Competency Restoration Observatory
↓ JBC budget briefings ↓ special-master reports
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Colorado's restoration waitlist, from the public record

A federal consent decree sets tiered deadlines for competency restoration in Colorado. This page tracks what's publicly reported: a legislative budget-briefing snapshot every year or so, plus an extended window of richer monthly special-master data.

Built and maintained by Sudhanshu Rai, an independent researcher; not affiliated with any court, agency, or party. Descriptive measurement only — no causal claims.

Governing order: federal consent decree, Center for Legal Advocacy v. Barnes (No. 1:11-cv-02285, D. Colo.), with tiered restoration deadlines — Tier-1 inpatient restoration ≤7 days, Tier-2 ≤28 days (phased down over several steps since the decree took effect). Court-appointed special masters report to the court; the state legislature's Joint Budget Committee (JBC) separately publishes budget briefings that include waitlist and fine figures.
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Colorado (JBC budget briefings)6 rows · 8 columns · 2022-23–2024-25
↓ Download CSV Full schema & more →
Colorado (special-master reports)98 rows · 8 columns · 2020-01–2026-04
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The two-tier system

One consent decree, two very different outcomes

Colorado's decree sets a fast 7-day deadline for acute (Tier-1) restoration cases and a slower deadline for the rest (Tier-2, phased down over time to today's 28 days). As of the most recent reading, Tier-1 ran further over its own standard than Tier-2 did over its own — Tier-1 at 4.4× its 7-day standard, Tier-2 at 2.9× its current 28-day standard.

