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Yes: 491 • No: 6
ColoradoSB26-1492026 Regular SessionSenate
Pathways for Individuals with Mental Health Disorder
Sponsored By: Cleave Simpson (Republican), Jarvis Caldwell (Republican), Judy Amabile (Democratic), Julie McCluskie (Democratic)
Signed by Governor
Civil LawCourts & JudicialCrimes, Corrections, & EnforcementHuman Services
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80 provisions identified: 27 benefits, 4 costs, 49 mixed.
Lower-level charges dismissed for incompetent defendants
Courts must dismiss listed lower-level charges after a final finding that the defendant is not competent to proceed. The highest charge must be an infraction, misdemeanor traffic offense, covered unclassified or named misdemeanor, class 2 misdemeanor, petty offense, or drug misdemeanor. The rule excludes misdemeanors under Colorado's listed impaired-driving provisions and the offense identified in section 42-4-1402(2)(c).
Restoration time limits can end defendants' charges
At review, courts must dismiss charges and release still-incompetent defendants after six months of qualifying restoration custody or wait time for class 1 misdemeanors, first impaired-driving misdemeanors, or level 4 drug felonies. The limit is one year for class 5 or 6 felonies, repeat impaired-driving misdemeanors, section 42-4-1402(2)(c) offenses, or level 3 drug felonies. The limit is two years for class 4 felonies. These time limits exclude class 1–3 felonies, sex offenses, crimes of violence, and level 1–2 drug felonies; a separate dismissal rule applies when qualifying confinement credit exceeds the highest charge's maximum sentence. Dismissal can be paused through the law's civil commitment or enhanced protective-placement pathways.
Mental health care despite unpaid costs
Providers cannot deny evaluations or treatment under Colorado’s Article 65 mental health law because a person cannot pay. They also cannot discharge someone for that reason. This protection does not set a payment amount or promise free care.
Release rights and limits for committed people
Courts must end civil commitment when a person no longer poses a substantial risk of serious harm to others. Release is also required when the person lacks a mental health disorder likely to cause danger and shows capacity and willingness to obey the law. A written request needs a professional's supporting opinion; county and district attorneys generally have 14 days to object or seek an independent evaluation. A demanded trial must begin within 35 days for a court trial or 72 days for a jury trial, excluding delays caused by the person. The person must prove eligibility by showing it is more likely than not; after an unsuccessful trial, another termination trial is barred for one year.
Appeal rights for protective placement patients
People under protective-placement or enhanced protective-placement orders have a right to appeal. Courts must explain that right after the hearing, and appeals receive priority for the earliest practical decision. People in protective-placement cases or placements also receive the disability rights identified in state law. Those placed in human services custody at a state hospital receive the additional mental health patient rights specified by the law.
Clearer disability assessments for criminal defendants
A defendant is not competent when a mental or developmental disability prevents consulting with a lawyer or understanding criminal proceedings. Evaluation reports must address disability, diagnosis, expected course, competency, and whether treatment can restore competency. Evaluators must review prior opinions and explain a different view on whether competency can be restored. For covered conditions, reports must also assess specialized services, inpatient care, related diagnoses, civil proceedings, and protective placement needs. Evaluators must consider extra testing when they suspect an intellectual, developmental, or neurocognitive disorder covered by the law.
Faster competency exams and second opinions
Courts must require supporting materials to reach the Colorado Department of Human Services within two business days, with proof of delivery. Department exams for people in custody must start within 21 business days after receiving the order and materials; community exams must finish within 42 days, unless extended for good cause. Written reports are due within 14 days after finishing or attempting the evaluation meeting and must be shared electronically with court participants. Either side can obtain a second exam covering competency and restoration; the hearing waits for its report, due within 35 days unless extended for good cause. Courts pay for second exams they request or indigent defendants request, and for parole-board competency exams held where the person is in custody.
Discharge protections for protective placement patients
Protective placement ends when the professional in charge finds, after reasonable observation and treatment, that the person no longer meets placement criteria. Short-term placement may also end with signatures from the treating medical professional and facility medical director. Facilities must make discharge instructions available to the required recipients, and long-term facilities must notify the state behavioral health agency before discharge. A timely second-opinion request counts as good cause for a court-ordered examination when a provider reports that placement cannot end.
Regular court reviews for incompetent defendants
Courts must set a review hearing within 91 days after a commitment or outpatient restoration order, then review cases every 91 days. Evaluators and treatment teams must report at least 10 days before reviews on competency, treatment, release plans, disability services, and safety. Jail or inpatient status alone cannot show that a defendant with pending charges is not dangerous or gravely disabled. A restoration hearing requested at the review must be set within 35 days. An evaluator's finding that restoration is not possible requires a hearing before an initial restoration order. After services start, a party's request requires a hearing when that finding exists and no prior hearing occurred, or 182 days have passed since services began after a restorability finding; parties may also request hearings for good cause. Courts share reports with prosecutors and any appointed Bridges court liaison.
State help finding and coordinating treatment
For short-term certification without a suitable, willing provider, courts must order the state human services department to coordinate care. The department must diligently search for a provider and give the court written updates. It can receive relevant case, health, competency, and criminal justice information and share necessary information with potential providers and parties. The Behavioral Health Administration must coordinate care when certification ends but the person still needs treatment and services. It must also arrange coordination during covered certifications when both the facility and administration find it necessary.
