Bill Expanding Duty To Report Threats Advances

DENVER (AP) — The Colorado Senate advanced a bill to expand the authority of mental health providers to report threats to places like movie theaters and schools.

The bill unanimously passed the Senate Health and Human Services Thursday and will now be debated by the full chamber.

Lawmakers say the proposal is a response to the Aurora movie theater shooting.

Currently, mental health professionals have a duty to report threats directed at specific persons. But it's unclear if the same duty applies when a threat is directed at a location. The bill would make clear that they have a duty to report threats to locations.

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