2020 Colorado Revised Statutes
Title 2 - Legislative
Article 2. General Assembly
Section 2-2-1303. Membership - selection - terms.

(1) The council consists of forty-four members as follows:

1. Four nonvoting legislative members, two of whom shall be members of the house ofrepresentatives and two of whom shall be members of the senate; and

2. Thirty-five voting members representing each senate district in the state, one votingmember representing the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, one voting member representing the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and three nonvoting at-large members. The three at-large members must be selected to help ensure diversity on the council, with an express concern for adequate rural representation. Members described in this subsection (1)(b) must meet the following qualifications at the time of appointment:

1. Be at least fourteen years of age but not older than nineteen years of age; and

2. Be enrolled in and attending a tribal or Colorado junior high, middle, or high school,including an online or charter school or approved facility school as defined in section 22-2-402; be participating in a nonpublic, home-based educational program; be participating in a high school equivalency examination program; or have obtained a high school diploma through successful completion of a high school equivalency examination, as defined in section 22-33-102 (8.5).

(2) (a) Nonlegislative council members shall be appointed as follows: (I) and (II) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2013.)

(III) (A) On or before May 31, 2014, and on or before May 31 each year thereafter, the council members shall approve subsequent appointments to the council by a majority vote. A youth who meets the criteria set forth in subsection (1) of this section may apply to the council to be considered for participation in the council.

(B) The council shall utilize an application process to facilitate council appointments, including the content and availability of the application form, additional selection criteria, and an application review process.

(IV) Every effort shall be made to create a council that represents the diversity of the youth of the state.

(b) Legislative members of the council shall be appointed as follows:

1. On or before December 15, 2014, and on or before December 15 every two yearsthereafter, the speaker and minority leader of the house of representatives shall each appoint one member from the house of representatives; and

2. On or before December 15, 2014, and on or before December 15 every two yearsthereafter, the president and minority leader of the senate shall each appoint one member from the senate.

3. Council members shall serve two-year terms and, if eligible, may be selected for asubsequent two-year term. In all cases, every effort shall be made to maintain or expand the diversity of the council.

4. The council shall elect two co-chairs and two vice-chairs at its first meeting andannually thereafter. One of the co-chairs and one of the vice-chairs shall be legislative members, to be elected at the first council meeting after December 15. The other co-chair and the other vice-chair shall be nonlegislative members, to be elected at the first meeting following the annual May 31 appointment of new nonlegislative members. The co-chairs and vice-chairs shall serve for terms of one year. A vacancy on the council shall be filled through a vote of the members for the remainder of the unexpired term. Vacancies of nonlegislative members on the council shall be filled pursuant to the application process described in subparagraph (III) of paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of this section for biennial appointments. Vacancies of legislative members shall be filled by the appointing authority. Vacancies of nonlegislative members on the council who are not designated as at-large members shall be filled by a youth coming from the same senate district as the departing nonlegislative member.

5. Subject to available appropriations, legislative members of the council shall be compensated for attendance at meetings of the council in the same manner as is provided in section 2-2-307 for legislative members attending meetings during the legislative interim. All expenditures incurred by the council shall be approved by the chair of the legislative council and paid for by vouchers and warrants drawn as provided by law from moneys allocated to the legislative council for legislative committees from appropriations made by the general assembly or from the youth advisory council cash fund created in section 2-2-1306.

Source: L. 2008: Entire part added, p. 1671, § 1, effective May 29. L. 2009: (4) amended, (HB 09-1099), ch. 92, p. 355, § 4, effective August 5. L. 2013: Entire section amended, (SB 13-148), ch. 390, p. 2265, § 2, effective June 5. L. 2014: IP(1), IP(1)(b), and (1)(b)(II) amended, (SB 14-058), ch. 102, p. 377, § 1, effective April 7. L. 2020: IP(1)(b) and

(1)(b)(II) amended, (HB 20-1021), ch. 1, p. 1, § 1, effective February 26.