Preventing Sexual Abuse in Jails

The bill requires that the reasonable belief standard to conduct a strip search apply to all arrests, not just the arrest of an individual for a traffic or petty offense. The bill requires 2 peace officers to make a determination that there is reasonable belief to conduct a strip search and requires that the reason and results of a strip search be documented in a report. The bill prohibits the use of body-worn cameras to capture videos during strip searches when other forms of recording or surveillance are available. The bill limits access to video recordings that depict prisoner nudity. The bill requires courts to deny requests by a defendant in a criminal proceeding to copy, photograph, duplicate, or otherwise reproduce a video recording of a strip search.

The bill requires local detention facilities to have a policy detailing staff protocol for responding to suspected, alleged, or witnessed sexual abuse and requires jail staff to report suspected, alleged, or witnessed sexual abuse. The bill creates whistleblower protection policies for jail staff.

The bill requires local detention facilities to inform prisoners of their rights and the resources available to them if they are a victim of sexual abuse while in jail and allow sexual assault advocates to access prisoners who request advocacy services. The bill requires local detention facilities to designate a "Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003" (PREA) coordinator and requires jails to provide the coordinator's contact information to prisoners and the public.

The bill requires the legislative oversight committee concerning Colorado jail standards (committee) to develop guidelines for identifying, and creating a process for, qualified third parties or certified PREA auditors to audit local detention facilities and their sexual abuse prevention policies upon request of the committee.

The bill requires the removal of P.O.S.T. certification from any peace officer who is found by an administrative law judge, hearing officer, or internal investigation to have sexually abused a prisoner in a local detention facility.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)