Treatment deadlines protect defendants awaiting beds
After receiving the order and supporting materials, human services must admit urgent Tier 1 restoration patients within seven days. Tier 2 patients must be admitted within 28 days, with bed and admission updates every 28 days afterward. Subject to available funding, human services must require county jails to help provide interim mental health services while patients wait. A court can release an incompetent defendant or dismiss the case when the agency misses statutory deadlines. That option requires evidence that inpatient restoration will not begin within the applicable six-month, one-year, or two-year period.
Long-term treatment petitions drop refusal requirement
After an extended treatment certification, long-term treatment petitions no longer require proof that voluntary treatment was offered and refused. Professional staff and the court or jury must still find that the person meets short-term treatment criteria. The long-term treatment facility must be designated by the commissioner.
Civil placement ends defendants’ criminal cases
Within three business days of a placement order, courts, prosecutors, and human services must send needed records to the county attorney. Prosecutors and human services must provide additional information on request. Sheriffs must provide secure transport as soon as practical unless courts approve another option; transport may wait for a bed available within 30 days. After arrival, courts must transfer authority to civil court, notify human services and the county attorney, and dismiss the criminal case; prosecutors may refile if competency returns, subject to filing deadlines and tolling rules. An existing qualifying commitment or placement order replaces another trial, with the existing placement used, records and notices sent, authority transferred, and the criminal case dismissed.
Commitment requires proof of serious danger
Prosecutors must prove disability, a qualifying charged act, and substantial risk of serious harm to others by clear and convincing evidence. The act must involve homicide, a crime of violence, or felony unlawful sexual behavior charged in Colorado with competency raised. Courts assess jailed or hospitalized defendants as if in the community; confinement alone cannot establish an absence of risk. An unrestorability report must address serious-harm risk for these charges or after prosecutor notice of a qualifying uncharged act.
Cooperation rules shape defendants' competency decisions
Defendants must cooperate with competency evaluators and related testing and imaging services. Noncooperation can rebut evidence of competency only when it is not caused by a mental or developmental disability. Evaluators can use available offense evidence and medical and social history when defendants do not cooperate. Courts can find defendants restorable despite voluntary nonparticipation if cooperation with treatment would make restoration possible.
Defendants can agree to protective custody
A defendant can agree to civil commitment or enhanced protective placement instead of a trial. The agreement must be written and stated at a hearing the defendant attends, with any appointed guardian's consent. The court must confirm understanding of waived rights and consequences, voluntary agreement, and a factual basis. Statements made for the agreement cannot prove an act listed in the notice in a later criminal prosecution.
Defendants face limits on inpatient exams
Courts can order inpatient competency exams on a state clinical recommendation, insufficient or conflicting evaluations, or extraordinary circumstances making admission necessary. A clinical recommendation requires consultation with the defendant and review of clinical or supporting materials. Courts must warn defendants that restoration services can begin immediately after an inpatient evaluator finds them incompetent. Either side can object when warned or within 72 hours after receiving the written report. The court must record objections to commitment to state custody.
Defendants face new civil trial evidence rules
In linked civil trials, disability and self-caused intoxication cannot defend whether a qualifying act occurred; other allowed defenses remain available. Acquitted or convicted acts cannot qualify, though admissible evidence about them can address disability or harm risk. Uncontested disability is treated as proven, and covered prior competency proceedings can establish agreement to disability. If competency was raised over the defendant's consistent objection, prosecutors must prove disability by clear and convincing evidence; admitted competency reports require evaluators available for questioning. Decision-makers cannot rely on incarceration or inpatient status to establish that a defendant with pending charges is not dangerous or gravely disabled.
Defendants face new competency hearing deadlines
Parties have 14 days after receiving the initial evaluation report to request a competency, restorability, or restoration hearing. When a second evaluation is requested, the deadline runs from receipt of that report. The court must decide within 14 days and hold an approved hearing within 35 days, unless good cause supports more time. A timely competency hearing request must be granted. The party claiming incompetency must provide evidence showing it is more likely than not.
Defendants get deadlines for commitment trials
For unrestorable defendants or those reaching restoration limits, prosecution notice seeking commitment pauses dismissal and triggers state placement planning. Verbal notice must become written within seven days, identify relied-on acts, and exclude acts resulting in acquittal. Trial must be set within 91 days of written notice unless both sides agree otherwise, and begin within 182 days of prosecution notice. Defendant-caused delays do not count; a missed start deadline requires dismissal when the defendant requested it before trial began. Failed proof requires denial and dismissal, though other civil proceedings remain possible; successful proof requires placement, civil-court transfer, and criminal-case dismissal. Placement and transfer must occur as soon as practical, within 70 days unless the defendant agrees to more time.
Defendants get guardians and civil proceedings
When emergency guardianship is appropriate under state law, the court must appoint the Office of Public Guardianship. After a final incompetency finding, a court can order the county attorney to start a civil case while criminal charges continue. A qualified evaluator or treating professional must support the civil criteria, and an authorized person must request the case. Any felony charge requires the district attorney's consent. The civil case can concern treatment, protective placement, or limits on legal rights.
