republic-os/legislation/us/states/co/2021a/hb-21-1250.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Measures to Address Law Enforcement Accountability"
description: "The act makes changes to the provisions of Senate Bill 20-217, enacted in 2020, (SB 217) to provide clarity and address issues discovered since the passage of that bill. SB 217 used the term \"exonerated\", but never defined it; the act defines \"exonerated\" and further clarifies the term \"contact\".The act clarifies some of the circumstances when a body-worn camera must be operating and provisions related to the release of the footage. The act changes the requirement that body-worn camera recordings be released within 21 days from the date of the complaint of misconduct to within 21 days from the date of the request for the video recording. The act states the sanctions for failing to activate a body-worn camera and the 21-day release requirement will take effect on passage of the act if the officer is wearing a body camera and the other body-camera provisions apply on or after July 1, 2022, if an officer is wearing a body-worn camera, even though the requirement for all officers to wear a body camera does not take effect until July 1, 2023. The act requires $2 million to be appropriated to the body-worn camera for law enforcement officers grant program in fiscal year 2021-22.SB 217 required law enforcement to report certain information related to each contact an officer has with a person beginning January 1, 2023. The act changes the start date of the reporting requirement to April 1, 2022. The act clarifies and adds to some of the information that must be reported.If a peace officer is convicted of, found civilly liable for, or found liable in an administrative proceeding for unlawful use of force or failure to intervene, the officer certification must be revoked if death or serious bodily injury occurred or, if serious bodily injury or death did not occur, then the certification must suspended for at least a year. The act creates a process to allow a peace officer to have a hearing by an administrative law judge to determine whether the peace officer's certification should be suspended or revoked.The act prohibits a peace officer's employer or the employer's agent from discharging; disciplining; demoting; denying a promotion, transfer, or reassign; discriminating against; harassing; or threatening a peace officer's employment because the peace officer disclosed information that shows:A danger to public health or safety; or"
jurisdiction: "us/states/co"
legislature: "Colorado General Assembly"
session: "2021A"
identifier: "HB 21-1250"
citation: "Colorado HB 21-1250 (2021A)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bob Gardner", "Leslie Herod", "Rhonda Fields", "Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez"]
version_count: 12
action_count: 18
vote_count: 11
first_action: "2021-03-30T06:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2021-07-06T06:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/41b80789-3abe-44cf-bc1d-fe1f6a06ed11"
source_url: "http://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb21-1250"
source_hash: "c0853f33cc1101c3b495ac222c775d696b18adaeec680f12223976f8bacd25ea"
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 21-1250 (2021A) — Measures to Address Law Enforcement Accountability

The act makes changes to the provisions of Senate Bill 20-217, enacted in 2020, (SB 217) to provide clarity and address issues discovered since the passage of that bill. SB 217 used the term "exonerated", but never defined it; the act defines "exonerated" and further clarifies the term "contact".The act clarifies some of the circumstances when a body-worn camera must be operating and provisions related to the release of the footage. The act changes the requirement that body-worn camera recordings be released within 21 days from the date of the complaint of misconduct to within 21 days from the date of the request for the video recording. The act states the sanctions for failing to activate a body-worn camera and the 21-day release requirement will take effect on passage of the act if the officer is wearing a body camera and the other body-camera provisions apply on or after July 1, 2022, if an officer is wearing a body-worn camera, even though the requirement for all officers to wear a body camera does not take effect until July 1, 2023. The act requires $2 million to be appropriated to the body-worn camera for law enforcement officers grant program in fiscal year 2021-22.SB 217 required law enforcement to report certain information related to each contact an officer has with a person beginning January 1, 2023. The act changes the start date of the reporting requirement to April 1, 2022. The act clarifies and adds to some of the information that must be reported.If a peace officer is convicted of, found civilly liable for, or found liable in an administrative proceeding for unlawful use of force or failure to intervene, the officer certification must be revoked if death or serious bodily injury occurred or, if serious bodily injury or death did not occur, then the certification must suspended for at least a year. The act creates a process to allow a peace officer to have a hearing by an administrative law judge to determine whether the peace officer's certification should be suspended or revoked.The act prohibits a peace officer's employer or the employer's agent from discharging; disciplining; demoting; denying a promotion, transfer, or reassign; discriminating against; harassing; or threatening a peace officer's employment because the peace officer disclosed information that shows:A danger to public health or safety; or

## 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_hb1250_s_app_004.pdf)
2. **Engrossed (05/17/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1250_eng.pdf)
3. **Final Act (06/21/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1250_enr.pdf)
4. **Introduced (03/30/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1250_01.pdf)
5. **PA1 (04/26/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1250jud_01.pdf)
6. **PA2 (05/07/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1250app.pdf)
7. **PA3 (05/26/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1250ssta_01.pdf)
8. **PA4 (06/03/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1250sstaapp.pdf)
9. **Reengrossed (05/19/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1250_ren.pdf)
10. **Rerevised (06/07/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1250_rr2.pdf)
11. **Revised (06/03/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1250_rev.pdf)
12. **Signed Act (07/06/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2021a_1250_signed.pdf)

## Votes

- AMD — **24–41** (fail) · lower
- AMEND — **32–0** (pass) · upper
- REPASS — **41–24** (pass) · lower
- AMD — **33–31** (pass) · lower
- CONCUR — **44–21** (pass) · lower
- BILL — **39–24** (pass) · lower
- AMEND — **32–0** (pass) · upper
- AMD — **24–41** (fail) · lower
- BILL — **32–0** (pass) · upper
- AMD — **24–41** (fail) · lower
- AMEND — **32–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Bob Gardner — primary (person)
- Leslie Herod — primary (person)
- Rhonda Fields — primary (person)
- Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-07-06T06:00:00+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
- **2021-06-08T06:00:00+00:00** House Considered Senate Amendments - Result was to Concur - Repass
- **2021-06-07T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Third Reading Passed with Amendments - Floor `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-06-07T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Third Reading Laid Over Daily - No Amendments
- **2021-06-03T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Second Reading Special Order - Passed with Amendments - Committee, Floor
- **2021-06-03T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Committee on Appropriations Refer Amended to Senate Committee of the Whole `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2021-05-25T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Committee on State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Refer Amended to Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2021-05-19T06:00:00+00:00** Introduced In Senate - Assigned to State, Veterans, & Military Affairs `introduction`
- **2021-05-19T06:00:00+00:00** House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-05-18T06:00:00+00:00** House Third Reading Laid Over Daily - No Amendments
- **2021-05-17T06:00:00+00:00** House Second Reading Passed with Amendments - Committee, Floor `reading-2`
- **2021-05-11T06:00:00+00:00** House Second Reading Laid Over Daily - No Amendments
- **2021-05-07T06:00:00+00:00** House Committee on Appropriations Refer Amended to House Committee of the Whole `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2021-04-21T06:00:00+00:00** House Committee on Judiciary Refer Amended to Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-30T06:00:00+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/41b80789-3abe-44cf-bc1d-fe1f6a06ed11`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Colorado legislature records).