The bill continues the Colorado commission on criminal and juvenile justice (commission) until September 1, 2024 . The bill amends the legislative findings and declaration for the commission. The bill amends the commission membership as follows:
- Replaces the executive director of the department of human services, or the executive director's designee, with the commissioner of the behavioral health administration, or the commissioner's designee;
- Replaces the executive director of the department of higher education, or the executive director's designee, with a representative of higher education with expertise in criminal justice;
- Eliminates an expert in juvenile justice issues;
- Adds a second criminal defense attorney, and requires that one must be from a rural judicial district;
- Severs one existing position for a community corrections provider, community corrections board member, or a behavioral, mental health, or substance use disorder treatment provider into 2 positions: One for a behavioral, mental health, or substance use disorder treatment provider and one who represents a community corrections provider or a community corrections board; and
- Eliminates the 2 at-large members and substitutes one member who works with a community-based reentry program.
The bill amends the commission's mission and duties. The bill requires the division of criminal justice (division) to provide a translator to provide oral translation in the Spanish language for every meeting and written translation into Spanish of every publicly available document. The division is required, upon request, to provide a translator to provide oral translation or written translation of a publicly available document in a requested language. The bill requires the commission to provide the opportunity for all members or interested persons to provide topics for study to be submitted to the governor.