Defendants' competency records reach more participants
Raising competency, or a finding of incompetency, waives confidentiality or privilege for covered evaluation records and related materials. The waiver also covers prior criminal cases where competency was raised or incompetency was found. Prosecutors, defense lawyers, Bridges court liaisons, and courts can access those materials and evaluators without written consent or another order. Evaluators and providers must supply covered information requested for restoration hearings. Agencies and providers working under competency orders must also share location, admission, evaluation, treatment, and service updates with court participants.
Different proof burdens for disabled defendants
In most cases, prosecutors must show it is more likely than not that treatment can restore the defendant's competency. For Victim Rights Act crimes, unlawful sexual contact, or indecent exposure, defendants must instead prove restoration is not possible. Defendants found restorable receive appropriate services and a review hearing. An unrestorable finding requires dismissal, subject to a stay or civil commitment or enhanced protective-placement proceedings.
Faster hospital evaluations and jail returns
For a court-ordered inpatient competency evaluation, the program must offer admission within 14 days of receiving the order and supporting materials. The court must review the case within 21 days to check transportation and any needed orders. When human services returns a defendant to jail after evaluation, the sheriff must take custody within 72 hours of notice. Human services must also notify the court and Bridges liaison.
New civil care pathways for defendants
Civil proceedings linked to competency cases include short-term treatment certification, orders limiting legal rights, and protective placement. Designated state behavioral health or human services representatives can request these proceedings. Other professionals can request them only when their supporting opinion was not produced through work or a contract with those agencies. Courts must allow appointed emergency guardians to start proceedings when their professional judgment supports doing so, rather than ordering county attorneys to act. Before transfer to civil court, judges can change the primary diagnosis and convert commitment or placement orders on a human services recommendation, with written findings sent to the receiving court.
New standards for defendants receiving treatment
A defendant is restorable when services offer a substantial chance of restoring competency in the reasonably foreseeable future. Missing restoration services or refusing prescribed medicine can count as unwillingness to participate. Conduct mainly caused by a genuine medical or mental health disorder does not count. Neither do good-faith concerns about medicine risks or side effects.
Release protections and treatment conditions for defendants
Courts must consider required bond factors, including pretrial services and Bridges liaison information. Cooperation with outpatient competency exams becomes a release condition, but needing an exam cannot be used to set monetary bond. For listed impaired-driving misdemeanors and the specified careless-driving offense, a bond hearing is required within seven days of a final incompetency finding. Release without upfront bail and restoration services are presumed; denying that release requires clear and convincing evidence of extraordinary circumstances and specific findings sent to the state. Inpatient commitment is required if release is unavailable, monetary bond cannot be posted, or the court approves the state's clinical recommendation.
Restoration reviews and custody rules for defendants
Either side can request a restoration hearing for good cause, including approaching the maximum restoration time. A hearing must be set when an evaluator finds competency during ordered services and no hearing occurred, or 182 days have passed since a finding of continued incompetency. Without a timely hearing request, courts decide from available information; at a hearing, the side asserting competency bears the proof burden. Sheriffs must return defendants to county jail within 72 hours of state notice that competency is restored. A court finding of restoration resumes the case or sentence and credits restoration confinement toward prison time; continued incompetency allows revised orders or recommitment.
Care transitions for defendants receiving treatment
The state human services director may transfer defendants between state facilities for their care or for public or staff safety. The department must notify the required parties about placements and moves. Clinically appropriate moves to less restrictive facilities are allowed with court notice. When outpatient restoration is more appropriate, the department must notify the court and seek consideration of bond without a money requirement for unreleased defendants. At discharge, it must coordinate relevant transportation, medication and case information, release notices, court appearances, and returns to jail.
Civil commitment review with court enforcement
After transfer from criminal court, the civil court alone oversees the commitment, notifies the county attorney, appoints counsel, and schedules review. It must explain rights to appear, have counsel, seek changes and periodic review, and contest termination, including by trial. The court may change terms after a hearing, issue warrants for noncompliance, and require human services opinions. Commitment hearings follow civil procedures; guardians may join through counsel, and lay people may submit sworn statements. After consulting counsel, courts may appoint advisory examiners whose findings receive no presumption; courts must explain appeal rights after short-term treatment, long-term treatment, or commitment hearings.
Community care planning for disabled defendants
For unrestorable defendants outside custody or nearing release, courts must order outpatient restoration unless the state recommends inpatient care as clinically appropriate. Participation becomes a bond condition, and courts can arrange help with care and housing. When inpatient restoration is not clinically appropriate, the state must identify available outpatient services. For defendants in state custody with community services available, the state must prepare a discharge plan; courts must hold a hearing within seven days and can require treatment. Courts can appoint Bridges liaisons to plan care and release when restoration failure, time limits, or civil proceedings are likely, unless acceptable coordination exists; psychological assessments require no objection from the defendant.
Court treatment pathways for incompetent defendants
After a criminal court referral, courts must order no more than three months of treatment when certification criteria are met. Authorized petitioners include county attorneys, district attorneys, appointed guardians, authorized intervening professionals, professional persons, and state behavioral health or human services representatives. Petitions must address certification criteria, recommend inpatient or outpatient care, and be filed within 14 days of receiving the court order. They must include a competency evaluation from the prior 91 days, unless the person refuses or cannot be evaluated. No prior emergency hold or provider already willing to take the case is required; other certification criteria still apply.
