conviction relief
if their case is impacted.
Types of impacts. The bill is projected to affect the following areas on an ongoing basis:
State Expenditures Local Government
Appropriations. For FY 2025-26, the bill increase required General Fund appropriations to the Judicial
Department by $440,443. It is assumed that $140,443 should be appropriate in this bill and that $300,000
will be included in the FY 2025-26 Long Bill. See State Appropriations section for detail.
Table 1
State Fiscal Impacts
Type of Impact
1
Budget Year
FY 2025-26
Out Year
FY 2026-27
State Revenue $0 $0
State Expenditures
2
$465,375 $565,432
Transferred Funds $0 $0
Change in TABOR Refunds $0 $7,473
Change in State FTE 1.1 FTE 2.0 FTE
1
Fund sources for these impacts are shown in the table below.
2
This amount includes $300,000 that is assumed to be appropriated through the Long Bill; therefore,
only $140,443 should be appropriated through this bill. Page 2
April 7, 2025 HB 25-1275
Table 1A
State Expenditures
Fund Source
Budget Year
FY 2025-26
Out Year
FY 2026-27
General Fund $440,443 $520,579
Cash Funds $0 $0
Federal Funds $0 $0
Centrally Appropriated $24,932 $44,853
Total Expenditures $465,375 $565,432
Total FTE 1.1 FTE 2.0 FTE
Summary of Legislation
The bill creates a duty to report wrongful actions by crime lab employees, requires the crime lab
director to investigate such actions, and creates a process for individuals to seek post-conviction
relief if their case is impacted.
Duty to Report
The bill requires a crime lab employee to report any wrongful action they witness or discover to
their supervisor or the crime lab director within 7 days of the incident. If a supervisor is notified,
they must notify the director within 72 hours of receiving the report.
Beginning July 1, 2025, the crime lab director must investigate wrongful actions. When certain
circumstances occur, the director must notify the district attorney within 90 days.
The bill outlines what an investigation must include, when parties to the case must be notified of
investigations, and requires the director to submit a final written report at the conclusion of
each investigation to affected district attorneys.
Wrongful Actions Between July 1, 2014, and July 1, 2025
The bill requires a final report of any investigations concerning wrongful action that brought
criminal allegations against an employee between July 10, 2014, and July 1, 2025, be submitted
to all district attorneys by September 1, 2025.
Post-Conviction Relief Process
When a district attorney receives notification of cases where wrongful actions were discovered,
the district attorney must notify the impacted defendant, defendant’s counsel, and victim. Upon
receipt of the notification, the bill establishes that the defendant has a right to counsel and
discovery and establishes a process for the defendant to file for public defender. The defendant
may then petition the court for post-conviction relief. After receiving the petition and finding it
meets the necessary requirements, the court must order the district attorney to respond to the
petition with 35 days and afford the defendant an opportunity to reply to response. Page 3
April 7, 2025 HB 25-1275
After receiving responses, the court may dismiss a petition without a hearing if the petition fails
to show the defendant is entitled to relief, or schedule an evidentiary hearing to decide upon
the merits.
During the hearing the defendant has the burden to show, by a preponderance of the evidence,
that the crime lab employee engaged in a wrongful action and that their conduct is material to
the case. If the defense meets its burden of proof, the court must vacate the conviction and
grant a new trial.
Finally, the bill establishes the time period after notification to bring a claim depending on the
classification of the offense as follows:
no limit for class 1 felonies;
3 years for other felonies;
18 months for misdemeanors; and
6 months for petty offenses.
Background and Assumptions
In response to testing anomalies identified in a former CBI DNA analyst’s work, the General
Assembly appropriated $7.4 million to the CBI for district attorney reimbursement ($4.4 million)
and for DNA testing and reimbursement ($3.0 million) for the estimated 3,000 affected cases.
Since that time, according to this Supplemental Budget Request, CBI has reduced the number to
1,003 cases affected by the analyst’s misconduct. It is currently unknown how many of these
cases resulted in conviction.
In addition to the $7.4 million, the Joint Budget Committee has included $300,000 in the Long
Bill for indigent defense in order to provide post-conviction relief related to testing anomalies.
Because it is unknown how many cases could end up in court, the fiscal note uses the $300,000
appropriation as a benchmark for the minimum costs that may occur in the future.
State Expenditures
The bill increases state General Fund expenditures by $465,000 in FY 2025-26, and $565,000 in
FY 2026-27 and ongoing. These costs will be incurred in the Judicial Department and offices that
represent indigent offenders, as shown in Table 2 and described in the sections below.
