legislature
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Appeals court finds opening in Colorado Supreme Court’s framework for child neglect cases
Colorado’s second-highest court squeezed through an opening last week in a controversial state Supreme Court decision from 2025, concluding that the justices had not prohibited a child’s legal representative from being the one to request termination of parental rights in child welfare cases. Whether the government alone is empowered to pursue child neglect cases became…
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Colorado governor signs bill requiring pollution controls, cost reporting for extended coal operations
Gov. Jared Polis signed into law a bill in reaction to orders from the U.S. Department of Energy to keep older coal units online. The federal government’s instructions applied to Craig Unit 1 in Colorado, one of five coal units affected nationwide. The state legislation requires installation of modern pollution controls and cost reporting for…
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Legislature overrules state Supreme Court decisions, federal judges contend with violations of orders | COURT CRAWL
Welcome to Court Crawl, Colorado Politics’ roundup of news from the third branch of government. The Colorado legislature overruled two recent state Supreme Court decisions in this year’s session, plus federal judges are addressing the government’s violations of their orders in immigration detention cases. Supreme Court news • By 5-2, the Colorado Supreme Court agreed that…
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Colorado Supreme Court narrows consumer protection law for insurance claims
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the legislature’s consumer protections requiring insurance companies to take certain steps before they allege a policyholder failed to cooperate do not apply to any obligation specifically laid out in the policy. In 2020, the legislature changed state law to limit insurance companies’ ability to assert a failure-to-cooperate defense when…
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Colorado counties cannot challenge state law restricting immigration contracts, appeals court says
Colorado’s second-highest court ruled on Thursday that counties lack standing to challenge a 2023 state law that restricts their ability to contract with the federal government or private entities for immigration detention. A three-judge Court of Appeals panel agreed with a trial judge that the Colorado Constitution provides the legislature with broad power to enact…
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The Turnberry tension: Adams County lawsuit highlights questions around metro districts
Homeowners of a small neighborhood in Commerce City remain confused and irate about the future of their property taxes in the aftermath of a lawsuit between the metropolitan district where they live and a bank. The conflict stems from a 2023 lawsuit in which UMB Bank in its capacity as trustee, alleged the BNC2 Metropolitan…
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What are metro districts?
Created by the Special District Act of 1981 by the Colorado General Assembly, metro districts are quasi-governmental entities that didn’t really start showing up until the 2000s. Today, there are more than 2,400 across Colorado. A metro district is created by a developer with the consent of the local government — in Turnberry’s case, Commerce…
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Colorado senators initially push for — then drop ‘identity’ factor in parenting time decisions
The sponsors of a proposal that would require suppression of records in name-change petitions for minors removed a provision that would have mandated the courts to factor in the issue of “identity” when allocating parenting time. In its original form, Senate Bill 018, included a requirement that family courts consider whether parents recognize their child’s…
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Colorado Medicaid spending doubled over the past decade, study finds
Spending by Colorado’s Department of Health Care Policy and Financing reached $16 billion in 2025 — a 101% increase from 2015 — while Medicaid enrollment has returned to nearly its 2015 level, according to an analysis by a think tank. Pointing to 182 health care bills Colorado lawmakers enacted since 2019, the report from the…
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Judicial agencies appear for oversight hearings, judge warns government about rejected arguments | COURT CRAWL
Welcome to Court Crawl, Colorado Politics’ roundup of news from the third branch of government. Leaders of various judicial-related agencies appeared for oversight hearings in front of state lawmakers, plus a federal judge is cautioning the government about repeatedly raising arguments she has rejected in immigration detention cases. Heard on appeal • The Colorado Supreme Court…