2021 Colorado Code
Title 17 - Corrections
Article 27 - Community Corrections Programs
§ 17-27-104. Community Corrections Programs Operated by Units of Local Government, State Agencies, or Nongovernmental Agencies

1. Any unit of local government, or any state agency authorized by this article, may establish, maintain, and operate such community corrections programs as such unit or agency deems necessary to serve the needs of such unit of local government or state agency and offenders who are assigned to such programs by the department of corrections, placed in such programs by the state board of parole, or sentenced to such programs by the court.
2. Pursuant to provisions of section 17-27-103, any nongovernmental agency may establish, maintain, and operate a community corrections program under a contract with the state of Colorado, a contract with a unit or units of local government, or a contract with other nongovernmental agencies for the purpose of providing services to offenders who are assigned to such programs by the department of corrections, placed in such programs by the state board of parole, or sentenced to such programs by the court.
3. The administrators of any community corrections program established pursuant to this section shall have the authority to accept or reject any offender referred for placement in such program. Screening procedures shall be developed in cooperation with the community corrections board of the jurisdiction in which such community corrections program is located. Acceptance criteria and screening procedures shall be provided in writing by each community corrections program to each referring agency.
4. 1. The administrators of each community corrections program established pursuant to this section shall establish conditions or guidelines for the conduct of offenders accepted and placed in such program. Such conditions or guidelines shall not conflict with any conditions or guidelines established pursuant to section 17-27-103 (6) by the community corrections board of the jurisdiction in which such community corrections program is located. Offenders accepted and placed in any community corrections program shall have access to written copies of such conditions or guidelines for the conduct of offenders upon placement in such program.
   2. One such condition shall be that an offender, upon being placed in a community corrections program, shall execute a limited power of attorney to the director, or the director's designee, of the community corrections program with which the offender is being placed. The limited power of attorney shall grant to the director or the director's designee the authority to dispose of moneys the offender has earned since being placed in the program and that have been left in accounts or on deposit with the community corrections program in the event that, after the offender is accepted by the community corrections program, the offender is rejected from such program due to escape. The moneys shall be disposed of for the following purposes and in the following order of priority:
      1. Payment of court-ordered restitution to the victim of the crime committed by the offender;
      2. Payment for the court-ordered support of the offender's dependents;
      3. Payment of fines, offender fees and surcharges, and other court-ordered financial obligations imposed as part of the offender's sentence; and
      4. Any remaining funds shall be paid into the victims and witnesses assistance and law enforcement fund, established pursuant to section 24-4.2-103, C.R.S., in the judicial district in which the community corrections program is located.

   3. The director of the community corrections program, or the director's designee, shall maintain records of any disbursements of offenders' funds pursuant to this subsection (4).
   4. The limited power of attorney shall be valid until the offender's sentence to community corrections is discharged from community placement by the court.

5. The administrators of each community corrections program established pursuant to this section shall have the authority to reject after acceptance and terminate the placement of any offender who violates conditions or guidelines established pursuant to subsection (4) of this section, or if any conditions of such offender's placement in the program are not satisfied. If the referring agency does not provide an administrative review process, the community corrections program shall provide an administrative review process for any offender who is rejected after acceptance. If the termination of placement of an offender is initiated by the community corrections program, the referring agency shall be notified immediately to arrange a transfer of custody for such offender. The community corrections program may be required by the referring agency to maintain temporary custody of the offender whose placement is being terminated for a reasonable period of time pending receipt of appropriate transfer orders from the referring agency unless the provisions of subsection (6) of this section apply.
6. When the administrator of a community corrections program established pursuant to this section, or any other appropriate referring agency, has cause to believe that an offender placed in a community corrections program has violated any rule or condition of such offender's placement in such program, or cannot be safely housed in such program, the administrator or other appropriate authority shall notify the appropriate judicial or executive authority of the facts which are the basis of such administrator's belief. Such administrator may then execute a transfer order to any sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff, police officer, or state patrol officer which authorizes such peace officer to transport the offender to the county jail in the county in which the community corrections program is located and the offender shall be confined in such jail pending a determination by the appropriate judicial or executive authority as to whether the offender should remain in community corrections or be removed therefrom. Such offender shall be confined without bond.
7. The administrator of any community corrections program established pursuant to this section shall notify a referring agency immediately that an offender has been transferred to a county jail pursuant to subsection (6) of this section. Such notification shall contain the name of the offender and identify the rule or condition of placement violated, and describe such violation, or state the reason the offender cannot be safely housed in the community corrections program.
8. Upon placement of an offender in a community corrections program, the administrator of the program shall notify local law enforcement agencies of the identity of each such offender.
9. The administrator of any community corrections program shall document the number of days of residential and nonresidential time completed by each offender sentenced directly to the community corrections program by the court and the time credits granted to such offender pursuant to section 18-1.3-301 (1)(i), C.R.S. If any such offender is rejected after acceptance by the community corrections board or the community corrections program, the program administrator shall provide a written summary of the residential days completed by such offender to the referring agency. If the offender is thereafter committed to the department of corrections, such summary shall be reported to the department of corrections to facilitate the calculation of any time credits pursuant to part 3 or part 4 of article 22.5 of this title.
10. The administrator of any community corrections program shall enforce any order relating to the payment of restitution, court costs, fees, or community service which is ordered by the sentencing court. Such administrator shall establish a payment contract and schedule for each offender placed in the community corrections program.
11. The administrator of each community corrections program shall report to the division of criminal justice and the community corrections board of the jurisdiction in which such program is located on the offenders who have escaped from custody as such term is described in section 17-27-106 (1). The division of criminal justice is authorized to prepare forms for these reports.
12. The administrators of a community corrections program established pursuant to this section may implement a behavioral or mental health disorder screening program to screen the persons accepted and placed in the community corrections program. If the administrators choose to implement a behavioral or mental health disorder screening program, the administrators shall use the standardized screening instrument developed pursuant to section 16-11.9-102 and conduct the screening in accordance with procedures established pursuant to said section.
13. The administrator of any community corrections program established pursuant to this section shall not reject any offender referred for placement based on the offender's participation in medication-assisted treatment, as defined in section 23-21-803, or establish any rule or condition or guideline for the conduct of an offender that prohibits or significantly impairs an offender's ability to participate in prescribed medication-assisted treatment.