Court-linked outpatient treatment adds care safeguards
During outpatient restoration, human services can seek a short-term treatment referral; the court must first hear the defendant's objections. A qualified professional with a treatment relationship and an evaluation within the past three months can certify eligible patients for up to three months. The signed filing must give supporting facts and arrive within 14 days of the initiating criminal court order, excluding weekends and court holidays. Copies must reach both state agencies within 24 hours; the behavioral health agency must coordinate care and seek a provider when none is identified. When inpatient care is necessary but no provider accepts after all reasonable efforts, the court must notify human services and certify outpatient treatment.
Crisis transport powers with patient safeguards
Certified peace officers and emergency medical providers can take a person into protective custody and transport them for crisis care. They need probable cause that, without professional help, the person may endanger themselves or others, or be gravely disabled. Destinations include outpatient mental health facilities, commissioner-designated facilities, or other clinically appropriate facilities. An emergency medical services facility is an option only when those destinations are unavailable. Transport is barred if a professional found the person did not meet emergency hold criteria during the same event.
Disability diagnoses guide court placement pathways
People with an intellectual and developmental disability or a neurocognitive disorder follow the protective-placement law rather than the usual mental health commitment law. Courts may convert civil commitment to enhanced protective placement and change its terms on the human services department's recommendation. A court may retain jurisdiction and move a protective-placement case into the mental health commitment process when that process is more advisable. That option applies when the person lacks the listed disability or disorder, or also has a mental health disorder.
Disability-related commitments shift to protective care
Courts must convert some civil commitments to enhanced protective placement for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities or neurocognitive disorders. Conversion applies when the person does not qualify for termination of commitment. No other mental health disorder can substantially contribute to danger to self or others, or grave disability. The court can modify the placement terms.
Dismissed defendants get help, records remain
When an incompetent defendant’s case is dismissed after all applicable stays end, the court can request Bridges Court Liaison help. The liaison can help plan and coordinate services. Courts must require state human services to offer case-management services and supports to defendants released from its Article 8.5 custody after dismissal. Those dismissed charges cannot be sealed under section 24-72-705.
Evidence rules for forced mental health treatment
Short-term or long-term involuntary treatment requires an offer of voluntary care that the person does not accept. There must also be reasonable grounds to believe the person will not stay in voluntary treatment. Clear and convincing evidence must show either a persistent mental health disorder or a disorder causing dangerousness or grave disability. Evaluators must consider statements, health and outlook, treatment choices, conduct, history, basic needs, and the chance of recurrence. They must seek relevant past information when possible and assess people in jail or hospitals as though living in the community.
Forced medication hearings include lawyer protections
Treating doctors can seek court orders for treatment or forced medication when people refuse medication in the covered criminal-court or custody cases. A court near the facility can hear the case with permission from the committing court. The court must appoint a lawyer if none is appointed and hold a hearing within 10 days. When the facility-county court hears the case, the initiating or committing county must reimburse reasonable costs or handle the proceeding itself.
Long-term protective care can restrict rights
After extended protective placement, a court can order long-term placement for up to six months and renew it in six-month terms. Facility professionals and the court or jury must find continued need, and state agencies must identify a provider or placement. The order gives custody to the state behavioral health agency, which can delegate physical custody and care coordination. A court can restrict a requested legal right only after finding the person cannot competently exercise it. The protective-placement system sunsets July 1, 2031.
Outpatient patients gain rights but face transport
Outpatient facilities must actively reach out to engage people in treatment. Courts can order transport when a person refuses treatment or court-ordered medication and their psychiatric condition worsens, without finding imminent danger. Transport must go to an appropriate, least-restrictive designated facility and be coordinated with the behavioral health agency and certification provider. People with short- or long-term certification can request voluntary status and move to challenge certification at any time, subject to the law's limits. Voluntary status can be denied for reasonable concerns they will leave the program; these two rights exclude people civilly committed under section 27-65-201.
Outpatient treatment extensions with legal safeguards
Courts must immediately appoint a lawyer when outpatient certification is filed, including representation in appeals; waiver requires informed consent in court. You may request review at any time, and the court must hold it within 10 days. A hearing is required for a challenge or missing provider steps; no appearance is required when you do not contest, a provider is identified, and contact occurs within seven days after the provider begins holding the certification. When more treatment is needed, the professional must file an extension at least 30 days before the original certification expires. Each extension lasts no more than three months, includes a right to a hearing, and keeps the appointed lawyer unless replaced.
Protective care adds limits and rights
Protective placement requires clear and convincing evidence of a neurocognitive disorder and danger to self or others. There must also be reasonable grounds to believe the person will not stay in voluntary treatment; incarcerated people are assessed as if in the community. After a criminal court finds incompetency and refers the case, specified professionals, guardians, or agency representatives can petition for placement. A treating professional must provide a supporting opinion based on an evaluation within three months, and a care placement must agree to accept the person. Placement lasts up to three months, with up to three more months for treatment; appointed counsel, challenges, jury requests, and court review are available. The new protective-placement system sunsets July 1, 2031.
