Victim Rights

• Victim Rights & Assistance Flyer (English)
• Victim Rights & Assistance (Español)

The Colorado Victim Rights Act became effective in January of 1993. The following is a summary of the rights guaranteed by the Victim Rights Act:

• To be treated with fairness, respect, and dignity
• To be free from intimidation, harassment, or abuse
• To be informed of all “critical stages” of the criminal justice process
• To be present at specified critical stages in the criminal justice process
• To be informed of the existence of the criminal protection order and upon request of the victim, the procedure for modifying the protection order if a procedure exists;
• To receive a free copy of the initial incident report from the investigating law enforcement agency; release of a document associated with the investigation is at the discretion of the law enforcement agency based on the status of the case or security and safety concerns
• To have the victim’s social security number redacted or excluded from criminal justice documents when records are released to someone other than the victim, a criminal justice agency, or the defendant’s attorney of record
• To consult with the district attorney prior to any disposition of the case or before the case goes to trial and to be informed of the final disposition of the case
• To be informed of the status of the case and any scheduling changes or cancellations, if known in advance
• To receive and prepare a victim impact statement and to be present and/or heard at the sentencing hearing
• To be informed of the availability of financial assistance and community services;
• To receive a prompt return of property when it is no longer needed as evidence;

For a complete listing of your rights, please refer to Colorado Revised Statutes 24-4.1-301 through 24-4.1-304 at http://dcj.colorado.gov/dcj-offices/office-for-victims-programs)

Law Enforcement’s Responsibilities

• Provide information about community services such as crisis intervention services, victim assistance resources, legal resources, mental health services, financial services, applicable protection services, and other support services
• Provide the victim of crime with the business address and telephone number of the district attorney’s office, the file number of the case and the name, business address and telephone number of any law enforcement officer assigned to investigate the case
• Keep the victim of crime informed as to whether a suspect has been taken into custody, whether the suspect has been released from custody, any bond conditions imposed upon the suspect, register the victim for notification from the jail of an escape, release, transfer or death of the suspect
• Upon the request of the victim, return the victim’s property within 5 working days when it is no longer needed for evidentiary reasons;
• Inform victims of the offender’s change of status from jail
• Inform victims of crime about decisions not to file charges in misdemeanor cases
• Upon request, provide victims of cold cases for which the crime has a statute of limitations of longer than three years with an annual update concerning the status of the case
• Provide information on forensic medical evidence that has not resulted in a conviction or a guilty plea, upon request of the victim

If a victim is deceased or incapacitated, these rights may be exercised by the victim’s spouse, parent, child, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, significant other, or other lawful representative.