The Denver Metro Domestic Violence Fatality Review (DMDVFR) was one of the first domestic violence fatality review teams formed in the United States, and is the longest running team in Colorado. Formed in 1996 with funds from the U.S. Office on Violence Against Women, the DMDVFR is a multi-disciplinary group of more than twenty-five members from criminal and civil legal systems and community-based entities. The DMDVFR’s goals include increasing victim and community safety, offender accountability, and reducing the number of deaths related to domestic violence.
A long-time aspiration of the DMDVFR has been to increase and broaden its focus and functions and expand this work statewide. This was achieved with the passage of Senate Bill 2017-126, which resulted in the creation of the Colorado Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board (CDVFRB). With bipartisan support led by Senators Lucia Guzman and Bob Gardner and Representatives Millie Hamner and Yeulin Willet, the bill was passed by the Colorado General Assembly and signed into law by Governor John Hickenlooper on June 8, 2017 as Colorado Revised Statutes (C.R.S.) 24-31 (702, 705). The new law enables communities across Colorado to form DVFRTs in order to enhance existing efforts to prevent domestic violence fatalities.