Safer community placements with court safeguards
Civil commitment placements must provide appropriate care in the least restrictive setting that protects victims and the community. The human services director chooses state facilities for court-ordered inpatient care and may transfer people for care or safety. Courts review civil placement changes outside agency-directed inpatient placement, and enhanced placement changes involving community care or moves into or out of inpatient care. Reviews consider treatment needs, safety, the person's views, community options, resources, and professional advice; civil placement conditions must be necessary and possible to follow. First community placements require court approval and notice allowing victims and the original prosecutor to be heard or object. For protective-placement transfers, courts may order law enforcement or secure transport when treatment requires a move and safety requires secure transportation.
State placement duties include custody enforcement
After commitment findings or an accepted agreement, courts identify the primary diagnosis; ordinary civil commitment places the person in human services custody. Intellectual and developmental disabilities or neurocognitive disorders instead follow the enhanced protective-placement pathway, with the health financing department deciding placement. Courts must order proposed inpatient care without further review; residents can leave only with staff accompaniment and supervision. Facilities must be agency-operated or contracted, agree to enforce court orders, and receive professional approval for medical suitability and safety. If no provider accepts, the court must set review within 35 days and require human services, consulting the behavioral health agency, to identify an immediately available provider. Courts can review placements, order information sharing or transport, appoint guardians, and enforce orders through reasonable force, arrest warrants, or contempt.
Treatment reviews include protected second opinions
Courts can require treatment providers to report regularly on progress and information needed for supervision. For good cause, courts can order a psychologist or psychiatrist to examine progress and commitment or placement criteria. A timely second-opinion request qualifies when an annual report says the person does not meet criteria to end the order. The person must cooperate, but examination statements cannot be used in a criminal prosecution.
Evidence safeguards for defendants’ competency hearings
The law sets participation and evidence rules for hearings about competency and whether competency can be restored. Lay witnesses may describe observations, conversations, and opinions; courts may question witnesses. Experts must provide the records and test results supporting their conclusions at the hearing. Competency-related findings cannot be used on issues raised by not-guilty or insanity pleas, or the specified impaired-mental-condition defense from before July 1, 1995. Prosecutors seeking the specified opinion about uncharged acts must disclose those acts to the defendant.
Mental health case records become private
When a mental health certification or civil commitment ends, the clerk must immediately seal the case and remove the person's name from the index. After short-term treatment release, the facility must notify the clerk within five days, triggering immediate sealing. Courts can reopen records for good cause or specified later proceedings, including long-term certification. The person or an authorized requester can obtain records with the person's signed release or a court order.
More coordination for defendants needing evaluations
A court district can assign a Bridges court liaison by the date it orders a defendant's competency evaluation. Assignment is allowed, not required. When either party requests an evaluation, the court must share all report-return court dates with the responsible attorney and liaison.
More guardian support in placement cases
Criminal courts and civil courts supervising commitment or enhanced protective placement can appoint emergency guardians where the related law authorizes appointment. After prosecutors file written notice seeking commitment or placement, the defendant, Bridges court liaison, or human services department may request one. The court decides whether to appoint the guardian. An existing legal guardian appointed under state guardianship law may ask to join a protective-placement case about their ward. Through a lawyer, the guardian may present evidence and views about the outcome.
More notice rights for crime victims
Victim-rights protections cover civil commitment and enhanced protective-placement trials, hearings to end placement, and the person's transfer, release, or escape. These added stages apply to victims connected to the specified cases. District attorneys may share protective-placement information with victims when needed to follow Colorado's Victim Rights Act. That permission does not allow general disclosure of placement records.
Privacy and challenges for protective placements
Protective-placement records must remain separate and nonpublic; clerks must immediately seal them and remove index names when placement ends. Records may reopen for good cause or a later long-term placement petition; access requires a signed release or court order. Detained people may file a proper habeas corpus petition in an authorized court to challenge detention, without automatic release. After consulting the person’s lawyer, courts may appoint advisory examiners whose findings are not presumed correct. Lay people may submit sworn statements describing their relationship, how long they have known the person, their address, and views.
Review rights before defendants’ civil cases
Courts must consider a defendant’s objections before ordering a county attorney to start a civil case. The written order must explain the facts and legal basis, identify the proceeding, and include related orders. It must set a filing deadline no later than 21 days after the order. A county attorney or appointed emergency guardian may object within seven days after receiving the order and request a hearing. The court must promptly hear the objection and may cancel, change, or uphold the order.
Coordinated placements for people with disabilities
Courts may keep a case but switch to the disability placement process when the mental-health commitment process is improper. This requires an intellectual or developmental disability or neurocognitive disorder, with no other mental health disorder. After a short-term protective-placement petition, the state health financing department must coordinate care and seek an inpatient provider unless a suitable, willing provider is already identified; it must update the court in writing. After discharge or termination, the Behavioral Health Administration must refer people to eligible home and community services and diligently help connect them, without guaranteeing services. The Part 5 protective-placement system sunsets July 1, 2031.
Crisis teams consulted before forced transport
Before an involuntary emergency transport, an officer or emergency medical provider must access a behavioral health crisis response team. This duty applies when the team is known to be available in time. It does not apply to voluntary transport.
Patients get clearer treatment handoffs
Before discharging a short-term outpatient treatment patient, the professional must notify the state behavioral health agency. On request, the program must provide discharge instructions within seven days to the patient, attorney, and applicable guardian. Before a transfer, the program must send treatment records to the next provider at least 24 hours ahead.