Tier-1 wait, 2026-04, multiple of its 7-day standard
4.4×
30.7 days against the 7-day standard, which has not been phased since the decree took effect (unlike Tier-2's).
Tier-2 wait, 2026-04, multiple of today's standard
2.9×
82.4 days against the 28-day standard in force today. Earlier months in the chart below were measured against a longer, phased-down standard then in effect — not shown here as a single range, since applying today's 28-day standard to those older months would misrepresent what was actually required of the state at the time.
050100Tier-1 standard: 7dTier-2 standard (current): 28d2020-01: 2.5d — sm_109331.pdf — page.122020-02: 1.6d — sm_109331.pdf — page.122020-03: 3.6d — sm_109331.pdf — page.122020-04: 10.3d — sm_109331.pdf — page.122023-01: 81.1d — sm_2023-11-28.pdf — page.142023-04: 84.2d — sm_2024-02-28.pdf — page.132023-07: 109.1d — sm_2024-05-28.pdf — page.122023-08: 131.9d — sm_2023-11-28.pdf — page.132023-09: 103.4d — sm_2023-11-28.pdf — page.132023-10: 128.3d — sm_2024-08-28.pdf — page.122023-11: 50.5d — sm_2024-02-28.pdf — page.122023-12: 113.6d — sm_2024-02-28.pdf — page.122024-01: 92.0d — sm_2024-08-28.pdf — page.122024-02: 48.5d — sm_2024-05-28.pdf — page.112024-03: 58.1d — sm_2024-05-28.pdf — page.112024-04: 54.3d — sm_2025-02-28.pdf — page.122024-07: 69.2d — sm_2025-05-28.pdf — page.122024-10: 40.3d — sm_2025-05-28.pdf — page.122025-01: 47.5d — sm_2025-05-28.pdf — page.122025-04: 59.7d — sm_2025-05-28.pdf — page.122025-07: 61.5d — sm_2026-05-28.pdf — page.132025-10: 33.2d — sm_2026-05-28.pdf — page.132026-01: 65.0d — sm_2026-05-28.pdf — page.132026-04: 30.7d — sm_2026-05-28.pdf — page.132020-01: 97.9d — sm_109331.pdf — page.122020-02: 80.2d — sm_109331.pdf — page.122020-03: 63.8d — sm_109331.pdf — page.122020-04: 72.0d — sm_109331.pdf — page.122023-01: 131.4d — sm_2023-11-28.pdf — page.142023-04: 140.2d — sm_2024-02-28.pdf — page.132023-07: 131.5d — sm_2024-05-28.pdf — page.122023-08: 134.9d — sm_2023-11-28.pdf — page.132023-09: 121.7d — sm_2023-11-28.pdf — page.132023-10: 138.0d — sm_2024-08-28.pdf — page.122023-11: 135.9d — sm_2024-02-28.pdf — page.122023-12: 125.4d — sm_2024-02-28.pdf — page.122024-01: 129.7d — sm_2024-08-28.pdf — page.122024-02: 111.2d — sm_2024-05-28.pdf — page.112024-03: 132.5d — sm_2024-05-28.pdf — page.112024-04: 115.1d — sm_2025-02-28.pdf — page.122024-07: 104.1d — sm_2025-05-28.pdf — page.122024-10: 95.3d — sm_2025-05-28.pdf — page.122025-01: 80.3d — sm_2025-05-28.pdf — page.122025-04: 70.8d — sm_2025-05-28.pdf — page.122025-07: 92.2d — sm_2026-05-28.pdf — page.132025-10: 92.7d — sm_2026-05-28.pdf — page.132026-01: 89.4d — sm_2026-05-28.pdf — page.132026-04: 82.4d — sm_2026-05-28.pdf — page.132020-012023-072024-012024-102026-04
Tier-1 (acute) wait days Tier-2 wait days
MonthTier-1Tier-2Source
2020-012.5d / 1 waiting97.9d / 112 waitingT1 wait-days/T2 wait-days: Source: sm_109331.pdf — page.12 ↗
T1 count/T2 count: Source: sm_109331.pdf — page.14 ↗
2020-021.6d / 2 waiting80.2d / 115 waitingT1 wait-days/T2 wait-days: Source: sm_109331.pdf — page.12 ↗
T1 count/T2 count: Source: sm_109331.pdf — page.14 ↗
2020-033.6d / 3 waiting63.8d / 124 waitingT1 wait-days/T2 wait-days: Source: sm_109331.pdf — page.12 ↗
T1 count/T2 count: Source: sm_109331.pdf — page.14 ↗
2020-0410.3d / 1 waiting72.0d / 110 waitingT1 wait-days/T2 wait-days: Source: sm_109331.pdf — page.12 ↗
T1 count/T2 count: Source: sm_109331.pdf — page.14 ↗
2023-0181.1d / no count131.4d / no countSource: sm_2023-11-28.pdf — page.14 ↗
2023-0484.2d / no count140.2d / no countSource: sm_2024-02-28.pdf — page.13 ↗
2023-07109.1d / no count131.5d / no countSource: sm_2024-05-28.pdf — page.12 ↗
2023-08131.9d / 47 waiting134.9d / 395 waitingT1 wait-days/T2 wait-days: Source: sm_2023-11-28.pdf — page.13 ↗
T1 count/T2 count: Source: sm_2023-11-28.pdf — page.16 ↗
2023-09103.4d / 45 waiting121.7d / 386 waitingT1 wait-days/T2 wait-days: Source: sm_2023-11-28.pdf — page.13 ↗
T1 count/T2 count: Source: sm_2023-11-28.pdf — page.16 ↗
2023-10128.3d / 35 waiting138.0d / 392 waitingT1 wait-days/T2 wait-days: Source: sm_2024-08-28.pdf — page.12 ↗
T1 count/T2 count: Source: sm_2023-11-28.pdf — page.16 ↗
2023-1150.5d / 39 waiting135.9d / 372 waitingT1 wait-days/T2 wait-days: Source: sm_2024-02-28.pdf — page.12 ↗
T1 count/T2 count: Source: sm_2024-02-28.pdf — page.15 ↗
2023-12113.6d / 31 waiting125.4d / 335 waitingT1 wait-days/T2 wait-days: Source: sm_2024-02-28.pdf — page.12 ↗
T1 count/T2 count: Source: sm_2024-02-28.pdf — page.15 ↗
2024-0192.0d / 23 waiting129.7d / 351 waitingT1 wait-days/T2 wait-days: Source: sm_2024-08-28.pdf — page.12 ↗
T1 count/T2 count: Source: sm_2024-02-28.pdf — page.15 ↗
2024-0248.5d / 15 waiting111.2d / 314 waitingT1 wait-days/T2 wait-days: Source: sm_2024-05-28.pdf — page.11 ↗
T1 count/T2 count: Source: sm_2024-05-28.pdf — page.14 ↗
2024-0358.1d / 22 waiting132.5d / 302 waitingT1 wait-days/T2 wait-days: Source: sm_2024-05-28.pdf — page.11 ↗
T1 count/T2 count: Source: sm_2024-05-28.pdf — page.14 ↗
2024-0454.3d / 30 waiting115.1d / 266 waitingT1 wait-days/T2 wait-days: Source: sm_2025-02-28.pdf — page.12 ↗
T1 count/T2 count: Source: sm_2024-05-28.pdf — page.14 ↗
2024-0769.2d / 12 waiting104.1d / 215 waitingT1 wait-days/T2 wait-days: Source: sm_2025-05-28.pdf — page.12 ↗
T1 count/T2 count: Source: sm_2024-08-28.pdf — page.14 ↗
2024-1040.3d / no count95.3d / no countSource: sm_2025-05-28.pdf — page.12 ↗
2025-0147.5d / 39 waiting80.3d / 245 waitingT1 wait-days/T2 wait-days: Source: sm_2025-05-28.pdf — page.12 ↗
T1 count/T2 count: Source: sm_2025-02-28.pdf — page.14 ↗
2025-0459.7d / 47 waiting70.8d / 310 waitingT1 wait-days/T2 wait-days: Source: sm_2025-05-28.pdf — page.12 ↗
T1 count/T2 count: Source: sm_2025-05-28.pdf — page.14 ↗
2025-0761.5d / no count92.2d / no countSource: sm_2026-05-28.pdf — page.13 ↗
2025-1033.2d / no count92.7d / no countSource: sm_2026-05-28.pdf — page.13 ↗
2026-0165.0d / no count89.4d / no countSource: sm_2026-05-28.pdf — page.13 ↗
2026-0430.7d / 10 waiting82.4d / 354 waitingT1 wait-days/T2 wait-days: Source: sm_2026-05-28.pdf — page.13 ↗
T1 count/T2 count: Source: sm_2026-05-28.pdf — page.16 ↗