Page 4
April 7, 2025 HB 25-1275
Table 2
State Expenditures
All Departments
Department
Budget Year
FY 2025-26
Out Year
FY 2026-27
Judicial Department $165,375 $265,432
Indigent Defense
1
$300,000 $300,000
Total Costs $465,375 $565,432
1
A $300,000 appropriation is included in the Long Bill for agencies representing indigent offenders.
Judicial Department
By creating a new timeline for post-conviction relief, the bill increases expenditures in the trial
courts to hold additional trails, as shown in Table 2A and discussed below.
Staff
The trial courts require at least 1.5 FTE starting in FY 2025-26 until cases involving current
anomalies exhaust their post-conviction remedies. This includes at least 0.5 FTE magistrates and
1.5 FTE support staff at a 1:3 ratio. Costs include standard capital and operating costs, as well as
additional operating costs of $4,720 per magistrate. Costs are also prorated for a January 1 start
date to provide time for the final report to be finalized by September and for district attorneys
and defense to provide necessary notifications and conduct necessary discoveries. Actual
expenditures will depend on the number of cases filed for post-conviction relief, and any
additional resources will be requested through the annual budget process.
Table 2A
State Expenditures
Judicial Department
Cost Component
Budget Year
FY 2025-26
Out Year
FY 2026-27
Personal Services $121,142 $215,119
Operating Expenses $2,461 $4,260
Capital Outlay Costs $16,840 $1,200
Centrally Appropriated Costs $24,932 $44,853
Total Costs at least $165,375 at least $265,432
Total FTE at least 1.1 FTE at least 2.0 FTE
Page 5
April 7, 2025 HB 25-1275
Indigent Defense
The bill increases expenditures in the Office of the State Public Defender—and potentially the
Office of the Alternate Defense Counsel—to represent additional clients who receive notification
that their case is impacted by mishandling of DNA evidence at the CBI crime lab and are
permitted representation from one of these offices. Under current law, indigent clients may not
request court-appointed counsel until after they file their own claim and a court finds enough
merit to the claim.
As discussed in the Background and Assumptions section, the fiscal note assumes $300,000 is
required by OSPD until cases involving current anomalies exhaust their post-conviction
remedies. The fiscal note assumes that the offices will request additional funding through the
annual budget process if necessary.
Table 2B
State Expenditures
Office of the State Public Defender
Cost Component
Budget Year
FY 2025-26
Out Year
FY 2026-27
Indigent Defense $300,000 $300,000
Total Costs $300,000 $300,000
Department of Public Safety
The bill increases workload in the Department of Public Safety to meet the required deadlines in
the bill. Because the department already has a team to respond to allegations of misconduct,
the fiscal note assumes the department can meet the required timelines when future cases
emerge within existing resources.
Other Criminal Justice Impacts
To the extent the bill results in individuals getting their convictions overturned and released
from their sentences, costs to various departments and divisions—such as the Department of
Corrections, the Division of Probation, and Community Corrections—may decrease. Because it is
unknown how sentences will change, any change in appropriations will be adjusted through the
annual budget project.
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 the expenditure
tables above. Page 6
April 7, 2025 HB 25-1275
Local Government
Expenditures and workload for district attorneys will increase to provide the necessary
notification, to attend additional evidence hearings, and to participate in new trials. The General
Assembly has already appropriated $4.4 million to reimburse district attorney offices, but if the
bill results in more discovered cases of wrongdoing, expenditures in these offices will increase.
Effective Date
The bill takes effect upon signature of the Governor, or upon becoming law without his
signature. The act applies to claims for relief filed on or after the effective date that are based on
knowing misconduct or a significant event that occurred before, on, or after the effective date of
this act.
State Appropriations
For FY 2025-26, the bill requires a General Fund appropriation of $140,443 to the Judicial
Department, and 1.1 FTE.
For FY 2025-26, the bill increases required General Fund appropriations to the Office of the State
Public Defender by $300,000. It is assumed that appropriation will be made in the
FY 2025-26 Long Bill, rather than in this bill.
Departmental Difference
The Judicial Department estimates costs of $3.0 million per year starting in FY 2025-26. The
Judicial Department estimates the need for 7 additional magistrates, resulting in a total increase
of 28 court staff. This is under the assumption that there will be 2,250 additional motions for
post-conviction relief, 57 new trials, and 765 additional civil cases. The fiscal note estimates the
minimum costs that may occur as it is unknown of how many cases will file for post-conviction
relief. In addition, the fiscal note does not include costs for civil cases as the bill does not
contemplate a new civil process and these cases may already occur under current law.
State and Local Government Contacts
Corrections
District Attorneys
Judicial
Law
Personnel
Public Safety
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.