Colorado § 17-1-103 - Duties of the executive director.

§ 17-1-103. Duties of the executive director.

(1) The duties of the executive director are:

(a) To manage, supervise, and control the correctional institutions operated and supported by the state; to monitor and supervise the activities of private contract prisons; to manage and supervise the divisions, agencies, boards, and commissions that are or may be transferred to or established within the department by law or by the executive director pursuant to section 17-1-101 (2); to provide work and self-improvement opportunities; and to establish an environment that promotes habilitation for successful reentry into society;

(a.5) To develop policies and procedures governing the operation of the department;

(b) To supervise the business, fiscal, budget, personnel, and financial operations of the department and the institutions and activities under his or her control;

(c) In consultation with the division directors and the wardens, to develop a systematic building program providing for the projected, long-range needs of the institutions under his or her control;

(d) To efficiently manage the lands associated with or owned by the department;

(e) To the extent practical, to utilize the staff and services of other state agencies and departments, within their respective statutory functions, to carry out the purposes of this title;

(f) To develop within the correctional institutions, rehabilitation and work programs that develop work skills for inmates and supply necessary products for state institutions and other public purposes as specified by law;

(g) Repealed.

(h) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2000, p. 830, § 3, effective May 24, 2000.)

(i) Repealed.

(j) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2000, p. 830, § 3, effective May 24, 2000.)

(k) To carry out the duties prescribed in article 11.5 of title 16, C.R.S.;

(l) To carry out the duties prescribed in article 11.7 of title 16, C.R.S.;

(m) To provide information to the director of research of the legislative council concerning population projections, research data, and the projected long-range needs of the institutions under the control of the executive director and any other related data requested by the director;

(n) To contract with the department of human services to house in a facility operated by the department of human services any juvenile under the age of fourteen years who is sentenced as an adult to the department of corrections and to provide services for the juvenile pursuant to section 19-2.5-802 (1)(e);

(o) To appoint an inspector general and investigators as provided in section 17-1-103.8;

(p) Notwithstanding the provisions of the "Colorado Open Records Act", part 2 of article 72 of title 24, C.R.S., and part 3 of said article 72, to adopt such policies and guidelines as may be necessary concerning the release of records to inmates;

(q) To collaborate with the department of personnel and the office of information technology on their existing efforts to modernize the state's personnel timekeeping systems in order to produce a system that is transparent, accountable, and easily employed by department personnel;

(r) In consultation with the behavioral health administration and the office of economic security in the department of human services, the department of health care policy and financing, the department of local affairs, and local service providers, to develop resources for inmates post-release that provide information to help prepare inmates for release and successful reintegration into their communities. The resources must reflect the needs of diverse and underserved populations and communities.

(s) To develop a comprehensive and ongoing prison population management plan to ensure the safety of staff and inmates and to ensure that the department complies with all prison population management mandates required by law, including implementing the prison population management measures set forth in section 17-1-119.7, when necessary.

(2) The executive director shall have such other duties and functions as are prescribed for heads of principal departments in the "Administrative Organization Act of 1968", article 1 of title 24, C.R.S.

(3) (a) (I) The executive director shall, upon the recommendation of the department's chief medical officer, appoint a panel of medical consultants.

(II) The executive director shall, upon the recommendation of the department's chief medical officer, determine the membership of the panel based on the medical and surgical needs of the department.

(III) The executive director shall determine the qualifications for appointment to the panel of medical consultants; except that all members of the panel shall be licensed by the Colorado medical board pursuant to article 240 of title 12 or the Colorado dental board pursuant to article 220 of title 12.

(b) Members of the panel of medical consultants shall be compensated at a rate which shall be approved by the executive director. Compensation shall be paid from available funds of the department.

(c) The panel members shall act as medical consultants to the department with respect to persons receiving services from any correctional facility as defined in section 17-1-102 (1.7).

