---
type: "Bill"
title: "Definition Of Serious Bodily Injury"
description: "The act expands the definition of \"serious bodily injury\" in the criminal code to include penetrating gunshot wounds and penetrating knife wounds."
jurisdiction: "us/states/co"
legislature: "Colorado General Assembly"
session: "2023A"
identifier: "SB 23-034"
citation: "Colorado SB 23-034 (2023A)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Barbara McLachlan", "Byron Pelton", "Gabe Evans", "Rhonda Fields"]
version_count: 10
action_count: 15
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2023-01-10T07:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2023-06-02T06:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/8291a27d-31af-46b2-9b05-6439adf7480d"
source_url: "https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb23-034"
source_hash: "d86f24b2ca8edcb670612b59297abd05d98e8a9f6795e701d97750da4147f337"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-co"]
---

# Colorado SB 23-034 (2023A) — Definition Of Serious Bodily Injury

The act expands the definition of "serious bodily injury" in the criminal code to include penetrating gunshot wounds and penetrating knife wounds.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Committee Amendment** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2023a_sb034_h_jud_001.pdf)
2. **Engrossed (02/09/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_034_en2.pdf)
3. **Final Act (05/15/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_034_enr.pdf)
4. **Introduced (01/10/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_034_01.pdf)
5. **PA1 (02/07/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_034_s_jud_01.pdf)
6. **PA2 (04/28/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_034_h_jud_01.pdf)
7. **Reengrossed (02/10/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_034_ren.pdf)
8. **Rerevised (05/06/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_034_rer.pdf)
9. **Revised (05/03/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_034_rev.pdf)
10. **Signed Act (06/02/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2023a_034_signed.pdf)

## Votes

- BILL — **47–17** (pass) · lower
- CONCUR — **35–0** (pass) · upper
- REPASS — **34–1** (pass) · upper
- BILL — **32–2** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Barbara McLachlan — primary (person)
- Byron Pelton — primary (person)
- Gabe Evans — primary (person)
- Rhonda Fields — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2023-06-02T06:00:00+00:00** Governor Signed `executive-signature`
- **2023-05-15T06:00:00+00:00** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-05-15T06:00:00+00:00** Signed by the Speaker of the House
- **2023-05-15T06:00:00+00:00** Signed by the President of the Senate
- **2023-05-08T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Considered House Amendments - Result was to Concur - Repass
- **2023-05-06T06:00:00+00:00** House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-05-04T06:00:00+00:00** House Third Reading Laid Over Daily - No Amendments
- **2023-05-03T06:00:00+00:00** House Second Reading Special Order - Passed with Amendments - Floor
- **2023-05-02T06:00:00+00:00** House Second Reading Laid Over Daily - No Amendments
- **2023-04-27T06:00:00+00:00** House Committee on Judiciary Refer Amended to House Committee of the Whole `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2023-02-10T07:00:00+00:00** Introduced In House - Assigned to Judiciary `introduction`
- **2023-02-10T07:00:00+00:00** Senate Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-02-09T07:00:00+00:00** Senate Second Reading Passed with Amendments - Committee `reading-2`
- **2023-02-06T07:00:00+00:00** Senate Committee on Judiciary Refer Amended to Senate Committee of the Whole `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2023-01-10T07:00:00+00:00** Introduced In Senate - Assigned to Judiciary `introduction`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/8291a27d-31af-46b2-9b05-6439adf7480d`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Colorado legislature records).