Crime Victim Services Funding

The bill requires the general assembly to annually appropriate, at a minimum, the following amounts for crime victim services, in addition to other statutorily required appropriations:

• $3 million to the victims and witnesses assistance and law enforcement fund for allocation to judicial districts;
• $4.5 million to the state victims assistance and law enforcement fund; and
• $7.5 million to the state domestic violence and sexual assault services fund for domestic violence, sexual assault, or culturally specific programs.

The general assembly is permitted to appropriate less than $3 million to the victims and witnesses assistance and law enforcement fund for allocation to judicial districts and instead appropriate that money to the Colorado crime victim services fund or the state victims assistance and law enforcement fund.

Under existing law, the Colorado crime victim services fund and the state domestic violence and sexual assault services fund are scheduled for repeal in 2027. The bill continues both funds indefinitely and clarifies that the money in each fund that originated from the federal coronavirus state fiscal recovery fund must comply with the requirements in the federal "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021" and related state law.The bill transfers $3 million from the general fund to the state domestic violence and sexual assault services fund on July 1, 2023.

(Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.)

(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)