This issue brief provides information on electric utilities in Colorado, and how utilities generate and distribute electricity to Colorado homes and businesses. The issue brief also describes the regulation of investor-owned electric utilities by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC)
In Colorado, there are formal complaint processes to review the conduct of attorneys and judges and to administer discipline when warranted. Additionally, voters can choose whether to retain or dismiss judges who are up for retention in an election. This issue brief provides an overview of these complaint and retention processes.
This issue brief addresses the state's emergency mental health hold procedure, which allows for a person to be involuntarily held for a 72-hour period of treatment and evaluation if he or she appears to have a mental illness and, due to the mental illness, appears to be an imminent danger to self or others, or appears to be gravely disabled.
In lieu of issuing bonds, or using another form of long-term debt, the state often uses a form of lease-purchase agreement called certificates of participation (COPs) to finance the construction of its new facilities. A certificate refers to an investor's proportionate interest in the state's lease payments. COPs give the state the flexibility to build capital facilities even when funds are not available to pay for projects on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Colorado's child welfare system provides a range of services to protect children from abuse and neglect and to assist families in caring for their children.
The Colorado Constitution allows voters to decide whether justices and judges stay on the bench after they have been appointed and have had time to establish a judicial record by serving an initial term.
Gambling is defined in Colorado law as "risking any money, credit, deposit, or other thing of value for gain contingent in whole or in part upon lot, chance, the operation of a gambling device, or the happening outcome of an event, including a sporting event, over which the person taking a risk has no control." In practical terms this is defined more succinctly as: payment, luck, and the receipt of prizes. If one of these criteria is not present, an activity does not meet the definition of gambling.