Safer handoffs for outpatient treatment patients
For certified short-term outpatient treatment, the approved professional overseeing care can discharge the person by signing the discharge. The professional must notify the Behavioral Health Administration first. If requested, discharge instructions must be available to the person, their attorney, and any legal guardian within seven days. Treatment records must reach the receiving facility or outpatient provider at least 24 hours before transfer.
More filing options for treatment cases
Mental health petitions generally may be filed where the person lives or is physically present for treatment. Protective-placement petitions may be filed where the person lives or receives inpatient care. For incompetent criminal defendants or enhanced placement transfers, additional options include the person's location just before filing or the referring criminal court's county. Courts may combine specified mental health proceedings referred by multiple criminal courts when that promotes convenience and justice. The law also sets filing locations for minors' treatment objections, emergency holds, short-term certifications, and civil commitments.
More funding for courts and guardianship
For fiscal year 2026–27, the law provides $6.568033 million in general-fund money for courts and related offices. This includes $4.740122 million for courts and administration, $648,860 for public defenders, and $206,345 for alternate defense conflict-of-interest contracts. Public Guardianship receives $513,808, and Bridges of Colorado receives $458,898; all funding is limited to the stated purposes. The Judicial Department must use appropriated money to pay appointed lawyers for eligible Article 10 cases, through case payments, grants, or contracts. Public Guardianship may adjust guardian, case-aide, and support staffing for competency referrals, emergency and long-term guardianship, and transitions to civil placement and services.
Colorado funds Medicaid and specialized care
For 2025–26, Colorado provides $535,934: $485,934 for Wheat Ridge intermediate care and $50,000 for contracted skilled nursing beds. For 2026–27, Medicaid medical and long-term care receive $1.751732 million in state money, with an equal federal amount anticipated. The resulting $3.503464 million is reappropriated to human services for specified Pueblo services, nursing beds, and Wheat Ridge care. Health financing staff receive $133,795 in state funds, with $133,794 in federal funds anticipated, based on three additional full-time-equivalent positions. These funds support services and staff, not direct household checks or new Medicaid eligibility.
Medicaid mental health services get review
Colorado's health financing department and partners must continuously review services for Medicaid members with serious mental illness. The review explores better financing, benefits, and care delivery, including less restrictive appropriate settings and fewer avoidable high-cost services. It does not guarantee a specific service or level of care.
More coordination for defendants awaiting treatment
Courts may delay restoration orders for eligible defendants found incompetent so Bridges can assess their care needs; both parties must agree. If outpatient services have not started, providers must notify the court, state agencies, and court liaison within 21 days of the order. The human services department must notify the court within 14 days after finding timely services unavailable, prompting review of interim services. Appointed Bridges liaisons receive service-availability updates every 28 days. The department must publicly post evaluation and treatment policies, admission and wait-list rules, bed counts, wait times and calculation methods, and projected new-bed opening dates and types.
More funding for disability care placements
Colorado provides $3.577898 million from its capital construction fund in 2025–26 to renovate a Pueblo mental health hospital unit. The unit provides enhanced protective placements for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Unspent funds remain available for this work from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2029. The state health care financing department can raise nursing facility and regional center payments for Part 5 protective placements. Increases require available funding and federal approval; the department must set provider qualifications and payment schedules to support least-restrictive placements.
Patient rights remain limited in jail
The patient rights covered by this provision may be restricted while a person is lawfully jailed on a criminal charge. Restrictions must be allowed by law. The provision does not list any additional restrictions.
Placement process rules end in 2031
On July 1, 2031, the law repeals the section governing the specified protective-placement and civil-commitment process. This repeal ends that section's rules, not all state commitment law. The provision does not identify a replacement framework.
Commitment and protective placement laws sunset
The law repeals the identified civil commitment section on July 1, 2031. It also repeals Part 5's protective-placement framework on that date. That framework covers people whose primary diagnosis is an intellectual or developmental disability or a neurocognitive disorder. The provided provisions do not identify a replacement framework or transition process.
Some misdemeanor defendants can skip restoration
Courts may skip restoration services and dismiss charges after ordering the county attorney to start a civil proceeding. This option applies when the highest charge is a misdemeanor outside the law's separate mandatory-dismissal rule. The dismissal does not prevent prosecutors from bringing the charges again.
Agencies share records for treatment cases
State human services and behavioral health agencies may receive relevant records for short-term involuntary treatment cases. The behavioral health agency may also receive and share relevant records in outpatient certification cases. State agencies, providers, and parties may share needed information in short-term protective-placement cases. Records can include evaluations and criminal justice information; medical and mental health records remain subject to the stated waiver or privilege findings. Human services may discuss relevant short-term treatment information with the parties.
Care coordination and shared defendant records
When the specified competency-court order leads to a civil petition, the petitioner must notify the criminal court. The Behavioral Health Administration must provide care coordination directly or through a contractor. After a court orders a civil case, prosecutors and human services must send needed medical, competency, and restoration records to the county attorney or emergency guardian. While the related criminal case remains pending, the defendant, defense lawyer, and prosecutor may access civil-case dates, status, outcomes, and specified prior orders. That accessed information remains confidential unless another law permits disclosure.
