Bill
HB 25-1146
Boosts juvenile detention capacity by raising temporary emergency beds from 22 to 39 and standardizing annual bed allocation across districts.
Status and timeline
- Introduced: January 29, 2025
- Governor signed: June 2, 2025
- Primary sponsors: Rep. Shannon Bird, Rep. Dan Woog; Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer and Sen. Judy Amabile (also multi‑member bipartisan cosponsorship)
- Amends Colorado statutes: sections 19‑2.5‑1405, 19‑2.5‑1515, and 19‑2.5‑1407.3
- The Act states it makes an appropriation (amount not specified in the provided text).
Purpose
- To ensure juvenile detention bed capacity is available in proportion to annual detention projections by (1) clarifying and expanding the bed allocation and reallocation process, (2) requiring local planning and guidelines to manage a fixed cap on beds, and (3) increasing temporary emergency bed capacity and establishing rules for their use.
Key provisions
- Working group composition and duties (amends 19‑2.5‑1405): the executive director of the Department of Human Services and the State Court Administrator (or their designees), in consultation with the Division of Criminal Justice, the Office of State Planning and Budgeting, the Colorado District Attorneys’ Council, and law enforcement, must form a working group that will:
- Annually allocate and, as necessary, reallocate the number of juvenile detention beds to each catchment area (based on the statewide bed limit established elsewhere).
- May allocate or reallocate beds within catchment areas to judicial districts, develop mechanisms for collaborative use or temporary loans of beds between districts, and develop emergency release and placement guidelines to prevent exceeding allocated beds.
- Judicial district planning (amends 19‑2.5‑1515): each judicial district must annually prepare a plan to manage its limit on juvenile detention beds, incorporating working‑group emergency release and placement guidelines, and ensure the district does not exceed its allocated number.
- Temporary emergency beds (amends 19‑2.5‑1407.3): increases statewide temporary emergency detention beds from 22 to 39. Temporary emergency beds do not count against the statutory bed limit. The Department shall allocate and reallocate these beds to catchment areas.
- Conditions for use: a judicial district may use an available temporary emergency bed within its catchment only if (summary) the juvenile meets statutory detention criteria, all allocated local beds are fully used, no non‑emergency bed is available at the initial receiving facility or within the catchment (plus other loan/reversion and services‑unavailable conditions).
- Petition process: a district attorney or county human/social services may petition the court by the next business day to exceed the district’s allocated beds until the detainee’s hearing. A court may authorize exceeding the cap up to the number of temporary emergency beds allocated to the catchment if it finds a legal basis for detention and that no beds are available locally.
Who is affected
- Judicial districts, juvenile detention facilities, catchment area administrators, state Department of Human Services, courts, district attorneys, county human/social services, law enforcement, and juveniles subject to detention. Operational impacts include bed allocation logistics, inter‑district bed lending, emergency release protocols, and increased temporary bed capacity.
Potential impacts
- Provides clearer statewide and local structures to match detention capacity with demand and projections.
- Increases emergency bed capacity (22 → 39), potentially reducing the need for transporting detained juveniles out of area when local beds are full.
- Imposes planning and guideline requirements on districts and creates a court‑mediated pathway to use temporary beds when strict local criteria are met.
- Administrative burden: requires ongoing allocation/reallocation, reporting, and implementation of emergency release and placement practices.
For full statutory language and procedural details, consult the enacted bill text and the updated Colorado Revised Statutes sections cited above.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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