History. Source: L. 93: Entire article R&RE, p. 711, § 1, effective July 1. L. 94: (9) amended, p. 929, § 2, effective April 28. L. 95: (11) added, p. 81, § 2, effective March 23. L. 96: (4) amended, p. 132, § 1, effective July 1. L. 2002: (12) added, p. 574, § 2, effective May 24; (9) amended, p. 1508, § 168, effective October 1. L. 2011: (9) amended,(SB 11-254), ch. 274, p. 1237, § 2, effective June 2. L. 2017: (12) amended,(SB 17-242), ch. 263, p. 1303, § 133, effective May 25. L. 2020: (13) added,(SB 20-007), ch. 286, p. 1391, § 6, effective July 13.

This section is similar to former §§ 17-27-103 and 17-27-104 as they existed prior to 1993.

For the legislative declaration contained in the 2002 act amending subsection (9), see section 1 of chapter 318, Session Laws of Colorado 2002. For the legislative declaration in SB 17-242, see section 1 of chapter 263, Session Laws of Colorado 2017.

Annotator's note. Since § 17-27-104 is similar to §§ 17-27-104 , 17-27-106 , 17-27-107 , and 17-27-114 as they existed prior to the 1993 repeal and reenactment of this article, relevant cases construing those provisions have been included in the annotations to this section.

Section provides a statutory right to an “administrative review process” when an offender placed in a community corrections program is rejected after acceptance. People v. Rogers, 983 P.2d 121 (Colo. App. 1999), rev'd on other grounds, 9 P.3d 371 (Colo. 2000).

Section 17-27-103 authorizes the sentencing court, as the referring agency, to conduct the administrative review process if the community corrections board or program has not done so. Benz v. People, 5 P.3d 311 (Colo. 2000); People v. Rogers, 9 P.3d 371 (Colo. 2000).

Defendant's rights to due process were not violated where the administrative review requirements were satisfied. The defendant was notified of the grounds for termination from the community corrections program and the trial court reviewed the information from the program. People v. Benz, 983 P.2d 117 (Colo. App. 1999), aff'd, 5 P.3d 311 (Colo. 2000).

Determination of whether offender shall remain in community corrections is a two-step process. First, the sentencing court determines whether a violation of a placement condition has occurred, and second, if the violation has occurred, whether the offender should remain in community corrections. Wilson v. People, 747 P.2d 638 (Colo. 1987).

While it is a better practice to continue the revocation hearing until after the trial on the new charge, there is no abuse of discretion by proceeding with the hearing before disposition of the criminal charge. People v. Harrison, 771 P.2d 23 (Colo. App. 1989), cert. granted, 785 P.2d 916 (Colo. 1989), cert. denied, 790 P.2d 843 (Colo. 1990).

Trial court is without jurisdiction to order a defendant to make monthly restitution payments. Former § 17-27-107 (1) , which relate to the requirements set forth in subsection (10) of this section, required that a defendant sentenced to the community corrections agree to the terms and conditions under a contract with the agency, and required that the contract conform with specified statutes concerning the establishment of and the manner and time of payment of restitution. The plain language of the former section required that the court establish the amount of restitution and, if a defendant is directly sentenced to community corrections, that community correction establish the terms and conditions of payment of restitution. People v. Randolph, 852 P.2d 1282 (Colo. App. 1992).

Under subsection (3), a community corrections sentence can be revoked for any reason or for no reason at all. People v. Rodriguez, 55 P.3d 173 (Colo. App. 2002).

Subsection (6) does not give rise to a private tort remedy. Although this article imposes duties on administrators of community corrections facilities, those duties are owed directly to the relevant judicial or executive authorities. Members of the general public are incidental beneficiaries of the statute, but are owed no actionable duty by its specific terms. Davenport v. Cmty. Corr. of the Pikes Peak Region, Inc., 942 P.2d 1301 (Colo. App. 1997), aff'd, 962 P.2d 963 (Colo. 1998), cert. denied, 526 U.S. 1068, 119 S. Ct. 1462, 143 L. Ed. 2d 547 (1999).

Under subsection (9), at the time an offender is resentenced, the administrator of the community corrections program must provide to the sentencing court a written summary of the number of days the offender was a resident in that program. People v. Lopez, 961 P.2d 602 (Colo. App. 1998).

If an offender violates a rule or condition of community correctional placement while on nonresidential status, the offender is not entitled upon resentencing to credit for time served while on nonresidential status. People v. Hoecher, 822 P.2d 8 (Colo. 1991) (overruling People v. Herrera, 734 P.2d 136 (Colo. App. 1986)); People v. Pimble, 2015 COA 112 , 369 P.3d 729.

The addition of the word “nonresidential” by the legislature to subsection (9) was to ensure that offenders receive earned time and good time credits based on time spent in both residential and nonresidential programs. It was not an attempt by the legislature to mandate that nonresidential time be counted as presentence confinement credit. People v. Pimble, 2015 COA 112 , 369 P.3d 729.

Applied in People v. Nix, 45 Colo. App. 195, 610 P.2d 1088 (1980).