This bill updates and clarifies the rules around criminal protection orders in Colorado. Here’s what it means in simpler terms:
Criminal Protection Orders: These are legal orders meant to protect victims and witnesses from someone charged with a crime. This bill makes several changes to how these orders work.
Key Changes:
Standardized Form Requirements:
The bill specifies what must be included in the standardized form for all criminal protection orders, ensuring consistency across the state.
Limits on What the Order Can Include:
Criminal protection orders can only include protections for victims or witnesses related to the crime charged.
Courts cannot use a criminal protection order to enforce conditions of bond (like ensuring the defendant shows up to court or general community safety measures). Those conditions are handled separately through the bond process.
Defendant Notification:
The court must tell the defendant that violating a criminal protection order is a separate crime.
Violating the order could lead to a misdemeanor charge, and if the violation involves intimidation or retaliation against a witness or victim, it could be a felony.
Alcohol and Drug Restrictions:
Criminal protection orders can only ban a defendant from using alcohol or drugs if there is a direct connection (or "nexus") between the restriction and the safety of the victim or witness. This prevents unnecessary restrictions unrelated to the crime or victim’s safety.
Review at Sentencing:
Courts must review the protection order when sentencing the defendant or when the case is otherwise resolved (like a plea deal).
Sentencing Changes:
Currently, if someone violates a protection order, their sentence for that violation is added on top of (consecutive to) the sentence for the original crime.
The bill changes this rule so that consecutive sentences only apply to cases involving:
Domestic violence crimes, or
Crimes covered under the Victim Rights Act (such as sexual assault, child abuse, or homicide).
Arrest Powers for Police:
Police officers are given more flexibility in how they handle violations of protection orders, including:
Arresting the person,
Getting a warrant for their arrest, or
Issuing a summons (a legal order to appear in court).
This applies to violations like:
Possessing or using alcohol or drugs when prohibited by the protection order,
Violating protection orders in cases that do not involve domestic violence or serious crimes under the Victim Rights Act,
Failing to submit required documents (like a signed affidavit) to the court.
This bill narrows the scope of criminal protection orders, making sure they focus on protecting victims and witnesses, while also clarifying when and how alcohol/drug restrictions apply. It also gives law enforcement more options for handling violations and changes sentencing rules for those violations to focus on the most serious crimes, like domestic violence.
Summary
Under existing law, a person charged with a criminal offense is
subject to a criminal protection order, which remains in effect until final disposition of the criminal action. The bill:
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Prescribes what must be included in the standardized form for a criminal protection order;
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Limits a criminal protection order to orders for the protection of a witness to, or victim of, the acts charged and prohibits a court from including in a criminal protection order an order to enforce a mandated condition of bond or a condition of bond that assists in obtaining the appearance of the defendant in court or ensuring community safety;
•
Requires a court to inform a defendant that a violation of a criminal protection order may constitute a misdemeanor offense of violation of a protection order and that conduct that violates the criminal protection order may constitute a felony offense of intimidating a witness or victim or retaliation against a witness or victim;
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Only allows a criminal protection order to prohibit possession or consumption of alcohol or controlled substances without a valid prescription when available information supports a sufficient nexus between that restriction and the safety of the alleged victim or witness; and
•
Requires a court to review a criminal protection order at the time of sentencing or other resolution of the criminal case.
Under existing law, a sentence for violating a protection order runs
consecutively with any sentence imposed for the crime that gave rise to the protection order. The bill limits this consecutive sentence provision to crimes involving domestic violence or crimes listed in the Victim Rights Act.
The bill grants a peace officer discretion to arrest, seek a warrant
to arrest, or issue a summons to a restrained person for violating, or attempting to violate, a protection order by possessing or consuming alcohol or controlled substances; violating a term included in the protection order to protect the protected person from imminent danger to life or health in cases that do not involve domestic violence or crimes listed in the Victim Rights Act; or failing to timely file a signed affidavit or written statement with the court as required by law.
