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Committee approves flexibility for CBI InstaCheck hours, citing efficiency gains
Summary
Committee voted to allow the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to set InstaCheck hours based on demand rather than obey a rigid 12‑hour statutory mandate, after CBI witnesses said a 3‑day waiting period and declining checks made the old requirement inefficient; committee recorded a 3–2 favorable vote.
Sponsor (Senator Kipp) said HB 26‑13‑02 would remove the statutory requirement that the Colorado Bureau of Investigation’s InstaCheck background‑check unit operate 12 hours per day, 7 days a week, and instead allow CBI to set hours that match demand. Sponsor said the 12‑hour mandate made sense before the 3‑day waiting period was imposed; with the waiting period in place the immediacy of processing is reduced and resources could be reallocated to peak times.
CBI witnesses, including Deputy Director Dan Volz and Assistant Director Nick Baumgart, testified the unit is cash‑funded and that only approximately 9% of background checks are submitted between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. They said declining background‑check volume and funding constraints make statutory flexibility sensible; they pledged to maintain processing transparency by reporting InstaCheck processing times in Smart Act hearings and to aim for 24‑hour responses when feasible.
Committee members asked whether removing the mandate would slow the start of the statutory waiting period; witnesses said the waiting period begins when a submission is made and the bill clarifies that processing time is unchanged for legal purposes. After questions, the committee moved HB 26‑13‑02 to the Committee of the Whole with a recorded 3–2 favorable vote.
