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Committee OKs technical fix letting State Patrol use state risk management coverage instead of individual bonds
Summary
The committee approved a change to permit the Colorado State Patrol to meet a statutory bond requirement through the state Office of Risk Management’s self‑insurance coverage, aligning the Patrol with other public safety agencies and saving bond costs to the risk management fund, proponents said.
Representative Leader and Assistant Minority Leader Winter presented a technical bill to permit the Colorado State Patrol to use the State Office of Risk Management’s self‑insurance coverage as the statutory substitute for personal surety bonds. Sponsors said a 2018 change (House Bill 11‑40) had allowed many public officials to use insurance instead of personal bonds, but the State Patrol remained unable to use that option because insurers would not issue coverage to the self‑insured state agency structure.
"This bill authorizes a self‑insured alternative for the Colorado State Patrol enabling the agency to meet statutory requirements through the Colorado State Office of Risk Management," Assistant Minority Leader Winter said. Colonel Matthew Packard, Chief of the Colorado State Patrol, testified in support; Julie Milam, director of the State Office of Risk Management, also testified that the office currently handles claims, provides liability defense for state employees, and that the bill would save the risk management fund the annual cost of purchasing bonds for troopers.
Milam told the committee the bill does not change citizens’ ability to file a claim against state troopers and that the Office of Risk Management has staff and adjusters to handle claims under the Colorado Risk Management Act and the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act. Sponsors called the bill a technical correction to ensure consistency and equity across public‑safety agencies with no substantive change to the claims process.
No witnesses offered opposition during the hearing. The committee moved the bill to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation; the roll‑call vote recorded in committee was 11‑0 with two members excused. Sponsors said the measure aligns the State Patrol with the reform enacted in House Bill 11‑40 and requested a yes vote.
