A bipartisan measure that would require Colorado prison officials to disclose to victims and prosecutors the whereabouts of inmates relocated out of state — except for in limited situations involving a safety risk — received an initial nod of approval Monday at the Capitol.

Inspired by victim uproar about the hidden movement of the imprisoned Aurora theater shooter, Senate Bill 14 would require the Colorado Department of Corrections to issue alerts within 48 hours of an inmate’s move.

The measure passed 4-0 in the Senate Judiciary Committee, with Gov. John Hickenlooper and the DOC offering their support.

“I want to try to help you understand why this is so important to me, as well as the other victims who may or may not be here to speak to you today,” testified Theresa Hoover, whose son — A.J. Boik — was killed in the 2012 Aurora massacre. “… Knowing where the person who murdered our children was incarcerated was the one thing I had control over. I knew he was in prison. I knew it was in Colorado. Then I received a random email saying he was being transferred, and that was it.”

The corrections department, in the case of theater shooter James Holmes and other high-profile offenders, has made it a policy not to disclose the location of inmates transferred out of state because of safety concerns under an interstate compact. More than 100 inmates are currently being held outside of Colorado under the agreement.

“The Department (of Corrections) sees significant value in this bill,” said Travis Trani, the DOC’s director of prisons.

Hickenlooper’s spokeswoman, Jacque Montgomery, said the legislation “allows us to provide appropriate information to victims and families while ensuring safety for all – including correctional officers.”

“We look forward to seeing (the measure), in its current form, reach the governor’s desk,” she added.

Under the legislation, the DOC would have to disclose to victims where out of state an inmate is transferred, unless:

The inmate is a witness and the state’s prisons chief finds there is a safety risk

The convict’s prosecutor requests that their location be hidden

The inmate’s victim is in imprisoned

The inmate is a former DOC employee or law enforcement officer and the prisons chief finds there is a safety risk

The measure also allows the decision to disclose to go before a judge if an attorney who prosecuted an inmate believes any of the conditions haven’t been met.

The issue dates to 2016, when several theater shooting victims filed a complaint against state prison officials after they said Holmes had been moved out of state but refused to say where.

Holmes is serving a dozen life sentences and more than 3,000 additional years behind bars for the 2012 shooting that left 12 dead and 70 others hurt.

Ultimately, a state victims rights panel deadlocked over whether the DOC was breaking the law by refusing to reveal where Holmes was being held on the basis of his safety and that of corrections officers. (Holmes was assaulted in a Colorado prison in 2015.)

“The department didn’t play games with the victims — I want to be perfectly clear about that — especially in the Aurora theater shooter’s case,” Trani said. “We couldn’t disclose the location safely. We were sympathetic to the victims.”

But victims of the massacre testified Monday that they felt otherwise. Holmes’ prosecutor, 18th Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler, said there has been a lack of transparency and accountability.

“You should not have to be a victim or a survivor of the largest mass shooting in the state’s history to know where your killer is located,” said Tom Sullivan, whose son Alex was killed in the theater shooting while celebrating his 27th birthday. “Victims of that crime carry that burden with them every day.”

A letter of support from the grandmother of 10-year-old murder victim Jessica Ridgeway, whose killer was also transferred out of state, was also read during the hearing.

“We feel it is the right of victims to know where an inmate has been located,” said one of the bill’s prime sponsors, Greeley Republican Sen. John Cooke.

“All they had to do was to share with these families the state where he is being housed at, and they refused to do it,” said another sponsor, Sen. Rhonda Fields, D-Aurora. “That’s unfair. No one wants to read about these scenarios on the front page of The Denver Post.”

The bill is also sponsored by Reps. Leslie Herod, D-Denver, and Cole Wist, R-Centennial. The legislation now heads to the full Senate.