SB 25-062

Senate Bill 25-062, which has been signed into law, stops municipalities from charging people with criminal offenses simply because they didn't show up for a court date. This means that if someone misses a scheduled court appearance, the city can’t use their absence as grounds to bring new criminal charges against them. The law also makes it clear that terms like "contempt of court" related to missing a court date don’t count as separate criminal charges. This affects anyone who might face municipal court in Colorado and ensures they won't be penalized with additional criminal charges just for not appearing in court.

Official Summary

The act prohibits a person's failure to appear from forming the basis of a municipal criminal charge against the person. The act clarifies that, for purposes of the act, failure to appear includes contempt of court for the failure to appear or any other term used by a municipality to refer to a person's failure to appear at a scheduled court date. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Votes