republic-os/legislation/us/states/co/2021a/sb-21-017.md

type, title, description, jurisdiction, legislature, session, identifier, citation, classification, subjects, status, primary_sponsors, version_count, action_count, vote_count, first_action, last_action, source, source_identifier, source_url, source_hash, vintage, source_snapshot, retrieved_at, confidence, tags

type	title	description	jurisdiction	legislature	session	identifier	citation	classification	subjects	status	primary_sponsors	version_count	action_count	vote_count	first_action	last_action	source	source_identifier	source_url	source_hash	vintage	source_snapshot	retrieved_at	confidence	tags
Bill	Sexual Contact By An Educator	Under current law, a secondary school teacher who has sexual contact with a student who is 18 years of age or older may not have committed a crime. The act provides that an educator who subjects a secondary school student who is 18 years of age or older to sexual intrusion or sexual penetration commits the crime of abuse of public trust by an educator if the educator is at least 4 years older than the student. Abuse of public trust by an educator is a class 1 misdemeanor. Consent by the student is not a defense to the crime.The act requires a public school prior to employing a person to inquire with the department of education (department) regarding whether the person was dismissed or resigned based on an allegation of a sexual act with a student 18 years or older.The act requires that if an employee of a public school is dismissed or resigns as a result of an allegation of a sexual act involving a student who is 18 years of age or older, regardless of whether the student consented to the sexual act, that is supported by a preponderance of the evidence, the governing board of the charter school or school board shall notify the department and provide any information requested by the department concerning the circumstances of the dismissal or resignation. The public school shall also notify the employee that information concerning the employee's dismissal or resignation is being forwarded to the department. The act prohibits a public school from entering into a settlement agreement that would restrict the public school from sharing any relevant information related to an allegation of a sexual act involving a student who is 18 years of age or older, regardless of whether the student consented to the sexual act, that is supported by a preponderance of the evidence pertaining to the employee with the department, another school district, or charter school pertaining to the incident upon which the dismissal or resignation is based.Under current law, the department of education can impose licensing sanctions on unethical behavior and professional incompetence. The act requires the state board of education to promulgate appropriate rules defining the standards of unethical behavior and professional incompetency. Unethical behavior must include conduct involving a sexual act between an applicant or holder and a student, including a student who is 18 years of age or older, regardless of whether the student consented to the sexual act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)	us/states/co	Colorado General Assembly	2021A	SB 21-017	Colorado SB 21-017 (2021A)	bill		enacted	Colin Larson Dennis Hisey Mary Bradfield Rachel Zenzinger	12	17	8	2021-02-16T07:00:00+00:00	2021-07-02T06:00:00+00:00	openstates	ocd-bill/61708a3f-293e-4f95-844e-3c320cbdc8cb	http://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb21-017	f2353edfa34e7eab9c06a5f8f28967b6c69b3aef349f8b332dc95e41cac8ee50	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-co

Colorado SB 21-017 (2021A) — Sexual Contact By An Educator

Under current law, a secondary school teacher who has sexual contact with a student who is 18 years of age or older may not have committed a crime. The act provides that an educator who subjects a secondary school student who is 18 years of age or older to sexual intrusion or sexual penetration commits the crime of abuse of public trust by an educator if the educator is at least 4 years older than the student. Abuse of public trust by an educator is a class 1 misdemeanor. Consent by the student is not a defense to the crime.The act requires a public school prior to employing a person to inquire with the department of education (department) regarding whether the person was dismissed or resigned based on an allegation of a sexual act with a student 18 years or older.The act requires that if an employee of a public school is dismissed or resigns as a result of an allegation of a sexual act involving a student who is 18 years of age or older, regardless of whether the student consented to the sexual act, that is supported by a preponderance of the evidence, the governing board of the charter school or school board shall notify the department and provide any information requested by the department concerning the circumstances of the dismissal or resignation. The public school shall also notify the employee that information concerning the employee's dismissal or resignation is being forwarded to the department. The act prohibits a public school from entering into a settlement agreement that would restrict the public school from sharing any relevant information related to an allegation of a sexual act involving a student who is 18 years of age or older, regardless of whether the student consented to the sexual act, that is supported by a preponderance of the evidence pertaining to the employee with the department, another school district, or charter school pertaining to the incident upon which the dismissal or resignation is based.Under current law, the department of education can impose licensing sanctions on unethical behavior and professional incompetence. The act requires the state board of education to promulgate appropriate rules defining the standards of unethical behavior and professional incompetency. Unethical behavior must include conduct involving a sexual act between an applicant or holder and a student, including a student who is 18 years of age or older, regardless of whether the student consented to the sexual act.(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. Amendment L.001 (committee substitute) — source
2. Committee Amendment (committee substitute) — source
3. Engrossed (03/01/2021) (committee substitute) — source
4. Engrossed (2) (03/02/2021) (committee substitute) — source
5. Final Act (06/14/2021) (committee substitute) — source
6. Introduced (02/16/2021) (committee substitute) — source
7. PA1 (03/01/2021) (committee substitute) — source
8. PA2 (04/29/2021) (committee substitute) — source
9. Reengrossed (03/02/2021) (committee substitute) — source
10. Rerevised (05/04/2021) (committee substitute) — source
11. Revised (05/03/2021) (committee substitute) — source
12. Signed Act (07/02/2021) (committee substitute) — source

Votes

• REPASS — 55–6 (pass) · lower
• NOT CONCUR APPT CC — 34–0 (pass) · upper
• ADOPT — 49–12 (pass) · lower
• BILL — 33–0 (pass) · upper
• ADOPT CCR — 33–0 (pass) · upper
• ADOPT CCR — 33–0 (pass) · upper
• BILL — 61–2 (pass) · lower
• REPASS — 33–0 (pass) · upper

Sponsors

• Colin Larson — primary (person)
• Dennis Hisey — primary (person)
• Mary Bradfield — primary (person)
• Rachel Zenzinger — primary (person)

Timeline

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

• 2021-07-02T06:00:00+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
• 2021-05-25T06:00:00+00:00 Senate Consideration of First Conference Committee Report result was to Adopt Committee Report - Repass
• 2021-05-24T06:00:00+00:00 House Consideration of First Conference Committee Report result was to Adopt Committee Report - Repass
• 2021-05-20T06:00:00+00:00 First Conference Committee Result was to Adopt Rerevised w/ Amendments
• 2021-05-05T06:00:00+00:00 Senate Considered House Amendments - Result was to Not Concur - Request Conference Committee
• 2021-05-04T06:00:00+00:00 House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments passage, reading-3
• 2021-05-03T06:00:00+00:00 House Second Reading Passed with Amendments - Committee reading-2
• 2021-04-28T06:00:00+00:00 House Committee on Judiciary Refer Amended to House Committee of the Whole committee-passage, referral-committee
• 2021-03-16T06:00:00+00:00 House Committee on Judiciary Witness Testimony and/or Committee Discussion Only
• 2021-03-03T07:00:00+00:00 Introduced In House - Assigned to Judiciary introduction
• 2021-03-02T07:00:00+00:00 Senate Third Reading Passed - No Amendments passage, reading-3
• 2021-03-01T07:00:00+00:00 Senate Second Reading Passed with Amendments - Committee reading-2
• 2021-02-25T07:00:00+00:00 Senate Committee on Judiciary Refer Amended - Consent Calendar to Senate Committee of the Whole committee-passage
• 2021-02-16T07:00:00+00:00 Introduced In Senate - Assigned to Judiciary introduction

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/61708a3f-293e-4f95-844e-3c320cbdc8cb. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Colorado legislature records).