S_JUD_2017A 01/30/2017 Committee Summary

01:31 PM -- Presentation by OLLS on the sunset review process



Jeremiah Barry, representing the Office of Legislative Legal Services, explained the sunset review process. He responded to questions from the committee about the process.





01:36 PM -- Sunset Review - Management of Domestic Violence Offenders



Brian Tobias, representing the Department of Regulatory Affairs (DORA), presented a sunset review report entitled Management of Domestic Violence Offenders (Attachment A). He discussed the sunset review process in general and spoke about the statutory authority to conduct the reviews. He explained that the recommendations included in the report are compiled into a draft bill for the committee to consider (Attachment B). Mr. Tobias provided general information about the Colorado Domestic Violence Offender Management Board (DVOMB) and the work of the board in promulgating standards for the treatment of domestic violence offenders.



Attachment A can be viewed at Legislative Council 17SenateJud0130AttachB.pdf



























01:45 PM



In response to questions from the committee, Mr. Tobias listed some of the core goals for domestic violence offenders in the treatment process. He spoke about the lack of adequate numbers of qualified treatment providers across the state. He moved on to a discussion of DORA's six recommendations. He explained the recommendations in detail and provided background information about the reason for each.





01:55 PM



Mr. Tobias responded to questions from the committee about board membership requirements. He provided clarification about the qualifications recommended by DORA for board membership.



02:01 PM -- Dr. Reo Leslie, Jr., representing the Colorado Mental Health Professionals Association, testified in support of the recommendations contained in the report. He asked that the administrative recommendations be strengthened, if possible. He spoke about the lack of available qualified domestic violence treatment providers in Colorado. Dr. Leslie responded to questions from the committee.



02:07 PM -- David Harrison, representing himself, testified about the DORA recommendations. He discussed his experience as a former member of the DVOMB and expressed his opinion that the board should be held to its statutory authority. He indicated that, in his experience, the board often exceeds such authority. He continued discussing his reservations about the work of the board and responded to questions from the committee.





02:20 PM



Senator Gardner announced that he would not entertain a motion to introduce the draft bill. He laid over the review for further discussion at a later date.





02:24 PM -- Sunset Review - Colorado Fair Debt Collection Practices Act



Mr. Tobias returned to the table to present the sunset review of the Colorado Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (Attachment C) and the draft bill (Attachment D). He responded to questions from the committee about the six recommendations contained in the report.



Attachment C can be viewed at Legislative Council 17SenateJud0130AttachD.pdf





02:37 PM



The committee asked Mr. Tobias a number of questions about the draft bill and the report.























02:47 PM



Mr. Tobias continued to discuss the recommendations and respond to questions.



02:54 PM -- David Reid, representing DBA International, testified in support of recommendation #2. He distributed a packet of information (Attachment E) and discussed his company's business. He responded to questions from the committee.



17SenateJud0130AttachE.pdf



03:15 PM -- Rich Jones, representing the Bell Policy Center, testified in support of the DORA recommendations. He responded to questions from the committee.



03:18 PM -- Julie Meade, representing the Colorado Attorney General's Office, testified about the DORA recommendations. She indicated that her office generally supports the recommendations, but opposes recommendation #6 as written. She suggested alternate wording for the recommendation. She responded to questions from the committee.



03:37 PM -- Makyla Moody and Tom Romola, representing the Associate Collections Agencies of Colorado, testified about their concerns with the DORA recommendations. They responded to questions from the committee and discussed a recommendation from his organization that is not one of the six DORA recommendations. Mr. Romola concluded by asking that the act be allowed to sunset.





04:06 PM



Senator Gardner reiterated that action on the sunset bills would be laid over to a future date.





04:06 PM -- Sunset Review - Cash-Bonding and Professional Cash-Bail Agents



Saul Larson, representing DORA, presented the sunset review of cash-bonding and professional cash-bail agents (Attachment F) and the draft bill (Attachment G). He spoke about DORA's two recommendations. He responded to questions from the committee.



Attachment F can be viewed at Legislative Council 17SenateJud0130AttachG.pdf





04:15 PM -- Sophia San Miguel, representing herself, testified about the sunset review.





04:19 PM



The committee adjourned.