Overview
- Colorado Parent Advocacy Network delivered nearly 6,000 signatures to the Colorado District Attorneys’ Council urging prosecutors to press Gov. Jared Polis for a special session to revise the competency framework.
- Families rallied outside the state Supreme Court, highlighting cases in which charges in serious crimes were dropped after defendants were deemed incompetent and unlikely to be restored.
- State Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer, who voted for HB24-1034, now says the law is not working as intended and backs immediate fixes, with some lawmakers pushing to reconvene the legislature.
- Sponsor Sen. Judy Amabile says she is drafting amendments and reports an executive commitment to fund additional mental health and intellectual disability beds, while questioning the need for a special session.
- Officials note long-standing federal precedent requiring release of unrestorable defendants and a shortage of civil-commitment capacity; about 350 incompetent defendants remain in jail awaiting placement and no special-session timeline has been announced.