Special-master report data, 2020-01–2026-04. Real reporting gap(s) of 6+ months in this range: 2020-04 to 2023-01 — shown as a dashed segment on the chart above, not interpolated or hidden. Most wait-day readings from 2023 onward are the source report's own rolling 3-month average, dated here to that window's end month (the report's own stated convention, not a monthly measurement independently re-derived) — not a distinct number for every calendar month shown. Two source files (a Consent Decree filing and a 2019 status letter) that matched this project's file-naming pattern turned out not to be special-master reports at all and contribute no data here, by design, not by omission.

Restoration waitlist
391people
As of January 9, 2024
Source: jbc_memo.pdf — page.4
Prior reading
431people
September 30, 2023
Source: fy2024-25_humbrf2.5.pdf — page.20 ↗
Decree fine, capped
$12.2M/yr
FY2024-25 statutory cap
Source: fy2025-26_humbrf1.5.pdf — page.45 ↗
Enforcement

What non-compliance costs

$12.2Mstatutory cap, FY2024-25
Colorado's consent decree allows fines to accrue per person per day of non-compliance, capped at $12.2M/year in the most recent fiscal year reported. This site does not yet have the actual accrued-vs-paid breakdown for this fiscal year — a known, disclosed gap in the current pipeline, not a number left out by choice. A separate, cruder estimate elsewhere in the same documents puts uncapped exposure at roughly $65.2M for FY2022-23, a different year and methodology — not used as the headline here since it's an estimate, not an actual accounting.
Status

Data quality and reporting limitations

Colorado's public record here is point-in-time snapshots plus an extended special-master window, not a single dense monthly series like Washington's or Oregon's: JBC legislative budget briefings publish roughly annual waitlist/fine figures, and special-master court reports (sourced from CourtListener docket 1:11-cv-02285, both the original 2018-2021 vintage and 2023-2026 reports found and added directly from the docket's own storage) give a real Tier-1/Tier-2 series, mostly quarterly-average readings from 2023 on, with a disclosed gap (2020-04 to 2023-01) where no report has been found yet.
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Download the dataset behind this page

Every chart above is a view on this data, not the other way around.

Colorado (JBC budget briefings)6 rows · 8 columns · 2022-23–2024-25
↓ Download CSV Full schema & more →
Colorado (special-master reports)98 rows · 8 columns · 2020-01–2026-04
↓ Download CSV Full schema & more →
Use the data

Cite, download, or get in touch

Cite this dataset

Competency Restoration Observatory (2026). Colorado competency-restoration waitlist series [dataset]. competencyrestoration.org · data current through 2024-01 · page generated August 2026 · concept DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.21436450 (always resolves to the latest dataset version — a version-pinned DOI matching this exact data window follows at the next Zenodo release).

Every figure regenerates from the public source reports by code — fully reproducible. The Zenodo deposit already includes real, MIT-licensed extraction code for the frozen Washington/Oregon study (an extraction pipeline plus its own verification gate) — but this dashboard's own full 5-state codebase (adapted from that study's code, plus Colorado, Texas, and California from scratch) is a separate, not-yet-public repository. A dedicated "Build & Replicate" walkthrough page and that public release are both planned but not yet published.

Data, code & contact

Open dataset + WA/OR code (Zenodo) Full dashboard code (public release planned) Email the maintainer Subscribe to corrections (RSS)

Researchers, clinicians, monitors, and reporters welcome — especially if you know of more recent source reports for this state. Every correction to an already-published number is logged on the Changelog page and in this RSS feed — nothing changes silently.