House Unanimously Passes Bipartisan Bill to Reform Competency Laws, Improve Public Safety

DENVER, CO – The House today passed bipartisan legislation to reform Colorado’s competency laws, increase access to treatment and improve public safety. SB26-149, also sponsored by Minority Leader Jarvis Caldwell, unanimously passed by a vote of 64-0.

“We are addressing gaps in Colorado’s justice system to ensure people have access to the behavioral healthcare that they need and to keep our communities safe,” said Speaker Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon. “Our legislation creates a new constitutional pathway for individuals who are unlikely to be restored and pose a risk, so they can access crucial behavioral health resources instead of being released. Modernizing treatment and coordination between agencies will improve our justice system and public safety across the state. This has been an extremely difficult and complicated issue to address, and I am grateful for the work of Senator Amabile, Minority Leader Caldwell, Colorado’s district attorneys, and the Office of the State Public Defender, who worked so hard to deliver this bipartisan consensus." 

SB26-149 would create new pathways for defendants deemed permanently incompetent to proceed to ensure appropriate access to treatment and prevent individuals deemed extremely dangerous from being released into the community.

In 2022, Colorado passed bipartisan legislation to bring the state into compliance with the constitutional right, established in the 1960 U.S. Supreme Court case Dusky v. United States–that those facing criminal charges must be able to aid in their own defense. Under this constitutional right, when a defendant is found incompetent and unlikely to be restored, the judge must dismiss the case.

Currently, Colorado lacks sufficient processes to ensure that individuals who are extremely dangerous receive adequate treatment and are not released back into the community immediately after their case is dismissed. In recent years, several individuals deemed incompetent to proceed have reoffended after being released.

This bill makes several changes to the process of finding a defendant incompetent to proceed, including eliminating automatic presumptions that have led to some cases being dismissed and shifting the burden of proof for certain felony crimes to the district or county attorneys to prove that the defendant is unrestorable. SB26-149 would also give judges new tools to help defendants earlier in the process, such as the ability to appoint a care coordinator. 

The bill would create two new civil pathways for the small subset of very dangerous individuals who are deemed permanently incompetent to proceed. It creates an option for civil commitment for those with psychiatric disorders (e.g. schizophrenia), and it creates a separate option for enhanced protective placement for those with neurocognitive disorders (e.g. dementia) or intellectual and developmental disorders. 

These reforms aim to improve the process for declaring incompetency, increase access to appropriate treatment, protect public safety, and uphold Coloradans’ constitutional rights.