Committee advances bill creating legislative security administrator and new court-security authority

Vice Chair Clifford asked the committee to favorably recommend House Bill 14-22, which he described as a package combining legislative security, courthouse funding reforms and personal-information protections for public officials. He said the bill would create a new Administrator of Legislative Safety hired by the Executive Committee to coordinate member security and liaise with Colorado State Patrol, while leaving patrol policing authority unchanged.

The bill shifts the existing Court Security Cash Fund into a special-purpose authority (SPA) to provide longer-term, earmarked funding for courthouse security projects, Clifford said. Legislative staff and the bill's drafter told the committee the change is intended to stop the periodic sweeping of court security funds and enable capital planning and grants for smaller counties. Legislative liaison Terry Scanlon described the fee changes: the cash fund was historically supported by a $5 filing fee and the bill restructures fee lines so the new court-security authority can access increased revenue (the draft references a $10 surcharge in some filings).

Chief Justice Monica Marcus told the committee she supports the sections of the bill that affect the judicial branch (sections 9'17). Marcus cited a string of incidents in recent years including an El Paso County courthouse shooting, an in-courthouse suicide and a bomb threat that required evacuation; she said courthouse staff, probation officers and the public are increasingly at risk and that a statewide task force and dedicated funding are needed to coordinate local security planning.

Colorado State Patrol officials told the committee they broadly support better resourcing for courthouse security but raised concerns about language that could create overlapping policing authorities. Colonel Matthew Packard said the patrol is willing to work on a compromise and urged careful drafting on whether the new legislative position should be able to be post-certified as a peace officer and how oversight of use-of-force or related incidents would be governed.

Representative questions focused on the bill's treatment of peace-officer designation and post-certification, the $10 filing surcharge and how personal financial disclosures posted by the Secretary of State would be redacted. Vice Chair Clifford offered an amendment that clarifies personal financial disclosures will continue to be posted online but directs the Secretary of State to redact personally identifying fields; the committee adopted that and other technical amendments.

After debate the committee voted 8 to 3 to send HB 14-22 as amended to the Committee on Appropriations with a favorable recommendation.

What happens next: The bill will be considered by the Appropriations Committee. Sponsors said they will continue working with stakeholders on fine-tuning language related to post-certification and the scope of redactions for public filings.