Care records stay private with exceptions
Protective-placement care records remain confidential, with exceptions for professional care, authorized releases, benefit claims, court needs, and protected research. Family members and involved caregivers may receive listed information about diagnosis, treatment, medication, hospitalization, and discharge; parents may receive information about minor children. Research requires state health financing rules and researcher confidentiality oaths, and cannot disclose identifying patient information. Sealing mental health or placement court records does not bar authorized parties, agencies, or professionals from using lawfully held copies unless another law forbids it; unsealing requires good cause. When an officer helped start an emergency hold, courts, attorneys, or providers may share available updates with the officer's agency without court authorization. Updates are limited to treatment or placement criteria, release or ongoing care, and further proceedings.
Court safeguards for forced medication
For defendants in state custody for competency evaluation or restoration, forced medication requires meeting constitutional standards. The court where the defendant is located must hear the petition. The state human services department must send the petition and order to the required court, prosecutor, and defendant or representative. A physician must assess and document the defendant’s mental status before medication begins. When another county holds the hearing, the committing county must repay its reasonable hearing costs.
Extra review before ending involuntary treatment
After a reasonable observation and treatment period, the professional in charge and state behavioral health agency decide whether short-term involuntary treatment can end. They must find that treatment has provided sufficient benefit and the person no longer meets treatment criteria. Usually, two professionals must separately evaluate the person and agree that the criteria are no longer met. This two-person rule does not apply when the provider employs and contracts with only one professional.
Phone access during emergency mental health detention
People detained under emergency transport rules can keep and use a cell phone. Care or security staff can restrict access if it destabilizes the person or creates danger. A licensed provider involved in care or transport must find those grounds before other covered rights are denied. Denials must be recorded, with records available on request to the person, their lawyer, or a lay person.
Placement release requests face professional review
Professional approval to end protective placement requires two independent opinions that placement criteria no longer apply, including one from the main treating professional. The two-person rule does not apply when the provider employs and contracts with only one professional. People may request enhanced-placement termination in writing with a supporting professional opinion, unless the one-year restriction bars another termination trial. Unless the court denies the request without a hearing, county and originating district attorneys have 14 days to object or request an evaluation at their expense; no objections require termination. The person must cooperate with a requested evaluation, both attorneys’ requests count as one evaluation, and the report must reach counsel and the court within 14 days of receipt.
Regional center access without court orders
Colorado regional centers can admit a person without a court order during an emergency or for temporary respite care. They can also do so when the person meets enhanced protective-placement criteria. These exceptions allow admission without first obtaining court approval.
Treatment bed priority and civil access
People with covered short-term or extended short-term certifications, or outpatient long-term treatment, get priority for residential mental health beds. That priority excludes beds serving people covered by home- and community-based waivers, and puts other applicants behind priority patients. Separately, state human services must plan to shift covered renovated beds to civil patients once the overdue inpatient competency-restoration waitlist ends. The same requirement applies when that waitlist is reasonably expected to end within one year. The department must immediately notify the Joint Budget Committee, then shift all covered beds within one year of that notice.
Counties fund transfers and provide assistance
For treatment and protective-placement cases moved outside the person’s home county or starting county, the transferring county must cover reasonable costs or handle the case itself. These are county obligations, not household charges. In counties with 50,000 or fewer people, public attorneys must appear in mental-health commitment cases unless another law changes that duty. They must help nonprofessionals seeking evaluations and gather and lawfully share case information; protective-placement cases also require information gathering and sharing. Substitute attorneys must be qualified and approved by the district court.
Safer community placements with defendant protections
Community placement requires a court finding that risks can be managed, plus victim notice and a chance to be heard. Courts must choose the least restrictive suitable setting that protects victims and the community and provides care and supervision. Among equally restrictive suitable options, courts must choose the setting human services finds best suited to treatment and supervision. When inpatient care is not proposed, courts must review safety and care needs, hear the parties and any emergency guardian, and give the required weight to medical recommendations. Courts must order needed safety steps, including reasonable victim-contact limits, but cannot impose unnecessary conditions or conditions the defendant cannot follow.
Required training for new competency evaluators
The state must partner with an accredited Colorado college to provide rigorous forensic evaluation training. New competency evaluators must complete training in competency, sanity, report writing, expert testimony, and related skills. The human services department must create an exemption process for specified certified or certification-eligible forensic psychiatrists and psychologists. The state must also run an evaluator support and quality-oversight program.
State shifts money to construction fund
Colorado transfers $3.577898 million from its general fund to its capital construction fund. The transfer is due three days after the effective date of the subsection ordering it. This moves state money between funds rather than providing a direct household payment.
