Colorado § 24-31-904 - Peace officer certification discipline - definition.

§ 24-31-904. Peace officer certification discipline - definition.

(1) (a) Notwithstanding any provision of law, the P.O.S.T. board shall permanently revoke a peace officer's certification if:

(I) The P.O.S.T. certified peace officer is convicted of or pleads guilty or nolo contendere to a crime involving the unlawful use of physical force or a crime involving the failure to intervene in the use of unlawful force and the incident resulted in serious bodily injury or death to another person;

(II) Repealed.

(III) An administrative law judge, hearing officer, or internal investigation finds that a peace officer used unlawful physical force, failed to intervene, or violated section 18-1-707, and the incident resulted in serious bodily injury or death to another person;

(IV) An administrative law judge, hearing officer, or internal investigation finds that a peace officer failed to intervene pursuant to section 18-8-805 (5) and the incident resulted in death to another person;

(V) An administrative law judge, hearing officer, or internal investigation finds that a peace officer violated section 18-8-805 (1) or (2)(a)(I) and the incident resulted in death to another person; or

(VI) An administrative law judge, hearing officer, or internal investigation finds that a peace officer perpetrated an act that constitutes sexual assault, as described in section 18-3-402; unlawful sexual contact, as described in section 18-3-404; or invasion of privacy for sexual gratification, as described in section 18-3-405.6, and the act involved a person in the custody of a local detention facility.

(b) The P.O.S.T. board shall not, under any circumstances, reinstate the peace officer's certification or grant new certification to the peace officer unless the peace officer is exonerated by an administrative law judge, hearing officer, or court. The P.O.S.T. board shall record each peace officer whose certification is revoked pursuant to this section in the database created pursuant to section 24-31-303 (1)(r).

(1.5) The P.O.S.T. board may permanently revoke a peace officer's certification if the P.O.S.T.-certified peace officer is found civilly liable for the use of excessive or unconstitutional physical force or is found civilly liable for failure to intervene in the use of excessive or unconstitutional force, and the incident resulted in serious bodily injury or death to another person.

(2) (a) Notwithstanding any provision of law, the P.O.S.T. board shall suspend a peace officer's certification for at least a year if:

(I) The P.O.S.T. certified peace officer is convicted of or pleads guilty or nolo contendere to a crime involving the unlawful use or threatened use of physical force or a crime involving the failure to intervene in the use of unlawful force and the incident did not result in serious bodily injury or death to another person;

(II) Repealed.

(III) An administrative law judge, hearing officer, or internal investigation finds that a peace officer used or threatened to use unlawful physical force, failed to intervene, or violated section 18-1-707, and the incident did not result in serious bodily injury or death to another person; or

(IV) An administrative law judge, hearing officer, or internal investigation finds that a peace officer failed to intervene pursuant to section 18-8-805 (5), or violated section 18-8-805 (1) or (2)(a)(I), and the incident did not result in death to another person.

(b) The P.O.S.T. board shall reinstate the peace officer's certification if the peace officer is exonerated by an administrative law judge, hearing officer, or court.

(2.5) The P.O.S.T. board may suspend a peace officer's certification for at least one year if the P.O.S.T.-certified peace officer is found civilly liable for the use of excessive or unconstitutional physical force or is found civilly liable for failure to intervene in the use of excessive or unconstitutional force, and the incident did not result in serious bodily injury or death to another person.

(3) Notwithstanding this section, the P.O.S.T. board shall not suspend or revoke a peace officer's certification based on a final decision of an internal investigation unless and until subsections (3)(a) and (3)(b) of this section are complied with, no later than one hundred eighty days after the date the law enforcement agency reports an incident to the P.O.S.T. board:

(a) The law enforcement agency that employs or employed the peace officer shall notify the P.O.S.T. board upon any sustained findings of subsection (1)(a)(III) or (2)(a)(III) of this section, in a manner designated by the P.O.S.T. board. Upon receipt of the notification, the P.O.S.T. board shall notify the certificate holder of the certificate holder's right to request a hearing. Upon request of the P.O.S.T. board, the reporting agency shall provide relevant documents related to the sustained findings of subsection (1)(a)(III) or (2)(a)(III) of this section. For the purposes of this subsection (3), the records of any law enforcement agency that are submitted for review by the P.O.S.T. board remain the property of the reporting law enforcement agency and are not subject to public release by the P.O.S.T. board.

(b) The certificate holder must request a hearing within thirty days after receipt of the P.O.S.T. board's notification. Upon the request by the certificate holder, the P.O.S.T. board shall refer the matter to an administrative law judge, who shall conduct a hearing in compliance with sections 24-4-104 and 24-4-105 to determine if the officer engaged in the alleged conduct.

(c) If the certificate holder either does not request a hearing or requests a hearing and the administrative law judge determines, after conducting the hearing pursuant to the rules of the P.O.S.T. board and in compliance with sections 24-4-104 and 24-4-105, that the certificate holder violated subsection (1)(a)(III) or (2)(a)(III) of this section, the P.O.S.T. board shall revoke or suspend the peace officer's certification pursuant to subsection (1)(a) or (2)(a) of this section.

(4) The P.O.S.T. board has the authority to permanently revoke or suspend the certification of any peace officer who enters into a deferred judgement, deferred prosecution, or diversion agreement for a crime involving the unlawful use of physical force or a crime involving the failure to intervene in the unlawful use of force.

(5) If a law enforcement agency is investigating a peace officer for an incident that could result in a report pursuant to section 24-31-321 (1), the law enforcement agency shall inform the peace officer of the agency's duty to report that information and the consequences of the reporting.

(6) An employer shall not agree to a settlement with a peace officer that includes the employing organization agreeing to not report the information required pursuant to section 24-31-321 (1).

(7) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires, "local detention facility" means a county jail as described in section 17-26-101 or municipal jail as described in section 31-15-401 (1)(j).

Source: L. 2020: Entire part added, (SB 20-217), ch. 110, p. 452, § 2, effective June 19. L. 2021: Entire section amended, (HB 21-1250), ch. 458, p. 3059, § 4, effective July 6; entire section amended, (HB 21-1251), ch. 450, p. 2962, § 6, effective July 6. L. 2025: (1)(a)(II) and (2)(a)(II) repealed and (1.5), (2.5), (5), and (6) added, (HB 25-1136), ch. 333, p. 1727, § 3, effective May 31. L. 2026: (1)(a)(IV) and (1)(a)(V) amended and (1)(a)(VI) and (7) added, (HB 26-1123), ch. 159, p. 950, § 5, effective May 27.

Editor's note: Amendments to this section by HB 21-1250 and HB 21-1251 were harmonized.