Committee advances ordinance to disclose nonmonetary public-safety settlement terms

The Denver City Council Health and Safety Committee on Aug. 6 advanced an ordinance requiring disclosure of nonmonetary terms in final settlement agreements related to public-safety agencies, committee sponsors said.

The proposal, introduced by Council Member Jamie Torres (West Denver, District 3) and co-sponsored by Council Member Stacy Gilmore (District 11), would add a new section to the Denver Revised Municipal Code to require the city attorney to forward copies of final, council-approved settlement agreements that include nonmonetary obligations to the Office of the Independent Monitor (OIM) and the Citizen Oversight Board (COB) within 30 days.

The measure is intended to give the OIM and the COB the ability to review implementation of nonmonetary commitments — such as training, community meetings or policy changes — that accompany monetary payouts in lawsuits involving the Department of Safety and its component agencies. "What it ultimately does is ensure transparency in all of our public safety settlement agreements," Torres said.

Why it matters

The Citizen Oversight Board reviewed roughly 150 settlement agreements as part of its review and found several instances where nonmonetary terms were not being disclosed to outside oversight bodies, board chair Julia Richmond told the committee. "The board fully supports the…