From left, Katrina Lile, Shrell Begay, Raven Nyx, Suzanne Garcia and Elizabeth Newman testified in support of HB26-1123, Prevent Sexual Abuse in Jails at the Colorado State Capitol last month. The bill moved forward in the Senate last week after a pause for amendments. (Courtesy of Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault)
From left, Katrina Lile, Shrell Begay, Raven Nyx, Suzanne Garcia and Elizabeth Newman testified in support of HB26-1123, Prevent Sexual Abuse in Jails at the Colorado State Capitol last month. The bill moved forward in the Senate last week after a pause for amendments. (Courtesy of Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault)

A Colorado bill intended to tighten strip-search regulations and decrease sexual abuse in jails is moving forward again in the Senate after a pause for amendments.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted April 8 to place the bill – HB26-1123, Preventing Sexual Abuse in Jails – on hold so its language could be aligned with existing laws and standards governing searches and surveillance.

“Sen. (Judy) Amabile and I acknowledged there were some issues to work out, which is why we laid it over,” Sen. Mike Weissman said during a session last week at the Colorado State Capitol.

Weissman and Amabile, along with Reps. Javier Mabrey and Katie Stewart, D-Durango, who represents House District 59, are supporters of the bill.

Stewart said the legislation, which was introduced in February, was inspired in large part by a sexual gratification case involving former La Plata County Jail Cmdr. Edward Aber.

Aber is accused of using his evidence.com access to view strip-search videos of at least 117 inmates over 3,000 times for sexual gratification. He is expected to stand trial in August.

HB26-1123 would expand reporting requirements and whistleblower protections for jail staff, limit strip searches and access to strip-search footage, and ensure inmates are aware of their rights and available resources in sexual abuse cases.

Amendments made to the bill Wednesday include allowing the use of body-worn cameras to record strip searches in jails – which was debated in earlier legislative sessions – aligning language and parameters with existing federal law and jail standards, standardizing definitions, and tidying inconsistent or obsolete sections.

“All of these (amendments) reflect, to the best of our ability, communications we’ve received, in particular from the sheriffs, who – as those who run the jails that we’re talking about here – are probably particularly implicated,” Weissman said. “… But in order to honor everything we heard from the survivors who have testified previously, we think it’s important to keep moving today.”

For support

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, support can be found by calling the Sexual Assault Services Organization’s 24-hour crisis hotline at 247-5400 or visiting You Have the Right’s support services page at www.youhavetherightco.org/support-services/

If the bill is approved by the Appropriations Committee, it will move to the full Senate, where it will be subject to additional amendments and eventually receive a vote.

If the House and the Senate both pass identical legislation, the bill will be sent to the governor for signature.

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