SB 18-203 Summary

• Beginning January 1, 2020, each Colorado municipality must provide independent indigent defense for defendants charged with municipal code violations carrying possible incarceration sentences, overseen by a nonpartisan entity independent of the municipal court and officials.

• Municipalities may satisfy this requirement through three options: contracting with the Office of Alternate Defense Counsel, using Colorado law school legal aid clinics accredited by the American Bar Association, or establishing local/regional independent defense commissions.

• Municipalities contracting directly with defense attorneys must use transparent, merit-based selection processes and ensure periodic evaluation by independent entities (newly hired attorneys evaluated within one year, others every three years).

• Independent defense commissions must have at least three members selected by the chief municipal judge in consultation with the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, the Office of Alternate Defense Counsel, or the State Public Defender, and retain sole authority to appoint, supervise, and discharge indigent defense counsel.

• $124,263 is appropriated to the Office of Alternate Defense Counsel for the 2018-19 fiscal year, and a Conflict-Free Municipal Defense Fund is created to support these services; the act takes effect August 8, 2018, unless rejected by referendum vote in November 2018.