{"data":{"id":"us-co/c.r.s.-27-65-201","jurisdiction":"us-co","citation":"C.R.S. § 27-65-201","heading":"Court supervision of incompetent and unrestorable person ordered into civil commitment - repeal.","body":"(1) Once a criminal court has transferred jurisdiction of a civil commitment pursuant to section 16-8.5-118 to a civil court with jurisdiction pursuant to section 27-65-113, the civil court has exclusive jurisdiction over the civil commitment.\n\n(2) Upon receiving jurisdiction of a civil commitment, the civil court shall:\n\n(a) Notify the county attorney;\n\n(b) Appoint an attorney to represent the respondent and provide copies of any documents sent from the criminal court to the respondent's attorney; and\n\n(c) Set a review hearing and order the respondent brought before the court.\n\n(3) At the review hearing, the court shall:\n\n(a) Ensure the respondent is represented by counsel; and\n\n(b) Advise the respondent of the following rights:\n\n(I) The right to appear in person at any proceeding, unless waived by the respondent;\n\n(II) The right to be represented by privately retained counsel, or court-appointed counsel if the respondent does not have privately retained counsel, during any proceeding held pursuant to this article 65, including any appeals;\n\n(III) The right to request modification of the terms of the civil commitment; and\n\n(IV) The right to periodic review of the civil commitment and the right to contest, including by trial, whether the respondent qualifies for termination of civil commitment.\n\n(4) At any time during the civil commitment, the court may:\n\n(a) Modify any court order or any term of the civil commitment upon request of the parties after giving the parties an opportunity to object and be heard;\n\n(b) Issue a warrant for the respondent's arrest and order the respondent be brought before the court if the court determines the respondent has failed to comply with any of the court's orders, including the respondent's unauthorized departure from the physical custody of a provider;\n\n(c) Order CDHS to provide to the court:\n\n(I) An updated opinion on whether the respondent meets the criteria for termination of civil commitment pursuant to section 27-65-202; and\n\n(II) An opinion on whether the respondent has an intellectual and developmental disability or neurocognitive disorder, as those terms are defined in section 25.5-10-501, without having any other mental health disorder that is not an intellectual and developmental disability or neurocognitive disorder and that substantially contributes to whether the respondent is a danger to the respondent's self or a danger to others, or is gravely disabled.\n\n(d) Upon the request of any party, the request of the individual or entity with physical care and custody of the respondent, or the court's own motion, conduct a review of the respondent's placement and enter any orders necessary for sharing or receiving information necessary to review and modify the placement, unless the respondent is placed into inpatient care at the discretion of CDHS;\n\n(e) Order, as necessary, appropriate entities, including the sheriff, to bring the respondent before the court or take the respondent to the placement where physical custody of the respondent has been ordered;\n\n(f) Appoint a legal guardian pursuant to article 14 of title 15; or\n\n(g) Issue orders as necessary to effectuate and enforce the court's powers and responsibilities pursuant to this section, including authorization for the reasonable use of force, warrants for the arrest of the respondent, or contempt proceedings against a noncompliant individual or entity.\n\n(5) (a) The court shall ensure the respondent is placed in the least-restrictive placement adequate to protect the victim and the community and provide, to the greatest extent possible, the appropriate level of care, treatment, and supervision of the respondent.\n\n(b) If the respondent is not placed into inpatient care at the discretion of CDHS or if CDHS proposes to move the respondent into or out of inpatient care, the court shall, prior to modifying the civil commitment to change the respondent's provider or placement, review the appropriateness of the proposed provider or placement, including whether the provider fits the respondent's diagnosis and treatment needs and whether the placement sufficiently protects the community from the substantial risk of serious harm to others posed by the respondent.\n\n(c) Upon request, the court shall permit CDHS, the parties, or the appointed legal guardian the opportunity to object and be heard prior to the court's decision. The court may permit testimony if the court believes it would be helpful to the court's decision.\n\n(d) When deciding whether to approve the new provider or placement, the court shall give due deference to CDHS and the opinion of any medical professional on the appropriateness of the provider and placement for the respondent, victims, and community, but deference must not be given to CDHS or a medical professional as to whether the placement sufficiently protects any victims and the community from the substantial risk of serious harm to others posed by the respondent. When considering the appropriateness of the placement for the respondent, victims, and community, the court shall consider the totality of the circumstances, including:\n\n(I) The respondent's statements and insights into the respondent's mental health disorder;\n\n(II) The clinical diagnosis and clinical perspective on the respondent's current mental state and prognosis;\n\n(III) The respondent's willingness and demonstrated ability to voluntarily seek and comply with a treatment plan in the reasonably foreseeable future;\n\n(IV) Recent overt acts by the respondent to threaten, cause, or attempt to cause harm to the respondent's self or others;\n\n(V) Previous patterns of deterioration that resulted in the respondent's hospitalization, arrest, or certification for short-term treatment;\n\n(VI) Whether the respondent was found in a condition where the respondent was not able to care for the respondent's own basic needs in order to avoid the risk of serious physical harm;\n\n(VII) The frequency, recency, and severity of the considerations described in subsections (5)(d)(II) to (5)(d)(VI) of this section and the likelihood that the conditions and events will reoccur without inpatient treatment;\n\n(VIII) Whether the respondent opposes the placement;\n\n(IX) Whether community-based placement can be reasonably accommodated;\n\n(X) The limited resources of the state and the needs of others; and\n\n(XI) The placement recommendations of any treating professionals.