2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 24 - GOVERNMENT - STATE (§§ 24-1-101 — 24-116-102) › PRINCIPAL DEPARTMENTS (§§ 24-30-101 — 24-36-306) › Article 31 - DEPARTMENT OF LAW (§§ 24-31-101 — 24-31-1303) › Part 9 - LAW ENFORCEMENT INTEGRITY (§§ 24-31-901 — 24-31-907) › Section 24-31-904 - Peace officer certification discipline

(1)
(a)
Notwithstanding any provision of law, the P.O.S.T. board shall permanently revoke a peace officer's certification if:
(I)
The P.O.S.T. certified peace officer is convicted of or pleads guilty or nolo contendere to a crime involving the unlawful use of physical force or a crime involving the failure to intervene in the use of unlawful force and the incident resulted in serious bodily injury or death to another person;
(II)
The P.O.S.T. certified peace officer is found civilly liable for the use of unlawful physical force, or is found civilly liable for failure to intervene in the use of unlawful force and the incident resulted in serious bodily injury or death to another person;
(III)
An administrative law judge, hearing officer, or internal investigation finds that a peace officer used unlawful physical force, failed to intervene, or violated section
18-1-707
, and the incident resulted in serious bodily injury or death to another person;
(IV)
An administrative law judge, hearing officer, or internal investigation finds that a peace officer failed to intervene pursuant to section
18-8-805(5)
and the incident resulted in death to another person; or
(V)
An administrative law judge, hearing officer, or internal investigation finds that a peace officer violated section
18-8-805(1) or (2)(a)(I)
and the incident resulted in death to another person.
(b)
The P.O.S.T. board shall not, under any circumstances, reinstate the peace officer's certification or grant new certification to the peace officer unless the peace officer is exonerated by an administrative law judge, hearing officer, or court. The P.O.S.T. board shall record each peace officer whose certification is revoked pursuant to this section in the database created pursuant to section
24-31-303(1)(r)
.
(2)
(a)
Notwithstanding any provision of law, the P.O.S.T. board shall suspend a peace officer's certification for at least a year if:
(I)
The P.O.S.T. certified peace officer is convicted of or pleads guilty or nolo contendere to a crime involving the unlawful use or threatened use of physical force or a crime involving the failure to intervene in the use of unlawful force and the incident did not result in serious bodily injury or death to another person;
(II)
The P.O.S.T. certified peace officer is found civilly liable for the use or threatened use of unlawful physical force, or is found civilly liable for failure to intervene in the use of unlawful force and the incident did not result in serious bodily injury or death to another person;
(III)
An administrative law judge, hearing officer, or internal investigation finds that a peace officer used or threatened to use unlawful physical force, failed to intervene, or violated section
18-1-707
, and the incident did not result in serious bodily injury or death to another person; or
(IV)
An administrative law judge, hearing officer, or internal investigation finds that a peace officer failed to intervene pursuant to section
18-8-805(5)
, or violated section
18-8-805(1) or (2)(a)(I)
, and the incident did not result in death to another person.
(b)
The P.O.S.T. board shall reinstate the peace officer's certification if the peace officer is exonerated by an administrative law judge, hearing officer, or court.
(3)
Notwithstanding this section, the P.O.S.T. board shall not suspend or revoke a peace officer's certification based on a final decision of an internal investigation unless and until subsections (3)(a) and (3)(b) of this section are complied with, no later than one hundred eighty days after the date the law enforcement agency reports an incident to the P.O.S.T. board:
(a)
The law enforcement agency that employs or employed the peace officer shall notify the P.O.S.T. board upon any sustained findings of subsection (1)(a)(III) or (2)(a)(III) of this section, in a manner designated by the P.O.S.T. board. Upon receipt of the notification, the P.O.S.T. board shall notify the certificate holder of the certificate holder's right to request a hearing. Upon request of the P.O.S.T. board, the reporting agency shall provide relevant documents related to the sustained findings of subsection (1)(a)(III) or (2)(a)(III) of this section. For the purposes of this subsection (3), the records of any law enforcement agency that are submitted for review by the P.O.S.T. board remain the property of the reporting law enforcement agency and are not subject to public release by the P.O.S.T. board.
(b)
The certificate holder must request a hearing within thirty days after receipt of the P.O.S.T. board's notification. Upon the request by the certificate holder, the P.O.S.T. board shall refer the matter to an administrative law judge, who shall conduct a hearing in compliance with sections
24-4-104
and
24-4-105
to determine if the officer engaged in the alleged conduct.
(c)
If the certificate holder either does not request a hearing or requests a hearing and the administrative law judge determines, after conducting the hearing pursuant to the rules of the P.O.S.T. board and in compliance with sections
24-4-104
and
24-4-105
, that the certificate holder violated subsection (1)(a)(III) or (2)(a)(III) of this section, the P.O.S.T. board shall revoke or suspend the peace officer's certification pursuant to subsection (1)(a) or (2)(a) of this section.
(4)
The P.O.S.T. board has the authority to permanently revoke or suspend the certification of any peace officer who enters into a deferred judgement, deferred prosecution, or diversion agreement for a crime involving the unlawful use of physical force or a crime involving the failure to intervene in the unlawful use of force.
Amended by 2021 Ch. 458,§4, eff. 7/6/2021.
Amended by 2021 Ch. 450,§6, eff. 7/6/2021.
Added by 2020 Ch. 110,§2, eff. 6/19/2020.
L. 2020: Entire part added, (SB 20-217), ch. 452, p. 452, § 2, effective June 19.
Amendments to this section by HB 21-1250 and HB 21-1251 were harmonized.