(1) There is created, pursuant to section 5 (3) of article VI of the state constitution, the position of state court administrator, who is appointed by the justices of the supreme court at such compensation as is determined by them. The state court administrator is responsible to the supreme court, and in addition to the duties described within this section, the state court administrator shall perform the duties assigned to him or her by the chief justice and the supreme court. (2) The state court administrator shall employ such other personnel as the supreme court deems necessary to aid the administration of the courts, as provided in section 5 (3) of article VI of the state constitution. (3) The state court administrator shall establish standards to ensure proficiency in court reporting in the courts of this state. The state court administrator shall also develop or cause to be developed examinations no less difficult than the examinations of the national shorthand reporters association and shall qualify those individuals who successfully complete such examination. (3.5) (a) As required by a chief justice directive, the state court administrator is responsible for accepting complaints regarding violations of a chief justice directive concerning child and family investigators appointed by the court pursuant to section 14-10-116.5 and parental responsibilities evaluators appointed by the court pursuant to section 14-10-127 in courts involved with the allocation of parental responsibilities pursuant to dissolution of marriage proceedings. The state court administrator is authorized to administer appropriate sanctions established pursuant to chief justice directive. The state court administrator is not responsible for accepting complaints regarding conduct that is regulated by a child and family investigator's or parental responsibilities evaluator's professional regulatory authority. (b) As a part of the judicial department's "SMART Act" hearing required by section 2-7- 203, during the 2025 regular legislative session, and each regular legislative session thereafter, the judicial department shall report on the total number of child and family court investigators appointed by the court pursuant to section 14-10-116.5 and parental responsibilities evaluators appointed by the court pursuant to section 14-10-127, eligibility rosters established pursuant to a chief justice directive, the number of complaints received by the state court administrator in the preceding calendar year regarding child and family court investigators and parental responsibilities evaluators, and the number of founded complaints and sanctions issued as a result of those complaints in the preceding calendar year regarding child and family court investigators and parental responsibilities evaluators. (c) The state court administrator shall publish and annually update on the judicial department's public website a summary of the actions taken in the year preceding the first publication, or since the latest updated publication, concerning actions taken by the judicial department to comply with recommendations made by the task force to study victim and survivor awareness and responsiveness training requirements for judicial personnel, created pursuant to House Bill 23-1108. (4) Repealed. (5) The state court administrator shall provide to the director of research of the legislative council criminal justice information and statistics and any other related data requested by the director. The state court administrator shall provide to the state commission on judicial performance and to district commissions on judicial performance, established in section 13-5.5- 104, case management statistics for justices and judges who are being evaluated. (6) The state court administrator shall make grants from the family violence justice fund pursuant to the provisions of section 14-4-107, C.R.S. (7) (a) The state court administrator shall make grants from the family-friendly court program cash fund pursuant to the provisions of section 13-3-113. (b) Repealed. (7.5) The state court administrator shall make grants from the eviction legal defense fund pursuant to the provisions of section 13-40-127. (8) Repealed. (9) The state court administrator is authorized to seek federal funding as it becomes available on behalf of the state court system for the establishment, maintenance, or expansion of veterans' treatment courts. (10) Repealed. (11) (a) There is created in the office of the state court administrator a position responsible for education and outreach regarding judicial office vacancies. The position shall create and deliver educational programming for attorneys and law students regarding judicial vacancies and the application process. (b) (I) The position shall report on or before October 1, 2020, and on or before October 1 each year thereafter through 2030, to the chief justice of the supreme court and the judiciary committees of the house of representatives and senate, or any successor committees, concerning the background, professional history, and qualifications of judicial officers in the state. Notwithstanding the requirement in section 24-1-136 (11)(a)(I), the requirement to submit the report required in this section continues until the repeal of this subsection (11)(b) pursuant to subsection (11)(b)(II) of this section. (II) This subsection (11)(b) is repealed, effective January 1, 2031. (12) (a) On or before November 1, 2019, and on or before each November 1 thereafter, the state court administrator shall submit a report to the joint budget committee of the general assembly and the judiciary committees of the house of representatives and the senate, or any successor committees, on case management statistics for the prior state fiscal year that includes: (I) The total number and types of: (A) New district