Prosecution Fellowship Program Changes

Rural prosecutor offices get hiring grant support

Colorado shifts prosecution fellowship funding toward grants for rural offices to recruit, hire, and keep new deputy district attorneys. Eligible offices are in the 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, and 22nd judicial districts. A new five-member committee sets application rules, selection criteria, and award amounts; the law sets no dollar amount. The Colorado District Attorneys’ Council’s executive director chairs the committee and appoints four elected rural district attorneys or their designees. Elected district attorney members serve unpaid two-year terms. The committee selects up to six fellows per fiscal year, plus backups, and up to six rural offices for funding. State appropriations flow through the department to the Council, which pays selected offices. Offices must return unused money, including money left when a fellow leaves during the award period. The committee can award returned money to the same or another office; the Council must return unused funds to the Colorado Department of Higher Education at fiscal year-end. By January 1, 2028, the Council must report to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees on awards, placements, and employment outcomes. The law’s effective-date rule is 12:01 a.m. the day after the 90-day period following final adjournment of the 2025 legislative session. A qualifying referendum petition makes effectiveness depend on voter approval at the 2026 general election and the governor’s official declaration of the vote.