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HB26-1039 • 2026

Adding Municipal Jails to County Jail Oversight Requirements

Beginning July 1, 2027, the act requires municipal jails to comply with existing jail data collection requirements, standards, and oversight. The act requires a keeper of a municipal jail to release a

Crime Education
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Rep. M. Carter, Rep. N. Ricks, Sen. I. Jodeh, Sen. M. Weissman, Rep. C. Richardson, Rep. J. Bacon, Rep. K. Brown, Rep. C. Clifford, Rep. R. English, Rep. C. Espenoza, Rep. J. Jackson, Rep. M. Lindsay, Rep. J. Mabrey, Rep. K. Nguyen, Sen. J. Amabile, Sen. A. Benavidez, Sen. J. Coleman, Sen. L. Cutter, Sen. T. Exum, Sen. J. Gonzales, Sen. N. Hinrichsen, Sen. C. Kipp, Sen. J. Marchman, Sen. K. Wallace
Last action
2026-04-27
Official status
Governor Signed
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

Adding Municipal Jails to County Jail Oversight Rules

Starting July 1, 2027, this law requires city jails in Colorado to follow existing data collection rules and standards for county jails.

What This Bill Does

  • Requires jail staff to release pregnant people charged with a violation of a municipal ordinance if they are believed to be in labor, unless staying is needed for their health or welfare.
  • Prohibits using restraints on pregnant people during labor, delivery, and recovery if they remain in custody.
  • Mandates that jail staff write down the reason a pregnant person was not released and record details of any birth at the jail.
  • Requires city council members to review their local jail's management and resources at least once every year.
  • Allows the attorney general to check municipal jails for problems based on existing standards.
  • Adds one nonvoting member representing a municipality to the jail standards advisory committee.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Keepers of municipal (city) jails
  • City council members in cities that operate jails
  • The attorney general's office
  • Pregnant people charged with violating city rules who are held in custody

Terms To Know

Municipal jail
A detention facility owned and run by a city or town.
Keeper of a municipal jail
The person in charge of running the daily operations of a city jail.

Limits and Unknowns

  • These requirements do not take effect until July 1, 2027.
  • The text does not specify what happens if a city fails to follow the new review or release rules.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

L.003

HOU Judiciary

Passed [*]

Plain English: This amendment narrows the bill's rules to only apply when a pregnant person is held in jail for breaking a city rule, and it requires officials to explain why they did not release that person during labor.

  • Limits the new requirements so they only affect municipal jails holding people charged with violating local city ordinances.
  • Specifically targets cases involving pregnant persons who are being held in these facilities.
  • Requires jail keepers to report the specific reason why a pregnant person was not released from custody while giving birth.
  • The provided text only shows line-by-line edits and does not include the full original bill, so it is unclear if other parts of the law were changed.
  • Because the amendment removes general terms like 'A' or 'JAIL,' some context about who exactly must follow these rules depends on reading the rest of the unprovided document.
L.004

HOU Judiciary

Passed [*]

Plain English: This amendment clarifies the legal definition of a municipal jail and adds a nonvoting representative from municipalities to the state's Jail Standards Advisory Committee.

  • It defines 'municipal jail' as city or town facilities used for detaining people facing criminal charges, while excluding holding cells at courts, police stations, and reform schools.
  • It adds a new nonvoting member to the Jail Standards Advisory Committee who represents municipalities.
  • The amendment text does not explain how this change affects the specific data collection or oversight rules mentioned in the main bill title.
L.006

HOU Judiciary

Passed [*]

Plain English: This amendment clarifies that the term 'jail facility' does not include holding cells at courts, police stations, or municipal reform schools.

  • Adds a new definition to exclude specific types of rooms from being called jail facilities.

Bill History

  1. 2026-04-27 Governor

    Governor Signed

  2. 2026-04-16 Governor

    Sent to the Governor

  3. 2026-04-16 Senate

    Signed by the President of the Senate

  4. 2026-04-16 House

    Signed by the Speaker of the House

  5. 2026-03-24 Senate

    Senate Third Reading Passed - No Amendments

  6. 2026-03-23 Senate

    Senate Second Reading Passed - No Amendments

  7. 2026-03-18 Senate

    Senate Committee on Judiciary Refer Unamended to Senate Committee of the Whole

  8. 2026-03-10 Senate

    Introduced In Senate - Assigned to Judiciary

  9. 2026-03-03 House

    House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments

  10. 2026-03-02 House

    House Second Reading Special Order - Passed with Amendments - Committee

  11. 2026-02-27 House

    House Second Reading Laid Over Daily - No Amendments

  12. 2026-02-24 House

    House Committee on Judiciary Refer Amended to House Committee of the Whole

  13. 2026-02-04 House

    House Committee on Judiciary Witness Testimony and/or Committee Discussion Only

  14. 2026-01-14 House

    Introduced In House - Assigned to Judiciary

Official Summary Text

Beginning July 1, 2027, the act requires municipal jails to comply with existing jail data collection requirements, standards, and oversight.
The act requires a keeper of a municipal jail to release a pregnant person charged with a violation of a municipal ordinance from custody if jail staff have a reasonable belief the person is in labor unless remaining in custody is necessary for the health or welfare of the person. If the pregnant person in labor is not released, the use of restraints is prohibited during the labor, delivery, and postpartum recovery, and the jail staff shall make a written record that the labor, delivery, and postpartum recovery occurred at the jail and record the reason the pregnant person was not released from custody.
The act requires council members of a city that has a city jail to examine the jail's management and sufficiency at least once a year and allows the attorney general to conduct assessments of municipal jails to identify gaps and deficiencies based on the jail standards.
The act adds a nonvoting member who represents a municipality to the jail standards advisory committee.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)