court cases assigned; (B) District court cases resolved; and (C) District court cases remaining on the docket; and (II) For each judicial district and each district court judge the total number and types of: (A) New district court cases assigned; (B) District court cases resolved; and (C) District court cases remaining on the docket. (b) Notwithstanding section 24-1-136 (11)(a)(I), the requirement to submit the report required in subsection (12)(a) of this section continues indefinitely. (13) The state court administrator or the administrator's designee shall present at the judicial department's hearing pursuant to section 2-7-203 statistics related to extreme risk protection orders in article 14.5 of this title 13. The statistics must include the number of petitions filed for temporary extreme risk protection orders, the number of petitions filed for extreme risk protection orders, the number of temporary extreme risk protection orders issued and denied, the number of extreme risk protection orders issued and denied, the number of temporary extreme risk protection orders terminated, the number of extreme risk protection orders terminated, and the number of extreme risk protection orders renewed. The state court administrator or the administrator's designee shall also report state court data related to all persons who are subject to any temporary emergency risk protection order or emergency risk protection order and who, within thirty days after the issuance or execution of the protection order, are charged with a criminal offense. The report must include the nature of the criminal offense, including but not limited to any offense for violation of the emergency risk protection order and the disposition or status of that criminal offense. (14) (a) (I) On and after January 1, 2020, the state court administrator shall administer a court reminder program in at least four judicial district courts to remind criminal defendants and juvenile participants to appear at each of their scheduled court appearances and to provide reminders about an unplanned court closure. The objective of such reminders is to significantly reduce the number of criminal defendants and juvenile participants who are taken into custody solely as a result of their failure to appear in court. No later than July 1, 2020, the program must be administered in every eligible court, as defined in subsection (14)(h) of this section, in the state. (II) The state court administrator shall issue a request for proposal to choose a third- party vendor to develop and operate the court reminder program. At the conclusion of the request for proposal process, the state court administrator may choose to develop and operate the program without utilizing a third-party vendor. (III) Each court participating in the court reminder program shall enroll every criminal defendant and juvenile participant in the program. A criminal defendant or juvenile participant may opt out of participating in the program. (IV) The program shall send reminders to the best contact information available to the court. Before sending reminders for the defendant's or participant's first court appearance, the program shall make all reasonable efforts to ensure that the program has the same contact information available to the court, including contact information provided by a criminal defendant or juvenile participant to a law enforcement agency on a summons or by any other means. (b) In administering the program, the state court administrator shall use text messages to remind criminal defendants and juvenile participants who have the capacity to receive text messages of court dates and unplanned court closures. A text message reminder must be sent to the best phone number available to the court. In addition, or when a defendant or juvenile participant is unable to receive text messages, the state court administrator, at the administrator's discretion, may use other communication methods, including telephone, e-mail, or other internet- based technology, to remind defendants and juvenile participants of court dates and unplanned court closures. (c) The program must: (I) (A) Provide at least three reminders for all court appearances, including the first court appearance, for criminal defendants and juvenile participants in an eligible court. One reminder must be sent the day before the court appearance. The reminders must include at least the date, location, and time of the court appearance and contact information for questions related to the court appearance. (B) Notwithstanding the requirement in subsection (14)(c)(I)(A) of this section, the program is not required to send more than two reminders within seven days before a court appearance or more than one reminder within forty-eight hours before a court appearance. (I.5) For court appearances that can be attended virtually, provide the link to the virtual court appearance in, at least, the final reminder sent before the appearance; (II) Provide an alert to a defendant or juvenile participant who misses court that the defendant or juvenile has missed court and that the defendant or juvenile should immediately contact his or her attorney, if the defendant or juvenile has one, or the court to determine next steps; (III) Identify each instance in which a criminal defendant or juvenile participant was sent a text message reminder to a working mobile telephone number; (IV) Identify defendants and juvenile participants with upcoming court appearances who cannot be reached and, as resources allow, attempt to acquire current contact information; (V) Collect data concerning the number of criminal defendants and juvenile participants who fail to appear at their scheduled court appearances despite having been sent one or more reminders to a working telephone number; and (VI) Collect data concerning the number