republic-os/legislation/us/states/co/2021a/hb-21-1201.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Transparency Telecommunications Correctional Facilities"
description: "The act requires penal communications service providers (providers) who provide penal communications services (services) to correctional facilities (facilities) to maintain data and records (data) related to the services provided to those facilities. The act requires providers to submit the data and a report on the services provided to the public utilities commission (commission) on a quarterly basis. The commission is required to publish the data and report on its website in a format accessible by the public.The commission shall establish a maximum per-minute rate for in-state debit, prepaid, and collect calls to or from facilities, and shall conduct trial tests to ensure accountability and transparency. Starting on January 1, 2022, rate caps established by the federal communications commission apply to all in-state debit, prepaid, and collect calls to or from a facility.The act requires the commission to conduct trial tests on a statistically valid sample of penal communications services and document the test results to ensure the quality of the calls and the accountability of the service.The act requires providers to include specific language to be displayed prominently on the provider's website concerning the filing of a complaint.Current law exempts providers and the services provided from oversight by the commission. The act grants the commission authority over providers and the services provided.For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $259,251 to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the public utilities commission. This appropriation is from the telecommunications utility fund. To implement this act, the division may use this appropriation as follows:$232,101 for personal services, which amount is based on an assumption that the division will require an additional 3.0 FTE; and"
jurisdiction: "us/states/co"
legislature: "Colorado General Assembly"
session: "2021A"
identifier: "HB 21-1201"
citation: "Colorado HB 21-1201 (2021A)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Julie Gonzales", "Kerry Tipper", "Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez"]
version_count: 11
action_count: 16
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2021-03-04T07:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2021-06-30T06:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/1f2bfc8b-b40f-4900-9c61-e2ce858b7f14"
source_url: "http://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb21-1201"
source_hash: "844e3c93e1a39ad754e47af296f17260d7e0bad0fdcc7511fb49724f0cf9a6cc"
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 21-1201 (2021A) — Transparency Telecommunications Correctional Facilities

The act requires penal communications service providers (providers) who provide penal communications services (services) to correctional facilities (facilities) to maintain data and records (data) related to the services provided to those facilities. The act requires providers to submit the data and a report on the services provided to the public utilities commission (commission) on a quarterly basis. The commission is required to publish the data and report on its website in a format accessible by the public.The commission shall establish a maximum per-minute rate for in-state debit, prepaid, and collect calls to or from facilities, and shall conduct trial tests to ensure accountability and transparency. Starting on January 1, 2022, rate caps established by the federal communications commission apply to all in-state debit, prepaid, and collect calls to or from a facility.The act requires the commission to conduct trial tests on a statistically valid sample of penal communications services and document the test results to ensure the quality of the calls and the accountability of the service.The act requires providers to include specific language to be displayed prominently on the provider's website concerning the filing of a complaint.Current law exempts providers and the services provided from oversight by the commission. The act grants the commission authority over providers and the services provided.For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $259,251 to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the public utilities commission. This appropriation is from the telecommunications utility fund. To implement this act, the division may use this appropriation as follows:$232,101 for personal services, which amount is based on an assumption that the division will require an additional 3.0 FTE; and

## 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_hb1201_s_fin_001.pdf)
2. **Engrossed (04/28/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1201_eng.pdf)
3. **Final Act (06/21/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1201_enr.pdf)
4. **Introduced (03/04/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1201_01.pdf)
5. **PA1 (03/18/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1201jud_01.pdf)
6. **PA2 (04/09/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1201fin.pdf)
7. **PA3 (04/28/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1201app.pdf)
8. **Reengrossed (04/30/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1201_ren.pdf)
9. **Rerevised (05/24/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1201_rer.pdf)
10. **Revised (05/21/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1201_rev.pdf)
11. **Signed Act (06/30/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2021a_1201_signed.pdf)

## Votes

- BILL — **46–17** (pass) · lower
- BILL — **26–9** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Julie Gonzales — primary (person)
- Kerry Tipper — primary (person)
- Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-06-30T06:00:00+00:00** Governor Signed `executive-signature`
- **2021-06-21T06:00:00+00:00** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-06-21T06:00:00+00:00** Signed by the Speaker of the House
- **2021-06-21T06:00:00+00:00** Signed by the President of the Senate
- **2021-05-24T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-05-21T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Second Reading Special Order - Passed - No Amendments
- **2021-05-21T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Committee on Appropriations Refer Unamended to Senate Committee of the Whole `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2021-05-12T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Committee on Finance Refer Unamended to Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2021-05-03T06:00:00+00:00** Introduced In Senate - Assigned to Finance `introduction`
- **2021-05-03T06:00:00+00:00** House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-05-03T06:00:00+00:00** House Third Reading Laid Over Daily - No Amendments
- **2021-04-28T06:00:00+00:00** House Second Reading Special Order - Passed with Amendments - Committee
- **2021-04-28T06:00:00+00:00** House Committee on Appropriations Refer Amended to House Committee of the Whole `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2021-04-08T06:00:00+00:00** House Committee on Finance Refer Amended to Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-16T06:00:00+00:00** House Committee on Judiciary Refer Amended to Finance `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-04T07:00:00+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/1f2bfc8b-b40f-4900-9c61-e2ce858b7f14`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Colorado legislature records).