House approves changes to peace-officer database, sponsors say bill adds due process

The Colorado House on April 1 approved House Bill 1136, a measure addressing the state peace-officer database and the process by which officers are placed on or removed from that database.

Representative Clifford, a sponsor, said the bill responds to concerns raised in working groups and among law-enforcement stakeholders by providing officers with clearer due-process avenues to resolve disciplinary records and, where appropriate, to facilitate removal from the database. "Not voting for this bill doesn't undo that. Not voting for this bill keeps us from having the due process protections that we're putting in this bill," Clifford said on the floor.

Opponents worried the bill does not go far enough to ensure that officers have adequate opportunity to appeal before names are published. Representative DeGraff raised due-process concerns, saying, "before somebody is deprived of life, liberty, or property, they need to have that full due process action, and that should include the appeal." Sponsors countered that the working-group process included chiefs, sheriffs, district attorneys and the Attorney General’s office and that the bill is intended to fix earlier procedural gaps.

The floor record shows a mix of statements about the bill’s origins and the working-group process; sponsors emphasized cross‑stakeholder drafting and argued the bill creates paths to resolve cases where removal or appeal was previously unclear.

The House voted on third reading and, according to the Clerk, House Bill 11 36 passed with 42 votes in favor, 21 opposed and 2 excused.