---
type: "Bill"
title: "Legal Representation And Students With Disabilities"
description: "Current law entitles a parent, guardian or legal custodian of, or entity with educational decision-making authority for (parent), a student with a disability, or a student who may be eligible for special education services, to file a state complaint in the event of a dispute with an administrative unit or a state-operated program (education provider). If the parent prevails in a state complaint decision, the education provider may file a due process complaint against the parent regarding the issues disputed in the state complaint."
jurisdiction: "us/states/co"
legislature: "Colorado General Assembly"
session: "2023A"
identifier: "HB 23-1168"
citation: "Colorado HB 23-1168 (2023A)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Faith Winter", "Junie Joseph", "Said Sharbini"]
version_count: 11
action_count: 15
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2023-02-02T07:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2023-05-25T06:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/00c74907-c36f-4363-b525-80f2e7401c79"
source_url: "https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb23-1168"
source_hash: "d44c49f2b1ea3d6e5e31155e0ee5daeade030cfbe07189e818bb805a335606d0"
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 23-1168 (2023A) — Legal Representation And Students With Disabilities

Current law entitles a parent, guardian or legal custodian of, or entity with educational decision-making authority for (parent), a student with a disability, or a student who may be eligible for special education services, to file a state complaint in the event of a dispute with an administrative unit or a state-operated program (education provider). If the parent prevails in a state complaint decision, the education provider may file a due process complaint against the parent regarding the issues disputed in the state complaint.

## 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_hb1168_s_app_002.pdf)
2. **Engrossed (03/11/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_1168_en2.pdf)
3. **Final Act (05/05/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_1168_enr.pdf)
4. **Introduced (02/02/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_1168_01.pdf)
5. **PA1 (02/24/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_1168_h_ed_01.pdf)
6. **PA2 (03/11/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_1168_h_ed_app_01.pdf)
7. **PA3 (03/21/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_1168_s_ed_01.pdf)
8. **Reengrossed (03/13/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_1168_ren.pdf)
9. **Rerevised (04/10/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_1168_rer.pdf)
10. **Revised (04/06/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_1168_rev.pdf)
11. **Signed Act (05/25/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2023a_1168_signed.pdf)

## Votes

- BILL — **52–8** (pass) · lower
- BILL — **32–3** (pass) · upper
- REPASS — **59–3** (pass) · lower
- CONCUR — **58–4** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Faith Winter — primary (person)
- Junie Joseph — primary (person)
- Said Sharbini — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-05-25T06:00:00+00:00** Governor Signed `executive-signature`
- **2023-05-05T06:00:00+00:00** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-05-05T06:00:00+00:00** Signed by the President of the Senate
- **2023-05-04T06:00:00+00:00** Signed by the Speaker of the House
- **2023-04-13T06:00:00+00:00** House Considered Senate Amendments - Result was to Concur - Repass
- **2023-04-10T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-04-06T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Second Reading Special Order - Passed with Amendments - Committee
- **2023-04-06T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Committee on Appropriations Refer Unamended - Consent Calendar to Senate Committee of the Whole `committee-passage`
- **2023-03-20T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Committee on Education Refer Amended to Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-16T06:00:00+00:00** Introduced In Senate - Assigned to Education `introduction`
- **2023-03-13T06:00:00+00:00** House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-03-11T07:00:00+00:00** House Second Reading Special Order - Passed with Amendments - Committee
- **2023-03-10T07:00:00+00:00** House Committee on Appropriations Refer Amended to House Committee of the Whole `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2023-02-23T07:00:00+00:00** House Committee on Education Refer Amended to Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-02T07:00:00+00:00** Introduced In House - Assigned to Education `introduction`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/00c74907-c36f-4363-b525-80f2e7401c79`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Colorado legislature records).