(d) A member of the panel of medical consultants, for all activities performed within the course and scope of said member's responsibilities to the department, shall be entitled to all of the protections of the "Colorado Governmental Immunity Act", article 10 of title 24, C.R.S., as if the panel member were a "public employee" as defined in section 24-10-103 (4), C.R.S. This provision shall not be construed to afford independent contractors hired as panel members any of the protections of the state personnel system, article 50 of title 24, C.R.S.

(e) For purposes of this subsection (3), "panel of medical consultants" means a panel of medical physicians, dentists, or oral surgeons whose duty is to deliver medical services or services related to oral surgery.

(4) For an inmate who was convicted as an adult of a class 1 felony following direct filing of an information or indictment in the district court pursuant to section 19-2.5-801 or transfer of proceedings to the district court pursuant to section 19-2.5-802, the executive director shall ensure that the inmate has the opportunity to participate in treatment, programs, and services that is equal to the opportunities granted to other inmates who will be eligible for parole or discharge.

Source: L. 77: Entire title R&RE, p. 904, § 10, effective August 1. L. 83: (1)(g) and (1)(h) amended, p. 832, § 30, effective July 1. L. 88: (1)(a) amended, p. 696, § 1, effective July 1. L. 89, 1st Ex. Sess.: (1)(i) added, p. 77, § 3, effective July 1. L. 90: (1)(j) added, p. 941, § 5, effective June 7; (1)(a) amended, p. 976, § 2, effective July 1. L. 91: (1)(k) added, p. 441, § 4, effective May 29. L. 92: (1)(l) added, p. 461, § 4, effective June 2. L. 94: (2) added, p. 563, § 3, effective April 6; (3) added, p. 772, § 1, effective April 20; (1)(m) added, p. 1097, § 8, effective May 9; (1)(i) repealed, p. 1362, § 5, effective July 1. L. 95: (3)(a) and (3)(e) amended, p. 879, § 16, effective May 24. L. 96: (1)(n) added, p. 1683, § 10, effective January 1, 1997. L. 98: (1)(g) amended, p. 726, § 7, effective May 18. L. 99: (1)(o) added, p. 424, § 2, effective April 30. L. 2000: (1)(a) to (1)(d), (1)(f), (1)(g), (1)(h), (1)(j), and (3)(e) amended and (1)(a.5) and (1)(p) added, p. 830, § 3, effective May 24. L. 2001: (1)(g) repealed, p. 1176, § 3, effective August 8. L. 2006: (4) added, p. 1055, § 8, effective May 25. L. 2009: (1)(p) amended, (SB 09-292), ch. 369, p. 1948, § 31, effective August 5. L. 2010: (3)(a)(III) amended, (HB 10-1260), ch. 403, p. 1986, § 74, effective July 1. L. 2013: (1)(q) added, (SB 13-210), ch. 261, p. 1378, § 2, effective August 7. L. 2014: (3)(a)(III) amended, (HB 14-1227), ch. 363, p. 1737, § 43, effective July 1. L. 2019: (3)(a)(III) amended, (HB 19-1172), ch. 136, p. 1674, § 89, effective October 1. L. 2020: IP(1) amended and (1)(r) added, (HB 20-1017), ch. 288, p. 1425, § 8, effective September 14. L. 2021: (1)(n) and (4) amended, (SB 21-059), ch. 136, p. 716, § 32, effective October 1. L. 2022: (1)(f) amended, (SB 22-050), ch. 51, p. 240, § 1, effective March 30; (1)(r) amended, (HB 22-1278), ch. 222, p. 1495, § 20, effective July 1. L. 2026: (1)(s) added, (SB 26-036), ch. 261, p. 1448, § 3, effective June 1.

Cross references: For the legislative declaration contained in the 2006 act enacting subsection (4), see section 1 of chapter 228, Session Laws of Colorado 2006. For the legislative declaration in SB 26-036, see section 1 of chapter 261, Session Laws of Colorado 2026.

ANNOTATION

The department of corrections has the discretion to use a code of penal discipline conviction of a sexual nature to reclassify an inmate on the sexual violence scale. Reeves v. Colo. Dept. of Corr., 155 P.3d 648 (Colo. App. 2007).