Colorado § 21-1-104 Duties of public defender - report

Colorado Statutes

§ 21-1-104 — Duties of public defender - report

Colorado § 21-1-104

Title 21State Public

Art.State Public Defender

This text of Colorado § 21-1-104 (Duties of public defender - report) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Colo. Rev. Stat. § 21-1-104 (2026).

Text

(1)When representing an indigent person, the state public defender, only after the conditions of section 21-1-103 have been met, shall:

(a)Counsel and defend him, whether he is held in custody, filed on as a delinquent, or charged with a criminal offense or municipal code violation at every stage of the proceedings following arrest, detention, or service of process; and

(b)Prosecute any appeals or other remedies before or after conviction that the state public defender considers to be in the interest of justice, except as limited in subsection (3) of this section.

(2)In no case, however, shall the state public defender be required to prosecute any appeal or other remedy unless the state public defender is satisfied first that there is arguable merit to the proceeding.

(3)In

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(1) When representing an
indigent person, the state public defender, only after the conditions of section 21-1-103 have been met, shall:

(a) Counsel and defend him, whether he is held in custody, filed on as a
delinquent, or charged with a criminal offense or municipal code violation at every
stage of the proceedings following arrest, detention, or service of process; and

(b) Prosecute any appeals or other remedies before or after conviction that
the state public defender considers to be in the interest of justice, except as limited
in subsection (3) of this section.

(2) In no case, however, shall the state public defender be required to
prosecute any appeal or other remedy unless the state public defender is satisfied
first that there is arguable merit to the proceeding.

(3) In order to expedite death penalty appeals, state moneys shall not be
used to prosecute any appeal on behalf of the defendant in any class 1 felony case
where the death penalty has been imposed that is not an appeal as of right in state
court. In addition, in any class 1 felony case where the death penalty has been
imposed, state moneys shall not be used to prosecute any federal habeas corpus
proceeding on behalf of the petitioner, unless the petitioner is seeking to prevent
extradition. For purposes of this subsection (3), appeal as of right means a direct
appeal on behalf of the defendant of the validity of the underlying conviction and
the propriety of the sentence and a motion for postconviction relief properly
brought by the defendant in accordance with rule 35 of the Colorado rules of
criminal procedure and any appeal on behalf of the defendant of the denial of such
motion.

(4) Notwithstanding section 24-1-136 (11)(a)(I), pursuant to section 2-7-203,
the state public defender shall report annually to the judiciary committees of the
house of representatives and senate, or to any successor committees, information
concerning:

(a) The number of juvenile delinquency cases for which counsel from the
office is appointed;

(b) The number of juvenile cases that involve a conflict of interest;

(c) The process of selecting, training, and supporting attorneys who
represent children in juvenile delinquency court;

(d) The average length of time attorneys are assigned to juvenile court;

(e) The outcome of efforts to reduce juvenile court rotations and increase
opportunities for promotional advancement in salaries for attorneys in juvenile
court; and

(f) The process of training attorneys and other employees of the office
concerning determinations of competency to proceed for juveniles and adults,
competency evaluation reports, services to restore competency, and certification
proceedings governed by article 65 of title 27.

(5) The state public defender shall hire social workers, as defined in section
12-245-401 (9), to assist in defending juvenile defendants.

(6) (a) The office of state public defender shall provide one or more public
defender liaisons to the department of corrections and the state board of parole to
assist inmates or inmate liaisons with legal matters related to detainers, bonds,
holds, warrants, competency, special needs parole applications, and commutation
applications. The office of state public defender, in consultation with the state
board of parole and the department of corrections, shall develop any necessary
policies and procedures for implementation of this subsection (6).

(b) The office of state public defender shall designate an email address for
the public defender liaisons to the department of corrections to receive
notifications made pursuant to section 17-33-104 from the department of
corrections about offenders' outstanding warrants and pending Colorado court
cases.

Legislative History

Source: L. 69: R&RE, p. 256, � 30. C.R.S. 1963: � 39-21-4. L. 81: IP(1) amended, p. 924, � 3, effective May 26. L. 94: (1)(b) amended and (3) added, p. 1475, � 4, effective July 1. L. 2014: (5) added, (HB 14-1023), ch. 177, p. 649, � 1, effective May 14; (4) added, (HB 14-1032), ch. 247, p. 955, � 9, effective November 1. L. 2017: IP(4) amended, (SB 17-233), ch. 175, p. 637, � 1, effective August 9. L. 2019: (4)(d) and (4)(e) amended and (4)(f) added, (SB 19-223), ch. 227, p. 2291, � 16, effective July 1; (5) amended, (HB 19-1172), ch. 136, p. 1682, � 114, effective October 1. L. 2021: (6) added, (SB 21-146), ch. 459, p. 3084, � 6, effective July 6. L. 2025: (6) amended, (HB 25-1116), ch. 153, p. 620, � 2, effective August 6.