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i_jailfunding_2017a_2017-09-11t13:02:28z7 Hearing Summary

Date: 09/11/2017

Location: SCR 357

Final

Consideration of Bill Draft Requests



COUNTY COURTHOUSE AND COUNTY JAIL FUNDING AND OVERCROWDING SOLUTIONS


Votes: View--> Action Taken:
Request a bill draft to address medical costs for

Request a bill draft to create a court date remind

Request a bill draft to create a loan program usin

Request a bill draft to create a "tele-justice" pr

Request a bill draft to double the Court Security

Request a bill draft to increase DOC reimbursement

Request a bill draft to increase the number of Par

Request a bill draft to lease courthouse space fro

Request a bill draft to provide a state match for

Request a bill draft to provide facilitators for c

Request a bill draft to reform bond and pre-trial

Request a bill draft to reform parole tails. The m

Request a resolution be drafted concerning federal
Pass Without Objection

Pass Without Objection

Pass Without Objection

Pass Without Objection

Pass Without Objection

PASS

PASS

PASS

Pass Without Objection

Pass Without Objection

Pass Without Objection

Pass Without Objection

Pass Without Objection







05:01 PM -- Consideration of Bill Draft Requests



Senator Coram requested a bill be drafted to create an account, modeled after the Colorado Water Conservation Board process, for county courthouses and jails. This account would be allocated $20,000 a year from the Marijuana Cash Fund for loans to help counties secure matching funds. Committee members discussed the request.

BILL: Consideration of Bill Draft Requests
TIME: 05:08:04 PM
MOVED: Coram
MOTION: Request a bill draft to create a loan program using the Colorado Water Conservation Board model. The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Beckman
Crowder
Fields
Michaelson Jenet
Benavidez
Coram
YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 REMOTE PARTICIPATION: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection





05:08 PM



Senator Fields requested a bill be drafted to reform cash bail and pre-trial services. Representative Benavidez suggested that the bill prohibit financial bond for certain crime classifications, such as misdemeanors and municipal offenses. Committee members discussed the request.

BILL: Consideration of Bill Draft Requests
TIME: 05:11:35 PM
MOVED: Fields
MOTION: Request a bill draft to reform bond and pre-trial services. The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Beckman
Crowder
Fields
Michaelson Jenet
Benavidez
Coram
YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 REMOTE PARTICIPATION: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection





05:11 PM



Senator Crowder requested a bill be drafted that requires the state to lease courthouse space from counties based on 2014 costs. Committee members discussed the request.

BILL: Consideration of Bill Draft Requests
TIME: 05:13:15 PM
MOVED: Crowder
MOTION: Request a bill draft to lease courthouse space from counties. The motion passed on a vote of 5-1.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Beckman
Yes
Crowder
Yes
Fields
Yes
Michaelson Jenet
Yes
Benavidez
No
Coram
Yes
YES: 5 NO: 1 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 REMOTE PARTICIPATION: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS





05:13 PM



Senator Crowder requested a bill be drafted to double the Department of Corrections reimbursement rate to county jails. Committee members discussed adding a mechanism to adjust the rate over time, and developing a process to determine the actual costs of housing inmates at county jails and setting a reimbursement rate accordingly. Committee members discussed the requests.

BILL: Consideration of Bill Draft Requests
TIME: 05:16:40 PM
MOVED: Crowder
MOTION: Request a bill draft to increase DOC reimbursement to county jails. The motion passed on a vote of 5-1.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Beckman
Yes
Crowder
Yes
Fields
Yes
Michaelson Jenet
Yes
Benavidez
No
Coram
Yes
YES: 5 NO: 1 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 REMOTE PARTICIPATION: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS





05:22 PM



Committee members discussed drafting a bill to create incentives for counties to use pre-trial services and criminal justice coordinating councils. They also discussed making the use of a pre-trial assessment tool mandatory instead of optional, and facilitating the development of an assessment tool for coordinating councils. They agreed to address these ideas in the previously requested bill draft on reforming bond and pre-trial services and a future bill concerning criminal justice coordinating councils.



Representative Michaelson Jenet requested a bill be drafted to create a "tele-justice" program, accounting for concerns with rural broadband access. Committee members discussed the request.

BILL: Consideration of Bill Draft Requests
TIME: 05:27:02 PM
MOVED: Michaelson Jenet
MOTION: Request a bill draft to create a "tele-justice" program and help improve rural broadband access where necessary. The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Beckman
Crowder
Fields
Michaelson Jenet
Benavidez
Coram
YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 REMOTE PARTICIPATION: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection





05:27 PM



Representative Benavidez requested a bill be drafted to require the state court administrator to create a statewide system for text, phone, or email reminders about upcoming court dates. Representative Beckman suggested that the state create an application or program that counties could use for this purpose. Committee members discussed the requests.

