Bipartisan Bill to Identify Outstanding Warrants, Reduce Recidivism Passes Committee

DENVER, CO – The Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday passed bipartisan legislation sponsored by Senator Matt Ball, D-Denver, to identify outstanding warrants and help reduce recidivism. 

Cosponsored by Senator Rod Pelton, R-Cheyenne Wells, HB25-1116 would require the Department of Corrections (DOC) to search for and notify relevant parties of an outstanding warrant or pending Colorado court cases at certain points when a person is in custody.

“Right now, our process to search for and notify people of outstanding warrants is inefficient and wastes taxpayer money,” said Ball. “This bill is about increasing efficiency in these search processes to allow Coloradans to address their existing warrants – typically for low-level offenses – while they are already incarcerated. This will help reduce recidivism and ensure that Coloradans leaving the justice system and re-entering their communities are better equipped to do so successfully.”

The bill would require the DOC to search for these records upon initial evaluation of the Time Computation Unit and between three and eight months before a community corrections eligibility date.

The bill would also require the DOC to establish policies that address requests for additional searches by the public defender liaison to the department. If an outstanding warrant or pending case is discovered during a search, the DOC would be required to notify the offender, a public defender liaison, and the court that issued the warrant.

HB25-1116 now moves to the Senate floor for further consideration. Track the bill’s progress HERE.