CO SB174

Creates the Prosecution Fellowship Program within the Colorado Department of Higher Education to provide one-year fellowships for recent law school graduates to work as prosecutors in rural Colorado district attorney offices.

Provides up to six fellowships annually starting in fiscal year 2015-16, limited to graduates from University of Colorado School of Law and University of Denver Sturm College of Law, with each law school contributing 20 percent of fellowship salary costs.

Establishes a seven-member Prosecution Fellowship Committee chaired by the executive director of the Colorado District Attorneys' Council, including the two law school deans and four elected district attorneys, to select fellows and assign them to rural offices.

Requires fellows to receive a five-day training practicum developed by the Colorado District Attorneys' Council and specifies that fellows are employees of the council.

Mandates the Colorado District Attorneys' Council report to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees by January 1, 2019, detailing fellow employment outcomes, workload reduction impacts, and prosecutorial innovations resulting from the program.