Committee sends bill to strengthen missing‑person alert training and require campus wellness checks

The House State, Civic Military and Veterans Affairs Committee voted to send Senate Bill 120 to the Committee of the Whole after sponsors and witnesses described the bill as a package of training and procedural fixes to improve responses to missing persons, particularly college students.

Representative Bradley, a sponsor, said the bill closes a ‘‘significant gap’’ by requiring peace officers certified through POST to receive training on the range of alert types and by establishing a pilot and policy requirements for higher‑education institutions to respond when a student who was last known to reside in the state is reported missing. "Without this bill, colleges and universities may not have clear procedures to identify or act on a missing student quickly," Bradley said.

Representative Zokai (co‑prime sponsor) said the bill ties training to certification and recertification requirements and requires institutions to either notify law enforcement immediately or conduct a documented wellness assessment. "If they do not locate the student within 6 hours, then they must notify their institution's police department; if they do not have an institutional police department, they must notify the nearest law enforcement agency with jurisdiction," Zokai said.

Caitlin Jenkin, Amber Alert coordinator with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, testified the CBI supports the bill, noting the alert program has multiple alert types and that building mandatory training on those tools would improve consistency and investigations. "Getting an alert issued is a relatively simple process," she said, noting CBI issues alerts at the request of local law enforcement and that the alert program accounts for a substantive portion of recoveries for certain alert types.

Two family members testified about delays and missed opportunities in their loved one’s case. Vanessa Diaz said she requested a missing indigenous person alert for her daughter and that notification to the campus and public did not happen in the early critical hours: "When a student disappears from campus, the campus community is often the best source of information, but only if they actually know that the student is missing," Diaz said. Leah Schultz Bartlett described efforts to find her daughter’s childhood friend and urged urgency in campus responses.

Committee members asked detailed questions about scope (public and private higher‑education institutions), the training cadence and the record‑retention and notification timelines spelled out in the bill. Sponsors said the language reflects multiple Senate amendments and incorporates immunity provisions and documentation requirements.

Representative Bradley moved the bill to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation; Representative Ferre seconded. The committee recorded a 9–1 vote with one member excused. Representative Luck was the lone no vote; one member was excused.