---
type: "Bill"
title: "False Reporting Of Emergency"
description: "The act adds that the false reporting of a mass shooting or active shooter in a public or private place or vehicle that transports people or property that causes the occupants of a building, place of assembly, or facility of public transportation to be evacuated or to be issued a shelter-in-place order; causing any disruptions or impacts to regular activities; or resulting in the initiation of a standard response protocol is a class 6 felony."
jurisdiction: "us/states/co"
legislature: "Colorado General Assembly"
session: "2023A"
identifier: "SB 23-249"
citation: "Colorado SB 23-249 (2023A)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Barbara McLachlan", "Gabe Evans", "Jeff Bridges", "Kevin Van Winkle"]
version_count: 9
action_count: 14
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2023-03-24T06:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2023-06-07T06:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/a6366cff-b07b-43d5-9c49-e3a9a3baac60"
source_url: "https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb23-249"
source_hash: "ccd49b0d6a447e368372972d5a2a1e6c451418065c4078f029c10a1a7e59abd6"
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 23-249 (2023A) — False Reporting Of Emergency

The act adds that the false reporting of a mass shooting or active shooter in a public or private place or vehicle that transports people or property that causes the occupants of a building, place of assembly, or facility of public transportation to be evacuated or to be issued a shelter-in-place order; causing any disruptions or impacts to regular activities; or resulting in the initiation of a standard response protocol is a class 6 felony.

## 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_sb249_h_ed_001.pdf)
2. **Engrossed (04/12/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_249_eng.pdf)
3. **Final Act (05/07/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_249_enr.pdf)
4. **Introduced (03/24/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_249_01.pdf)
5. **PA1 (04/28/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_249_h_ed_01.pdf)
6. **Reengrossed (04/13/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_249_ren.pdf)
7. **Rerevised (05/01/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_249_rer.pdf)
8. **Revised (04/29/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_249_rev.pdf)
9. **Signed Act (06/07/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2023a_249_signed.pdf)

## Votes

- REPASS — **35–0** (pass) · upper
- CONCUR — **35–0** (pass) · upper
- BILL — **53–10** (pass) · lower
- BILL — **35–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Barbara McLachlan — primary (person)
- Gabe Evans — primary (person)
- Jeff Bridges — primary (person)
- Kevin Van Winkle — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-06-07T06:00:00+00:00** Governor Signed `executive-signature`
- **2023-05-08T06:00:00+00:00** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-05-07T06:00:00+00:00** Signed by the Speaker of the House
- **2023-05-05T06:00:00+00:00** Signed by the President of the Senate
- **2023-05-02T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Considered House Amendments - Result was to Concur - Repass
- **2023-05-01T06:00:00+00:00** House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-04-29T06:00:00+00:00** House Second Reading Special Order - Passed with Amendments - Committee
- **2023-04-28T06:00:00+00:00** House Second Reading Special Order - Laid Over Daily - No Amendments
- **2023-04-27T06:00:00+00:00** House Committee on Education Refer Amended to House Committee of the Whole `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2023-04-13T06:00:00+00:00** Introduced In House - Assigned to Education `introduction`
- **2023-04-13T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-04-12T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Second Reading Special Order - Passed - No Amendments
- **2023-04-10T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Committee on Judiciary Refer Unamended - Consent Calendar to Senate Committee of the Whole `committee-passage`
- **2023-03-24T06:00:00+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/a6366cff-b07b-43d5-9c49-e3a9a3baac60`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Colorado legislature records).