Sponsors & Cosponsors
Sponsors
Cleave Simpson
Republican • Senate
Jarvis Caldwell
Republican • House
Judy Amabile
Democratic • Senate
Julie McCluskie
Democratic • House
Cosponsors
Andrew Boesenecker
Democratic • House
Ava Flanell
Republican • House
Anthony Hartsook
Republican • House
Amy Paschal
Democratic • House
Alex Valdez
Democratic • House
Bob Marshall
Democratic • House
Brianna Titone
Democratic • House
Carlos Barron
Republican • House
Chad Clifford
Democratic • House
Cecelia Espenoza
Democratic • House
Dan Woog
Republican • House
Eliza Hamrick
Democratic • House
Emily Sirota
Democratic • House
Jennifer Bacon
Democratic • House
Jamie Jackson
Democratic • House
Junie Joseph
Democratic • House
Jacque Phillips
Democratic • House
Kyle Brown
Democratic • House
Karen McCormick
Democratic • House
Kenny Nguyen
Democratic • House
Katie Stewart
Democratic • House
Lori Garcia Sander
Republican • House
Lorena Garcia
Democratic • House
Lindsay Gilchrist
Democratic • House
Lori Goldstein
Democratic • House
Lesley Smith
Democratic • House
Larry Don Suckla
Republican • House
Monica Duran
Democratic • House
Meg Froelich
Democratic • House
Mandy Lindsay
Democratic • House
Meghan Lukens
Democratic • House
Matthew Martinez
Democratic • House
Manny Rutinel
Democratic • House
Matt Soper
Republican • House
Naquetta Ricks
Democratic • House
Regina English
Democratic • House
Ryan Gonzalez
Republican • House
Rebecca Keltie
Republican • House
Rebekah Stewart
Democratic • House
Rick Taggart
Republican • House
Sean Camacho
Democratic • House
Sheila Lieder
Democratic • House
Tisha Mauro
Democratic • House
Tammy Story
Democratic • House
Ty Winter
Republican • House
Barbara Kirkmeyer
Republican • Senate
Byron Pelton
Republican • Senate
Cathy Kipp
Democratic • Senate
Chris Kolker
Democratic • Senate
Iman Jodeh
Democratic • Senate
John Carson
Republican • Senate
James Coleman
Democratic • Senate
Julie Gonzales
Democratic • Senate
Janice Marchman
Democratic • Senate
Janice Rich
Republican • Senate
Katie Wallace
Democratic • Senate
Lynda Zamora Wilson
Republican • Senate
Mark Baisley
Republican • Senate
Matt Ball
Democratic • Senate
Marc Catlin
Republican • Senate
Rod Pelton
Republican • Senate
Scott Bright
Republican • Senate
Roll Call Votes
Senate vote • 5/11/2026
House amendments: Repass
Yes: 34 • No: 0
Senate vote • 5/11/2026
House amendments: Concur
Yes: 34 • No: 0
House vote • 5/7/2026
Third reading: Amd (l.090)
Yes: 62 • No: 2
House vote • 5/7/2026
Third reading: Amd (l.091)
Yes: 64 • No: 0
House vote • 5/7/2026
Third reading: Perm
Yes: 64 • No: 0
House vote • 5/7/2026
Third reading: Bill
Yes: 64 • No: 0
House vote • 5/7/2026
Third reading: Amd (l.092)
Yes: 64 • No: 0
House vote • 5/1/2026
Refer Senate Bill 26-149, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole.
Yes: 11 • No: 0
House vote • 4/29/2026
Refer Senate Bill 26-149, as amended, to the Committee on Appropriations.
Yes: 11 • No: 0
Senate vote • 4/24/2026
Third reading: Amend (l.056)
Yes: 33 • No: 0
Senate vote • 4/24/2026
Third reading: Bill
Yes: 33 • No: 0
Senate vote • 4/22/2026
Adopt amendment J.001
Yes: 4 • No: 3
Senate vote • 4/22/2026
Refer Senate Bill 26-149, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole.
Yes: 6 • No: 1
Senate vote • 4/20/2026
Refer Senate Bill 26-149, as amended, to the Committee on Appropriations.
Yes: 7 • No: 0
Actions Timeline
Governor Signed
5/21/2026HouseSigned by the President of the Senate
5/20/2026SenateSigned by the Speaker of the House
5/20/2026HouseSent to the Governor
5/20/2026HouseSenate Considered House Amendments - Result was to Concur - Repass
5/11/2026SenateHouse Third Reading Passed with Amendments - Floor
5/7/2026HouseHouse Third Reading Laid Over Daily - No Amendments
5/4/2026HouseHouse Committee on Appropriations Refer Amended to House Committee of the Whole
5/1/2026HouseHouse Second Reading Special Order - Passed with Amendments - Committee, Floor
5/1/2026HouseHouse Committee on Judiciary Refer Amended to Appropriations
4/29/2026HouseSenate Third Reading Passed with Amendments - Floor
4/24/2026SenateIntroduced In House - Assigned to Judiciary
4/24/2026HouseSenate Second Reading Special Order - Passed with Amendments - Committee, Floor
4/23/2026SenateSenate Committee on Appropriations Refer Amended to Senate Committee of the Whole
4/22/2026SenateSenate Committee on Judiciary Refer Amended to Appropriations
4/20/2026SenateSenate Committee on Judiciary Lay Over Unamended - Amendment(s) Failed
4/13/2026SenateIntroduced In Senate - Assigned to Judiciary
3/26/2026Senate
Bill Text
Engrossed
Final Act
House Judiciary Preamend
Introduced
Reengrossed
Rerevised
Revised
Senate Appropriations Preamend
Senate Judiciary Preamend
Signed Act
Related Bills
HB26-1298, Background Checks for Child Welfare Placements
HB26-1250, Procedures Related to Civil Asset Forfeiture
HB26-1414, Medical Record Requests
HB26-1430, Transportation Funding Adjustments
SB26-155, Increase Access Homeowner's Insurance Enterprise
HB26-1429, County Administration Public Assistance Programs