\n\n(e) The court shall not permit or order a respondent to be placed into a community-based setting outside of inpatient care for the first time since being civilly committed unless:\n\n(I) Any victims have been notified of a critical stage, as defined in section 24-4.1-302 (2)(q.3), and given the opportunity to be heard; and\n\n(II) The district attorney in the case that sought civil commitment or enhanced protective placement has been notified and given an opportunity to object and be heard.\n\n(f) If the court modifies the respondent's provider or placement, the court shall issue any orders necessary to mitigate the respondent's risk to any victims or the community, including ordering the provider to take reasonable and practicable protective measures to prevent the respondent from contacting any victims; except that the court shall not order the respondent to comply with any conditions that are not necessary to mitigate the respondent's risk or with which the respondent cannot comply.\n\n(6) (a) If the court orders the respondent to be placed into inpatient care at the discretion of CDHS, the executive director of CDHS shall designate the state facility at which the respondent is held for care and treatment and may transfer the respondent from one facility to another if, in the opinion of the executive director, it is appropriate to do so in the interest of the proper care, custody, and treatment of the respondent or for the protection of the public or personnel at the facilities in question.\n\n(b) Notwithstanding subsection (6)(a) of this section, CDHS shall:\n\n(I) Ensure the respondent is placed in the least-restrictive placement adequate to protect the victim and the community and provide, to the greatest extent possible, the appropriate level of care, treatment, and supervision of the respondent; and\n\n(II) Not place the respondent in a community-based setting outside of inpatient care for the first time since the respondent was civilly committed without prior approval of the court pursuant to subsection (5) of this section.\n\n(7) Termination of the civil commitment is governed by section 27-65-202.\n\n(8) The provider charged with the physical care and custody of the respondent shall submit a report to the court and the parties annually by the date the respondent was civilly committed unless a substantially similar examination was ordered by the court within the previous twelve months. The report must include:\n\n(a) The provider's opinion about whether the respondent is appropriately placed and meets the criteria for termination of the civil commitment pursuant to section 27-65-202;\n\n(b) A summary of the materials reviewed, assessments conducted, and other bases of opinions rendered;\n\n(c) The respondent's diagnosis and whether the respondent's symptoms are in remission;\n\n(d) A summary of the services or treatment provided to the respondent since the last report and the respondent's progress;\n\n(e) A summary of the respondent's compliance with treatment or services, including information about medications currently prescribed to the respondent and whether the respondent is compliant with taking the prescribed medications;\n\n(f) An assessment of the respondent's risk of harm to others;\n\n(g) A summary of the respondent's treatment or service needs by utilizing evidence-based standards of individualized treatment and management of individuals civilly committed;\n\n(h) A summary of the specific treatment or service options available to the respondent in the community and the specific treatment or service options available to the respondent at a facility designated by the executive director of CDHS;\n\n(i) A summary of whether and how ongoing risks could be mitigated if the respondent were placed in the community; and\n\n(j) Specific facts and evidence supporting each opinion made pursuant to subsection (8)(a) of this section.\n\n(9) The court may order any treatment or service provider who has agreed or who has been ordered to provide services or treatment to the respondent to issue regular progress reports containing information required pursuant to subsection (8) of this section or other information deemed necessary for the court's supervision of the civil commitment, but the court shall not require a provider to submit progress reports more frequently than every ninety days.\n\n(10) (a) The court may, upon a showing of good cause, order CDHS to facilitate an examination by a professional person regarding the respondent's progress with treatment and whether the respondent meets the criteria for conversion of the civil commitment to an enhanced protective placement, certification for short-term treatment, or short-term protective placement, or meets the criteria for termination of the civil commitment pursuant to section 27-65-202, unless CDHS has facilitated a similar examination of the respondent in the past one hundred twenty days. The respondent shall cooperate with any examinations ordered pursuant to this subsection (10)(a).\n\n(b) Statements made by the respondent during an examination conducted pursuant to this subsection (10) must not be used in any criminal prosecution.\n\n(c) Good cause includes a respondent's timely request for an evaluation that allows a competency evaluator to provide a second opinion in response to the report provided pursuant to subsection (8) of this section that opines that the respondent does not meet the criteria for termination.\n\n(11) This section is repealed, effective July 1, 2031.","path":["Title 27 - BEHAVIORAL HEALTH","Article 65 - Care and Treatment of Persons with Mental Health Disorders","Part 2 - CIVIL COMMITMENT OF INCOMPETENT AND UNRESTORABLE PERSON"],"source_url":"https://olls.info/crs/crs2026-title-27.htm","current_through":"Colorado Revised Statutes 2026","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:37:45Z","sha256":"6bb589578f86ab8cd3e70d976cbd2e6dd1d0e9b7d3416a9ddb2294239628f79f","source_id":"us-co","stale":false,"prev":"us-co/c.r.s.-27-65-132","next":"us-co/c.r.s.-27-65-202"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}