(1) Each county, by resolution of its board of county commissioners, shall establish and maintain a county public health agency or shall participate in a district public health agency. Any two or more contiguous counties, by resolutions of the boards of county commissioners of the respective counties, may establish and maintain a district public health agency. An agency shall consist of a county or district board of health, a public health director, and all other personnel employed or retained under the provisions of this subpart 3.
(2) (a) (I) The jurisdiction of any agency shall extend over all unincorporated areas and over all municipal corporations within the territorial limits of the county or the counties comprising the district, but not over the territory of any municipal corporation that maintains its own public health agency. If the county has a county public health agency or a district board of health and if the county is within a district public health agency, any municipal corporation not otherwise within the jurisdiction of an agency, by agreement of its city council, board of trustees or other governing body, and the board of county commissioners of the county wherein the municipal corporation is situated may merge its department with the county or district public health agency.
In the event of a merger between a health department of a municipal corporationwith a county or district public health agency, the agreement of merger, among other things, shall provide that a member or members of the county or district board of health, as is specified in the agreement, shall be appointed by the city council or board of trustees of the municipal corporation rather than as provided in this section. The city council or board of trustees shall appoint the number of members specified in the agreement of merger, and the remaining members shall be appointed as provided in this section.
The board of county commissioners, in order to give the municipal corporation representation on a county board of health previously established, may declare vacancies in the county board of health and permit the vacancies to be filled by the city council or board of trustees of the municipal corporation.
All county or district boards of health existing within the county or district shall bedissolved upon the organization of a county or district public health agency under the provisions of this part 5 or upon the acceptance of a county into a district already established.
In the event of the dissolution of any county or district public health agency, thewithdrawal of a county from an established district, or the withdrawal of a municipal corporation that has voluntarily merged its health department or agency with a county or district public health agency, local boards of health shall be reestablished under the provisions of this part 5 and assume the powers and duties conferred upon such local boards.
(3) (a) Subject to available appropriations, an agency shall provide or arrange for the provisions of services necessary to carry out the public health laws and rules of the state board, the water quality control commission, the air quality control commission, and the solid and hazardous waste commission according to the specific needs and resources available within the community as determined by the county or district board of health or the board of county commissioners and as set out in both the comprehensive, statewide public health improvement plan developed pursuant to section 25-1-504 and the county or district public health plan developed pursuant to section 25-1-505.
(b) In addition to other powers and duties, an agency shall have the following duties:
To complete a community health assessment and to create the county or district public health plan at least every five years under the direction of the county or district board and to submit the plan to the county or district board and state board for review;
To advise the county or district board on public policy issues necessary to protectpublic health and the environment;
To provide or arrange for the provision of quality, core public health services deemed essential by the state board and the comprehensive, statewide public health improvement plan; except that the agency shall be deemed to have met this requirement if the agency can demonstrate to the county or district board that other providers offer core public health services that are sufficient to meet the local needs as determined by the plan;
To the extent authorized by the provisions of this title or article 20 of title 30,C.R.S., to administer and enforce the laws pertaining to:
Public health, air pollution, solid and hazardous waste, and water quality;
Vital statistics; and
The orders, rules, and standards of the state board and any other type 1 agency created pursuant to the provisions of this title;
To investigate and control the causes of epidemic or communicable diseases andconditions affecting public health;
To establish, maintain, and enforce isolation and quarantine, and in pursuance thereof, and for this purpose only, to exercise physical control over property and over the persons of the people within the jurisdiction of the agency as the agency may find necessary for the protection of the public health;
To close schools and public places and to prohibit gatherings of people when necessary to protect public health;
To investigate and abate nuisances when necessary in order to eliminate sourcesof epidemic or communicable diseases and conditions affecting public health;
To establish, maintain, or make available chemical, bacteriological, and biologicallaboratories, and to conduct such laboratory investigations and examinations as it may deem necessary or proper for the protection of the public health;
To purchase and distribute to licensed physicians and veterinarians, with or withoutcharge, as the county or district board may determine upon considerations of emergency or need, approved biological or therapeutic products necessary for the protection of public health;
To initiate and carry out health programs consistent with state law that are necessary or desirable by the county or district board to protect public health and the environment;
To collect, compile, and tabulate reports of marriages, dissolutions of marriage,and declarations of invalidity of marriage, births, deaths, and morbidity, and to require any person having information with regard to the same to make such reports and submit such information as is required by law or the rules of the state board;
To make necessary sanitation and health investigations and inspections, on itsown initiative or in cooperation with the state department, for matters affecting public health that are within the jurisdiction and control of the agency;
To collaborate with the state department and the state board in all matters pertaining to public health, the water quality control commission in all matters pertaining to water quality, the air quality control commission and the division of administration of the state department in all matters pertaining to air pollution, and the solid and hazardous waste commission in all matters pertaining to solid and hazardous waste; and
To establish or arrange for the establishment of, by January 1, 2015, and subject toavailable appropriations, a local or regional child fatality prevention review team pursuant to section 25-20.5-404.
(c) If a county or district board of health does not receive sufficient appropriations to fulfill all the duties described in paragraph (b) of this subsection (3), the county or district board shall set priorities for fulfilling the duties and shall include the list of priorities in its county or district public health plan submitted pursuant to section 25-1-505.
(4) Repealed.
Source: L. 2008: Entire part R&RE, p. 2036, § 1, effective July 1. L. 2013: (3)(b)(XIII) and (3)(b)(XIV) amended and (3)(b)(XV) added, (SB 13-255), ch. 222, p. 1028, § 1, effective May 14.
Editor's note: (1) The provisions of this section are similar to provisions of several former sections as they existed prior to 2008. For a detailed comparison, see the comparative tables located in the back of the index.
(2) Subsection (4)(b) provided for the repeal of subsection (4), effective July 1, 2009.
(See L. 2008, p. 2036.)