CO HB1098

The director of the division of professions and occupations must complete an audit by June 1, 2023 of all practice acts in Title 12 to identify barriers to licensure, certification, or registration based on criminal history records, with findings reported to the legislature by July 1, 2023.

Regulators may only deny licenses, certifications, or registrations based on criminal history consistent with Section 24-4-105(4), and must document grounds for denial in writing to applicants and consider granting conditional licenses to applicants with criminal records.

Before denying a credential based on criminal conviction, state and local agencies must provide written notice describing the specific conviction, reasons for disqualification including findings on relevant factors, and the applicant's right to submit additional evidence and appeal the decision.

The director must compile de-identified aggregate data on reasons for denials and make this information publicly available on the division's website; agencies must report data on denied, conditional, revoked, or suspended licenses related to criminal history during sunset reviews.

$11,036 is appropriated to the department of regulatory agencies for the 2022-23 fiscal year from the division of professions and occupations cash fund to support implementation with 0.2 FTE.