A new bill introducing Colorado’s competency laws was introduced Thursday that, if passed, would help ensure that suspects found incompetent and pose a risk to the public are not released if charges are dropped.
Senate Bill 149 aims to close loopholes in the state’s current competency law and would carve out processes for prosecutors to help make sure suspects accused of serious crimes are remanded to mental health facilities.
It would also dedicate funding to the make more beds available at mental health hospitals and give prosecutors an opportunity to retry cases that have been dismissed if they believe the suspect is now competent to stand trial. The bill has bipartisan support.
“We saw last year that people were being released, and they were reoffending. And we wanna make sure that people who are dangerous are not just being released,” said State Sen. Judy Amabile (D-Boulder), one of the main sponsors of the bill.
For more than a year, Denver7 Investigates has exposed flaws in the state’s current competency law that states if a defendant is found incompetent and unable to be restored, a judge must dismiss the charges. The law, which passed in 2024, changed language to state that courts “shall” dismiss charges against a permanently incompetent defendant. Previous language said the judge “may” dismiss the case, providing some wiggle room.
▶️ Watch the Denver7 Investigates special on the change in Colorado's competency law that critics say is leaving the legal system at the crossroads of empathy and accountability.
However, the law in 2024 did not provide funding to increase mental health services, so in many cases, suspects were released back into the public. Amabile was one of the main sponsors of that bill, but is now focused on this bill in hopes of improving the process for everyone involved.
“I'm very optimistic that we're gonna get a really great piece of legislation and that we are gonna put more resources towards this particular problem,” Amabile said.
Denver7 Investigates looked into more than a half-dozen cases where charges were dropped against people accused of violent crimes.
One of those cases involved a man allegedly driving drunk and slamming into a car in 2021. Joseph and Billie Jo Bowman were in that car and suffered serious injuries; their mother, Nelie, eventually died from complications of her injuries several months later. The passenger in the vehicle the suspect was driving, Brisia Leon, also died in the crash.
The suspect, Guillermo Ramirez, reportedly suffered a brain injury in the crash and was found incompetent and not restorable. His charges, including vehicular homicide, were dropped in April 2025 and he walked out of the courthouse with no treatment or legal repercussions.
Joseph and Billie Jo Bowman were at the capitol on Thursday for the bill’s introduction
Joseph recalled the day Ramirez’s charges were dropped and how emotional the judge was when dismissing the charges, saying she had no other option under the law.
“That's wrong, and that should not have been the position that she or any other judge was put in. And so I'm very pleased that that will be in the bill and that that will change for the better,” he said. “This is the culmination of a year of advocacy and struggle and hope, which is a very hard thing to hold on to.”
The bill already has some funding approved through the Joint Budget Committee, but Amabile said they have to make sure they don’t “bankrupt the state.” Now, she said it’s a question of making sure what’s required in the bill lines up with the appropriations that are set aside.
“This bill is a step in the right direction for that, a step towards getting people the care they need and separating people from the criminal justice system and getting them help in the civil system, but also making sure that they're safe and that the community is safe,” she said.
The bill will now head to a committee hearing in the coming days.
