republic-os/legislation/us/states/co/2023a/sb-23-020.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Timely Certified Death Certificates"
description: "The act changes the time frame required to file a certificate of death with the state registrar from 5 days after a death occurs to 72 hours after the funeral director assumes custody of a dead body, stillborn fetus, or dead fetus unless the individual responsible for completing the medical certification for the death certificate is unable to complete the medical certification for the death certificate within the required time frame, additional inquiry into the cause and manner of death is required by current law, or a coroner, a medical examiner, a forensic pathologist, or other qualified individual determines that additional time is required to determine the cause and manner of death, in which case the certificate of death must be completed and signed as soon as practicable. Any individual, other than a family member of the decedent or other individual acting in a non-professional capacity as the funeral director for the decedent, who is required to initiate, complete, respond to, or file a death certificate must use the electronic death registration system (EDRS) used by the department of public health and environment (department) and the state registrar; except that, a physician who is not yet registered to use the EDRS is not required to use it until March 1, 2024, or the date the physician is registered, whichever is earlier. The department is required to ensure that all physicians are registered to use the EDRS on or before March 1, 2024."
jurisdiction: "us/states/co"
legislature: "Colorado General Assembly"
session: "2023A"
identifier: "SB 23-020"
citation: "Colorado SB 23-020 (2023A)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Iman Jodeh", "James Coleman", "Ron Weinberg"]
version_count: 11
action_count: 15
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2023-01-10T07:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2023-05-01T06:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/ce9d1ed4-c041-45fc-8a80-577ecad703ec"
source_url: "https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb23-020"
source_hash: "12490cfd4fb3573db1668569c12bbb92560c97c5b91a526977fc0ad93677d92d"
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 23-020 (2023A) — Timely Certified Death Certificates

The act changes the time frame required to file a certificate of death with the state registrar from 5 days after a death occurs to 72 hours after the funeral director assumes custody of a dead body, stillborn fetus, or dead fetus unless the individual responsible for completing the medical certification for the death certificate is unable to complete the medical certification for the death certificate within the required time frame, additional inquiry into the cause and manner of death is required by current law, or a coroner, a medical examiner, a forensic pathologist, or other qualified individual determines that additional time is required to determine the cause and manner of death, in which case the certificate of death must be completed and signed as soon as practicable. Any individual, other than a family member of the decedent or other individual acting in a non-professional capacity as the funeral director for the decedent, who is required to initiate, complete, respond to, or file a death certificate must use the electronic death registration system (EDRS) used by the department of public health and environment (department) and the state registrar; except that, a physician who is not yet registered to use the EDRS is not required to use it until March 1, 2024, or the date the physician is registered, whichever is earlier. The department is required to ensure that all physicians are registered to use the EDRS on or before March 1, 2024.

## 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_sb020_h_sa_001.pdf)
2. **Engrossed (03/31/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_020_eng.pdf)
3. **Final Act (04/27/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_020_enr.pdf)
4. **Introduced (01/10/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_020_01.pdf)
5. **PA1 (03/17/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_020_s_hhs_01.pdf)
6. **PA2 (03/29/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_020_s_hhs_fin_01.pdf)
7. **PA3 (04/13/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_020_h_sa_01.pdf)
8. **Reengrossed (04/03/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_020_ren.pdf)
9. **Rerevised (04/17/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_020_rer.pdf)
10. **Revised (04/14/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_020_rev.pdf)
11. **Signed Act (05/01/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2023a_020_signed.pdf)

## Votes

- BILL — **23–11** (pass) · upper
- CONCUR — **35–0** (pass) · upper
- BILL — **54–11** (pass) · lower
- REPASS — **23–12** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Iman Jodeh — primary (person)
- James Coleman — primary (person)
- Ron Weinberg — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-05-01T06:00:00+00:00** Governor Signed `executive-signature`
- **2023-04-27T06:00:00+00:00** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-04-27T06:00:00+00:00** Signed by the Speaker of the House
- **2023-04-26T06:00:00+00:00** Signed by the President of the Senate
- **2023-04-18T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Considered House Amendments - Result was to Concur - Repass
- **2023-04-17T06:00:00+00:00** House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-04-15T06:00:00+00:00** House Third Reading Laid Over Daily - No Amendments
- **2023-04-14T06:00:00+00:00** House Second Reading Special Order - Passed with Amendments - Committee
- **2023-04-13T06:00:00+00:00** House Committee on State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs Refer Amended to House Committee of the Whole `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2023-04-03T06:00:00+00:00** Introduced In House - Assigned to State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs `introduction`
- **2023-04-03T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-03-31T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Second Reading Passed with Amendments - Committee, Floor `reading-2`
- **2023-03-28T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Committee on Finance Refer Amended to Senate Committee of the Whole `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2023-03-16T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Committee on Health & Human Services Refer Amended to Finance `referral-committee`
- **2023-01-10T07:00:00+00:00** Introduced In Senate - Assigned to Health & Human Services `introduction`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/ce9d1ed4-c041-45fc-8a80-577ecad703ec`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Colorado legislature records).