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SB26-084 • 2026

No Waiver for Legal Privileges State Auditor Documents

Legislative Audit Committee. The bill protects certain legal privileges for state entities related to disclosures to the state auditor, legislative audit committee, or governor for purposes of an inve

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Sen. L. Frizell, Sen. M. Weissman, Rep. J. Willford, Sen. J. Coleman, Sen. I. Jodeh, Rep. M. Carter, Rep. B. Marshall
Last action
2026-04-08
Official status
Sent to the Governor
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary and text do not provide details on how ongoing investigations will be affected at the time of enactment.

Protecting Legal Privileges for State Entities

This bill prevents state entities from losing legal protections when they share information with the state auditor, legislative audit committee, or governor during fraud hotline-related investigations.

What This Bill Does

  • Adds a new section to Colorado Revised Statutes that says disclosing certain information to the state auditor, legislative audit committee, or governor does not mean giving up legal privileges like attorney-client confidentiality.
  • Defines what 'information or materials' means in relation to disclosures made by state agencies during fraud hotline-related investigations.

Who It Names or Affects

  • State entities and agencies
  • The state auditor, legislative audit committee, and governor

Terms To Know

Legal Privilege
A legal protection that allows certain communications to remain confidential.
Fraud Hotline
A service where people can report suspected fraud or illegal activities within a state agency.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify what happens if the governor signs it into law.
  • It is unclear how this will affect ongoing investigations at the time of enactment.

Amendments

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

L.002

Second Reading

Lost [**]

Plain English: The amendment changes a law to ensure that disclosing information during a fraud hotline investigation does not affect the legal rights of those involved in future court cases.

  • Adds language stating that disclosing information as part of a fraud hotline investigation does not waive any legal privileges or rights for defendants in future proceedings.
  • Specifies that workpapers related to fraud hotline calls are strictly confidential and do not count as public records under the Colorado Open Records Act.
  • The amendment text is specific and clear, but it may be hard for someone without legal knowledge to understand all implications of these changes.
L.007

Second Reading

Passed [**]

Plain English: The amendment removes the phrase 'BY ITSELF,' from specific sections of the bill related to legal privileges for state entities.

  • Removes the phrase 'BY ITSELF,' from page 2, line 10 of the reengrossed bill.
  • Removes the phrase 'BY ITSELF,' from page 3, line 6 of the reengrossed bill.
  • The amendment does not provide context for why these phrases are being removed or what impact this change will have on the overall meaning and application of the bill.

Bill History

  1. 2026-04-08 Governor

    Sent to the Governor

  2. 2026-04-07 House

    Signed by the Speaker of the House

  3. 2026-04-07 Senate

    Signed by the President of the Senate

  4. 2026-03-24 Senate

    Senate Considered House Amendments - Result was to Concur - Repass

  5. 2026-03-23 House

    House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments

  6. 2026-03-20 House

    House Second Reading Special Order - Passed with Amendments - Floor

  7. 2026-03-17 House

    House Second Reading Laid Over Daily - No Amendments

  8. 2026-03-12 House

    House Committee on State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs Refer Unamended to House Committee of the Whole

  9. 2026-02-26 House

    Introduced In House - Assigned to State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs

  10. 2026-02-26 Senate

    Senate Third Reading Passed - No Amendments

  11. 2026-02-25 Senate

    Senate Second Reading Passed - No Amendments

  12. 2026-02-24 Senate

    Senate Second Reading Laid Over to 02/25/2026 - No Amendments

  13. 2026-02-23 Senate

    Senate Second Reading Laid Over to 02/24/2026 - No Amendments

  14. 2026-02-20 Senate

    Senate Second Reading Laid Over to 02/23/2026 - No Amendments

  15. 2026-02-19 Senate

    Senate Second Reading Laid Over to 02/20/2026 - No Amendments

  16. 2026-02-18 Senate

    Senate Second Reading Laid Over to 02/19/2026 - No Amendments

  17. 2026-02-17 Senate

    Senate Second Reading Laid Over to 02/18/2026 - No Amendments

  18. 2026-02-11 Senate

    Senate Committee on Judiciary Refer Unamended - Consent Calendar to Senate Committee of the Whole

