House Bill 26-027

This act requires any person arrested without a warrant and booked into a jail or detention facility to receive a judicial determination of probable cause within 24 hours of arrest. The determination may occur during an initial appearance, bond hearing, arraignment, or separate probable cause hearing and may be conducted in person, by secure video or electronic appearance, or through judicial review of sworn affidavits. When conducted electronically, the accused must have an opportunity to consult with counsel, and affidavits used to establish probable cause must be preserved as part of the court record and made available to the accused and their attorney upon request.

This act establishes a presumption that detention exceeding 24 hours without a probable cause determination is unreasonable and unconstitutional unless the state proves extraordinary circumstances. Qualifying circumstances may include natural disasters, declared emergencies, severe public-safety emergencies, or other unforeseen events that make timely judicial review impossible. Routine administrative delays, court congestion, investigative delays, law-enforcement convenience, weekends, and holidays do not qualify, although a judge may grant a one-time 12-hour extension for a localized telecommunications failure. Arrested individuals are entitled to counsel during probable cause proceedings, with counsel provided at state expense for indigent defendants.

This act establishes significant remedies when the 24-hour deadline is violated. Failure to provide a timely probable cause determination results in immediate dismissal of the pending charges with prejudice, and the detained person may bring a civil action against the arresting agency and detention facility for $500 in liquidated damages for every hour of detention beyond the statutory limit. Statements, admissions, and physical evidence obtained during unlawful detention are presumed involuntary and inadmissible unless the state rebuts that presumption by clear and convincing evidence, and the fruit-of-the-poisonous-tree doctrine applies to evidence derived from those statements or admissions. The prosecution also bears the burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence that extraordinary circumstances justified any delay.

This act requires courts to maintain weekend and holiday review procedures, and each judicial district must designate at least one judicial officer who is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to conduct probable cause reviews electronically. Beginning January 1, 2027, judicial districts must annually report warrantless arrests, cases exceeding the 24-hour deadline, and the extraordinary circumstances cited for each delay. This act was approved May 8, 2026, and is scheduled to take effect August 18, 2026.