BILL: Consideration of Bill Draft Requests
TIME: 05:30:30 PM
MOVED: Benavidez
MOTION: Request a bill draft to create a court date reminder system for county use. The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Beckman
Crowder
Fields
Michaelson Jenet
Benavidez
Coram
YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 REMOTE PARTICIPATION: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection





05:31 PM



Senator Fields requested a bill be drafted to review parole tails and limit them in a way that protects public safety. Committee members discussed the request, and the possibility that the Sentencing in the Criminal Justice System Interim Study Committee might also be addressing this issue.

BILL: Consideration of Bill Draft Requests
TIME: 05:31:52 PM
MOVED: Fields
MOTION: Request a bill draft to reform parole tails. The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Beckman
Crowder
Fields
Michaelson Jenet
Benavidez
Coram
YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 REMOTE PARTICIPATION: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection





05:32 PM



Representatives Beckman and Benavidez returned to the discussion of criminal justice coordinating councils. They requested a bill be drafted to provide facilitators for these councils, using a child welfare system program as a model. They discussed providing funds for judicial districts or counties to hire these facilitators. Committee members discussed the request.



Representative Beckman discussed a request to draft a bill allowing the state to support county debt service on courthouse and jail facilities through a 50 percent match, using Great Outdoors Colorado as a model. She agreed to incorporate this idea into the committee's first requested bill to create a loan program.

BILL: Consideration of Bill Draft Requests
TIME: 05:40:46 PM
MOVED: Beckman
MOTION: Request a bill draft to provide facilitators for criminal justice coordinating councils. The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Beckman
Crowder
Fields
Michaelson Jenet
Benavidez
Coram
YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 REMOTE PARTICIPATION: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL: Consideration of Bill Draft Requests
TIME: 05:41:02 PM
MOVED: Beckman
MOTION: Request a bill draft to provide a state match for county lease payments. The committee agreed to incorporate this request into a previous request. The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Beckman
Crowder
Fields
Michaelson Jenet
Benavidez
Coram
YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 REMOTE PARTICIPATION: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection





05:41 PM



Representative Beckman requested a bill be drafted to have the state provide catastrophic health insurance for jail inmates. Representative Benavidez proposed using state Medicaid funds toward inmate care. She also proposed a resolution encouraging the federal government to change Medicaid rules to allow inmates who are not convicted of a crime to receive Medicaid.

BILL: Consideration of Bill Draft Requests
TIME: 05:43:43 PM
MOVED: Beckman
MOTION: Request a bill draft to address medical costs for county jail inmates. The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Beckman
Crowder
Fields
Michaelson Jenet
Benavidez
Coram
YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 REMOTE PARTICIPATION: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection





05:44 PM



Representative Benavidez proposed a bill be drafted to require judges to provide written justification when they choose to exceed the recommendations of a pre-trial assessment tool. She agreed to incorporate this request into the prior request concerning bond and pre-trial services reforms.



Representative Benavidez requested a bill be drafted to double the surcharge for the Court Security Cash Fund and distribute these additional funds to all counties annually. Committee members discussed the request.

BILL: Consideration of Bill Draft Requests
TIME: 05:46:31 PM
MOVED: Benavidez
MOTION: Request a bill draft to double the Court Security Cash Fund surcharge and adjust how the funds are distributed. The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Beckman
Crowder
Fields
Michaelson Jenet
Benavidez
Coram
YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 REMOTE PARTICIPATION: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL: Consideration of Bill Draft Requests
TIME: 05:47:12 PM
MOVED: Benavidez
MOTION: Request a resolution be drafted concerning federal Medicaid rules. The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Beckman
Crowder
Fields
Michaelson Jenet
Benavidez
Coram
YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 REMOTE PARTICIPATION: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection





Representative Benavidez discussed additional ways to reform bond, which she agreed to incorporate into the previous bill draft request on bond and pre-trial services reform.



Representative Benavidez requested a bill be drafted to increase the number of parole hearing officers and provide additional funding to the Parole Board to reduce the time spent waiting for a parole hearing. Committee members discussed the request.

BILL: Consideration of Bill Draft Requests
TIME: 05:50:33 PM
MOVED: Benavidez
MOTION: Request a bill draft to increase the number of Parole Board hearing officers. The motion passed on a vote of 4-1, with 1 member excused.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Beckman
Yes
Crowder
Yes
Fields
Yes
Michaelson Jenet
Excused
Benavidez
Yes
Coram
No
YES: 4 NO: 1 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 REMOTE PARTICIPATION: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS







05:51 PM



Richard Sweetman, Office of Legislative Legal Services, clarified the rest of the process for drafting the requested bills.





05:52 PM



The committee adjourned.