---
type: "Bill"
title: "Criminal Trial Continuances COVID-19 Pandemic"
description: "Under existing law, a criminal defendant must be brought to trial within 6 months after the date of the entry of a plea of not guilty. However, there are circumstances that exclude a period of time when computing the time within which a defendant must be brought to trial. These exclusions extend the length of time within which the defendant must be brought to trial.The act permits the court to exclude a period of delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, not to exceed 6 months if the defendant is not in custody for the case pending a jury trial or not to exceed 3 months if the defendant is in custody for the case pending a jury trial, if certain considerations are satisfied. The court may grant only one continuance due to a period of delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.The judicial department shall collect, report, and publish data concerning each continuance granted because of the COVID-19 pandemic.The act requires the court that orders an exclusion of a period of delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to reconsider bond for an eligible defendant in custody awaiting trial.A court shall not grant a continuance based on a delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on or after 5:01 p.m. on April 29, 2022.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/co"
legislature: "Colorado General Assembly"
session: "2021A"
identifier: "HB 21-1309"
citation: "Colorado HB 21-1309 (2021A)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bob Gardner", "Dylan Roberts", "Pete Lee", "Terri Carver"]
version_count: 9
action_count: 13
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2021-05-07T06:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2021-06-21T06:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/52b5a60f-3608-4fc8-aefe-10f51ff0c00c"
source_url: "http://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb21-1309"
source_hash: "ac3c20b5d6e3ab77d6df0f5b9e2dcc62e43f69d8f637000e91ca6e0bb97450e2"
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 HB 21-1309 (2021A) — Criminal Trial Continuances COVID-19 Pandemic

Under existing law, a criminal defendant must be brought to trial within 6 months after the date of the entry of a plea of not guilty. However, there are circumstances that exclude a period of time when computing the time within which a defendant must be brought to trial. These exclusions extend the length of time within which the defendant must be brought to trial.The act permits the court to exclude a period of delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, not to exceed 6 months if the defendant is not in custody for the case pending a jury trial or not to exceed 3 months if the defendant is in custody for the case pending a jury trial, if certain considerations are satisfied. The court may grant only one continuance due to a period of delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.The judicial department shall collect, report, and publish data concerning each continuance granted because of the COVID-19 pandemic.The act requires the court that orders an exclusion of a period of delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to reconsider bond for an eligible defendant in custody awaiting trial.A court shall not grant a continuance based on a delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on or after 5:01 p.m. on April 29, 2022.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

## Version chain

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

1. **Committee Amendment** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2021a_hb1309_s_sa_001.pdf)
2. **Engrossed (06/03/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1309_eng.pdf)
3. **Final Act (06/14/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1309_enr.pdf)
4. **Introduced (05/07/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1309_01.pdf)
5. **PA1 (06/03/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1309jud_01.pdf)
6. **Reengrossed (06/04/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1309_ren.pdf)
7. **Rerevised (06/08/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1309_rer.pdf)
8. **Revised (06/07/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1309_rev.pdf)
9. **Signed Act (06/21/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2021a_1309_signed.pdf)

## Votes

- BILL — **51–11** (pass) · lower
- BILL — **32–2** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Bob Gardner — primary (person)
- Dylan Roberts — primary (person)
- Pete Lee — primary (person)
- Terri Carver — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-06-21T06:00:00+00:00** Governor Signed `executive-signature`
- **2021-06-15T06:00:00+00:00** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-06-14T06:00:00+00:00** Signed by the Speaker of the House
- **2021-06-14T06:00:00+00:00** Signed by the President of the Senate
- **2021-06-08T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-06-07T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Second Reading Special Order - Passed - No Amendments
- **2021-06-04T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Committee on State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Refer Unamended to Senate Committee of the Whole `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2021-06-04T06:00:00+00:00** Introduced In Senate - Assigned to State, Veterans, & Military Affairs `introduction`
- **2021-06-04T06:00:00+00:00** House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-06-03T06:00:00+00:00** House Second Reading Special Order - Passed with Amendments - Committee, Floor
- **2021-06-02T06:00:00+00:00** House Committee on Judiciary Refer Amended to House Committee of the Whole `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2021-05-18T06:00:00+00:00** House Committee on Judiciary Witness Testimony and/or Committee Discussion Only
- **2021-05-07T06:00:00+00:00** Introduced In House - 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/52b5a60f-3608-4fc8-aefe-10f51ff0c00c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Colorado legislature records).