of criminal defendants and juvenile participants who opt out of the program and, if possible, their reasons for opting out. (d) Each eligible court shall utilize the reminder services of the state court administrator described in this subsection (14) unless the court chooses to opt out and has its own procedure for using text messaging to remind all criminal defendants and juvenile participants to appear at their scheduled court appearances and remind them of an unplanned court closure. (e) On and after January 1, 2020, the state court administrator shall track data in each eligible court concerning the failure of criminal defendants and juvenile participants to appear for their scheduled court appearances. (f) In its annual report to the committees of reference pursuant to section 2-7-203, the judicial department shall include information concerning the activities of the state court administrator pursuant to this subsection (14). To the extent practicable, the report must include: (I) The number of reminders sent to a criminal defendant's or juvenile participant's working telephone number in each eligible court; (II) The number of criminal defendants and juvenile participants in each eligible court who failed to appear for a court hearing; (III) The number of criminal defendants and juvenile participants in each eligible court who were sent a reminder to a working telephone number from the program but who nonetheless failed to appear for a court hearing; (IV) Any other data collected by the state court administrator that the state court administrator determines to be useful to the general assembly in assessing the effectiveness of the program at reducing the number of criminal defendants and juvenile participants who fail to appear for their court appearances and reducing the number of criminal defendants and juvenile participants who are jailed for failure to appear at a court appearance; (V) The number of criminal defendants and juvenile participants who opt out of the program, the reasons they elected to opt out, and recommendations for changes to increase participation in the program and reduce the number of criminal defendants and juvenile participants who opt out; and (VI) If, at the state court administrator's discretion, the program sends any reminders by communication methods other than text message, the number of criminal defendants and juvenile participants who were sent a reminder other than a text message reminder, the communication method used, and whether the defendants or participants failed to appear at their scheduled court appearance. (g) Nothing in this subsection (14) creates a right for any criminal defendant or juvenile participant to receive a reminder from the program. (h) As used in this subsection (14), unless the context otherwise requires: (I) "Criminal defendant" includes a person alleged to have committed a traffic offense but does not include a person alleged to have committed a traffic infraction. (II) "Eligible court" means a district court, county court, or municipal court that uses the integrated Colorado online network that is the judicial department's case management system. (III) "Juvenile participant" means a juvenile who has been alleged to have committed a delinquent act, as defined in section 19-2.5-102, or a traffic offense, who is required to appear before an eligible court. "Juvenile participant" includes the juvenile's parent, guardian, or legal custodian. "Juvenile participant" does not include a juvenile alleged to have committed a traffic infraction. (i) (I) The state court administrator shall convene a working group to study best practices in court reminders, assess the effectiveness of the court reminder program established in this subsection (14), and recommend to the state court administrator's office any appropriate changes to the court reminder program. The judicial department shall provide staff support necessary for the working group to carry out its duties. (II) The working group consists of the state court administrator or the administrator's designee; a public defender appointed by the state public defender; a member of a statewide organization of pretrial services organizations, appointed by the organization; the executive director of the Colorado district attorneys' council or the executive director's designee; and one member, appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives, who represents a Colorado- based nonprofit organization with expertise in pretrial release and court reminder programs. (III) On or before July 31, 2022, the appointing authorities shall make appointments to the working group and inform the state court administrator of the appointments. (IV) The working group shall meet quarterly. The state court administrator, or the administrator's designee, shall convene the first working group meeting no later than September 30, 2022, and shall convene each meeting of the working group thereafter. (V) The working group may request data and information from the judicial department about the court reminder program. (VI) In its annual report to the committees of reference pursuant to section 2-7-203, the judicial department shall present the recommendations made by the working group, whether the recommendations were implemented, and the rationale for implementing or rejecting any recommendation. (VII) This subsection (14)(i) is repealed, effective June 30, 2025. (15) The state court administrator shall administer the "Colorado Electronic Preservation of Abandoned Estate Planning Documents Act", article 23 of title 15. (16) Repealed. (17) The state court administrator shall have the capabilities within the existing statewide court data system to indicate court liaison appointment and actions related to the appointment in cases.
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