  19. 2026-02-06 Senate

    Introduced In Senate - Assigned to Judiciary

Official Summary Text

Legislative Audit Committee.
The bill protects certain legal privileges for state entities related to disclosures to the state auditor, legislative audit committee, or governor for purposes of an investigation by the state auditor that is related to the state's fraud hotline.
(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
SENATE BILL 26-084
BY SENATOR(S) Weissman and Frizell, Jodeh, Coleman;
also REPRESENTATIVE(S) Willford, Carter, Marshall.
CONCERNING THE PRESERVATION OF PRIVILEGES FOR CERTAIN STATE
ENTITIES IN CONNECTION WITH INFORMATION MADE AVAILABLE TO
THE OFFICE OF THE STATE AUDITOR IN THE PERFORMANCE OF ITS
STATUTORILY PRESCRIBED DUTIES RELATED TO THE STATE'S FRAUD
HOTLINE.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:
SECTION 1. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 2-3-107, add (2)(d) as
follows:
2-3-107. Authority to subpoena witnesses - access to records.
(2) (d) T HE DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION OR MATERIALS , AS
DEFINED IN SECTION 2-3-110.5 (1), TO THE STATE AUDITOR, THE COMMITTEE
OR ANY SUCCESSOR COMMITTEE , OR THE GOVERNOR AFTER THE
COMMITTEE'S APPROVAL TO SEND THE RESULTS OF AN INVESTIGATION TO
THE GOVERNOR PURSUANT TO SECTION 2-3-110.5 (3)(c)(III), DOES NOT
WAIVE AN OTHERWISE VALID CLAIM OF PRIVILEGE , CONFIDENTIALITY, OR
NOTE: This bill has been prepared for the signatures of the appropriate legislative
officers and the Governor. To determine whether the Governor has signed the bill
or taken other action on it, please consult the legislative status sheet, the legislative
history, or the Session Laws.
________
Capital letters or bold & italic numbers indicate new material added to existing law; dashes
through words or numbers indicate deletions from existing law and such material is not part of
the act.
OTHER PROTECTION HELD BY THE ENTITY MAKING THE DISCLOSURE ,
INCLUDING CLAIMS OF ATTORNEY -CLIENT PRIVILEGE , ATTORNEY WORK
PRODUCT CONFIDENTIALITY, COMMON INTEREST PRIVILEGE, DELIBERATIVE
PROCESS PRIVILEGE, AND ANY EXEMPTIONS FROM PUBLIC DISCLOSURE UNDER
STATE OR FEDERAL AGENCY RULE.
SECTION 2. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 2-3-110.5, add (1)(f.5)
and (6) as follows:
2-3-110.5. Fraud hotline - investigations - confidentiality - access
to records - definitions.
(1) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:
(f.5) "INFORMATION OR MATERIALS" INCLUDES, BUT IS NOT LIMITED
TO, ANY WRITING PREPARED OR MAINTAINED BY A STATE AGENCY OR
VERBAL RESPONSE PROVIDED BY A STATE AGENCY REPRESENTATIVE TO ANY
QUESTION OR INQUIRY POSED BY THE STATE AUDITOR OR THE STATE
AUDITOR'S DESIGNEE THAT IS RELATED TO THE SCOPE OF AN INVESTIGATION.
(6) THE DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION OR MATERIALS TO THE STATE
AUDITOR, THE COMMITTEE OR ANY SUCCESSOR COMMITTEE , OR THE
GOVERNOR AFTER THE COMMITTEE 'S APPROVAL TO SEND THE RESULTS OF
THE INVESTIGATION TO THE GOVERNOR PURSUANT TO SUBSECTION (3)(c)(III)
OF THIS SECTION , DOES NOT WAIVE AN OTHERWISE VALID CLAIM OF
PRIVILEGE, CONFIDENTIALITY, OR OTHER PROTECTION HELD BY THE ENTITY
MAKING THE DISCLOSURE , INCLUDING CLAIMS OF ATTORNEY -CLIENT
PRIVILEGE, ATTORNEY WORK PRODUCT CONFIDENTIALITY , COMMON
INTEREST PRIVILEGE , DELIBERATIVE PROCESS PRIVILEGE , AND ANY
EXEMPTIONS FROM PUBLIC DISCLOSURE UNDER STATE OR FEDERAL AGENCY
RULE.
SECTION 3. Act subject to petition - effective date. This act
takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on the day following the expiration of the
ninety-day period after final adjournment of the general assembly (August
12, 2026, if adjournment sine die is on May 13, 2026); except that, if a
referendum petition is filed pursuant to section 1 (3) of article V of the state
constitution against this act or an item, section, or part of this act within
such period, then the act, item, section, or part will not take effect unless
approved by the people at the general election to be held in November 2026
PAGE 2-SENATE BILL 26-084
and, in such case, will take effect on the date of the official declaration of
the vote thereon by the governor.
____________________________ ____________________________
James Rashad Coleman, Sr. Julie McCluskie
PRESIDENT OF SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE
THE SENATE OF REPRESENTATIVES
____________________________ ____________________________
Esther van Mourik Vanessa Reilly
SECRETARY OF CHIEF CLERK OF THE HOUSE
THE SENATE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APPROVED________________________________________
(Date and Time)
_________________________________________
Jared S. Polis
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF COLORADO
PAGE 3-SENATE BILL 26-084