Colorado § 24-33.5-432 - Appropriation - DNA retesting - sexual assault kit backlog - reporting requirements - definition.

§ 24-33.5-432. Appropriation - DNA retesting - sexual assault kit backlog - reporting requirements - definition.

(1) The three million dollar appropriation to the department of public safety, in turn appropriated to the bureau with the line item "DNA testing and reimbursement" in House Bill 24-1430, passed on April 29, 2024, remains available to the bureau until June 30, 2026.

(2) The bureau may enter into contracts with external testing laboratories or agencies that conform to the current version of ISO/IEC 17025 requirements, the appropriate quality assurance standards required by the federal bureau of investigation, and forensic-specific requirements, and are accredited by an organization that is signatory to the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation Mutual Recognition Arrangements for Testing Laboratories, to perform DNA retesting on criminal cases involved in the bureau laboratory misconduct that was discovered in 2023.

(3) The bureau may enter into contracts with external testing laboratories or agencies that conform to the current version of ISO/IEC 17025 requirements, the appropriate quality assurance standards required by the federal bureau of investigation, and forensic-specific requirements, and are accredited by an organization that is signatory to the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation Mutual Recognition Arrangements for Testing Laboratories, to perform testing on evidence in the bureau's forensic medical evidence backlog, including, but not limited to, testing of sexual assault kits.

(4) The department of public safety shall:

(a) Provide a progress report to the joint budget committee by April 15, 2025, detailing steps the bureau has taken to resolve the testing backlog issue for forensic medical evidence and sexual assault kits;

(b) Utilize the appropriation described in subsection (1) of this section to prioritize and accelerate testing of the backlog of sexual assault kits;

(c) (I) Design and implement, within ninety days after the effective date of this section, a public-facing dashboard on the department of public safety's website that provides reports on the forensic medical evidence and DNA evidence backlogs, including the:

(A) Total caseload numbers subject to the backlog;

(B) Total fiscal year caseload numbers subject to the backlog;

(C) Total number of cases with pending DNA evidence tests;

(D) Total number of sexual assault cases;

(E) Total number of cases with a pending DNA evidence sample collected with attached or independently submitted forensic medical evidence;

(F) Total of number of cases with a pending DNA evidence sample collected from a crime scene involving sexual assault for which no forensic medical evidence has been submitted;

(G) Current average turnaround time for a DNA evidence test;

(H) Current average turnaround time for a forensic medical evidence test;

(I) Total number of tests that the Colorado bureau of investigation has completed in the previous thirty days;

(J) Total number of tests that laboratories with which the Colorado bureau of investigation has contracted have completed in the previous thirty days;

(K) Total number of new DNA tests and forensic medical evidence tests received within the previous thirty days;

(L) Anticipated timeline for the Colorado bureau of investigation to achieve an average ninety-day turnaround time for forensic medical evidence tests;

(M) Information concerning the Colorado bureau of investigation's lab analyst staffing levels; and

(N) The information required pursuant to section 24-33.5-113.5 (4).

(II) The department shall update the dashboard at least every thirty days.

(d) Provide email updates every thirty days beginning March 10, 2025, through June 30, 2026, to the general assembly regarding the forensic medical evidence and sexual assault kit backlogs, which include:

(I) The information required pursuant to subsection (4)(c) of this section; and

(II) Information or updates on difficulties contracting with external labs that may affect the bureau's anticipated testing capacity, volume, turnaround expectations, or other information explaining why the results vary from the projected caseload timeline reflected in the February 10, 2025, bureau whitepaper document provided to the general assembly.

(III) to (IX) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2025).

(5) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires, "forensic medical evidence" includes, but is not limited to, DNA.

Source: L. 2025: Entire section added, (SB 25-170), ch. 29, p. 161, § 1, effective March 26; (4)(c) and (4)(d) amended, (SB 25-304), ch. 414, p. 2353, § 5, effective June 3.

PART 5

DIVISION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Editor's note: Prior to the enactment of this article, the substantive provisions of this part 5 were contained in part 5 of article 32 of this title.

Cross references: For provisions relating to the authority of the division of criminal justice to administer the juvenile diversion program, see § 19-2.5-402.