Committee hears testimony on bill to limit repeat nuisance 911 calls; prosecutors and defense bar warn of consequences

Representative David Clifford opened the House Judiciary Committee discussion on Senate Bill 60 by describing repeated misuse of 911 centers as a growing operational problem for public safety answering points and emergency responders.

Clifford said the bill would create a criminal subsection for repeated, nonemergency contact with public safety answering points and include legislative intent language instructing courts that blocking a defendant's access to the 911 system may be appropriate when continued calls create a public-safety risk. He and co-sponsor Rep. Rob Carter described the proposal as a tool for law enforcement and courts to address chronic misuse while allowing officers discretion to refer people for services rather than automatically arresting them.

Front-line dispatchers and regional communications directors told the committee the problem can be severe. Tina Buenetta, Aurora's 9-1-1 director, gave a specific account of one individual who made thousands of calls in 2024 and at times kept 9-1-1 lines active for hours; she said the center logged one month with 3,819 calls from that single caller and 36 hours of connected time. Jeremy Russell, director of communications for the Colorado State Patrol, said that "these callers tie up emergency lines, harass dispatchers, and delay responses for those in actual distress," and gave a case where an elderly caller's EMS response was delayed during a major outage.

Law enforcement witnesses supported a tool that preserves officer discretion. Jeff Streeter, a retired police chief and 9-1-1 regional director, told the committee prosecutors and dispatchers need an enforcement option and said the bill should have enforcement "teeth." Deputy Chief Todd Reeves of the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police said existing statutes have been difficult to apply in this context and that a statute focused on obstructing government operations by repeat 9-1-1 misuse could make prosecutions more workable.

Defense and civil-justice witnesses opposed the approach and urged caution. Claire Pollini of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar said criminalizing behavior that often signals serious and persistent mental illness risks harming vulnerable people and does not address underlying needs. Attorney Margaret Baker told the committee that many defendants charged in similar cases are found incompetent to proceed and that the criminal process often fails to deliver the treatment those individuals require; she warned additional charges would strain both the criminal justice and mental-health systems.

Committee members pressed for clarity. Several members asked whether existing statutes ' harassment, false reporting or obstruction ' already covered the conduct and why prosecutors had not used those statutes more often. Law enforcement witnesses said prosecutors had declined many such cases because those statutes were not tailored to repeated phone-line obstruction and because proving certain elements for jury convictions could be difficult.

The sponsors also proposed a policy route: the draft includes a legislative-intent provision asking courts to consider orders that would have telephone carriers or public-safety answering points block the defendant's access to emergency call paths where appropriate. Several members asked for a clearer standard for "repeated" and for guardrails to protect people with cognitive impairment or serious mental illness; witnesses said co-responder models and behavioral health pathways should be used before criminal charges.

No committee vote on SB 60 appears in the transcript. Sponsors and witnesses indicated a desire for further work with prosecutors, dispatch centers and defense advocates to refine definitions and procedural safeguards before any final recommendation.