Lots of updates this week from the legislature, including a lobby day for the Colorado Voting Rights Act (COVRA), an important Joint Budget Committee (JBC) hearing on the Department of Corrections budget, and the introduction of one of CCJRC’s priority bills in the Senate.
CCJRC helped organize and participated in the COVRA lobby day at the Capitol, where over 70 people from across Colorado came together to advocate for state protections for voting rights, including those that are eligible to vote while incarcerated in jail. The event was a huge success, and momentum looks strong for passing the bill as we await it hearing in the Appropriations Committee. Check out these great photos from the lobby day!
We also have a significant update on the FY25-26 DOC budget. One major concern was whether the Joint Budget Committee would vote in favor of closing Skyline Correctional Center, the home of the much-beloved Beacon honor unit. Fortunately, the JBC voted to keep Skyline open! Congratulations to the families and those inside who worked tirelessly to keep Skyline open! We’ll provide more details once the JBC finalizes the DOC budget for next year.
We're also excited that the final CCJRC priority bill was introduced this week. SB25-190, Offender Release from Custody, marks the third legislative attempt to fix Colorado’s Special Needs Parole law that allows for compassionate release for people who meet eligibility criteria who are seriously ill, terminal, and elders even before they reach their parole eligibility date. More details below
Here are some new bills of interest introduced this week, and what's coming up in committee:
New Bills Introduced This Week
Sponsors: Sen. Matt Ball (D) Rep. Jennifer Bacon (D) Rep. Matt Soper (R)
Status: In Introduced 03/04, Assigned to Senate Judiciary, Scheduled for 03/19 in the Old Supreme Court Room
Position: Priority Support
Bills Coming Up in Committee
(Scroll down for detailed bill summaries)
House Judiciary Committee- March 12th @ 1:30p HCR 0107
CCJRC Position: Support
CCJRC Position: Oppose
CCJRC Position: PRIORITY Support
CCJRC Position: Support
CCJRC Priority Bills (Introduced So Far)
Sponsors: Senator Julie Gonzales (D), and Representatives Jennifer Bacon (D) Representatives Junie Joseph (D)
CCJRC Position: PRIORITY Support
Bill Summary: With voting rights under attack at the federal level, Colorado is taking action by introducing the Colorado Voting Rights Act (COVRA) as SB-001 to strengthen protections against discrimination and ensure fair representation. CCJRC, alongside Colorado Common Cause and a coalition of 30+ groups, is advocating for COVRA. You can learn more about COVRA by checking out the fact sheet.
Sponsors: Rep. Chad Clifford (D) Sen. Julie Gonzales (D)
CCJRC Position: PRIORITY Support
Status: Introduced 2/11, Assigned to House Judiciary, Scheduled March 12th 1:30 pm in HCR 0107
Bill Summary: HB25-1214 adjusts several processes by Courts, the Department of Corrections, and the Parole Board to foster better utilization of prison beds.
Sponsors: Sen. Matt Ball (D) Rep. Jennifer Bacon (D) Rep. Matt Soper (R)
Status: Introduced 03/04, Assigned to Senate Judiciary, Scheduled for March 19th in the Old Supreme Court Room
Position: Priority Support
Bill Summary:
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establishes a single definition of “serious impairment that limits a person’s ability to function” that is more objective and aligns with medical diagnosis. Eliminates the higher medical standard to be eligible for special needs parole if someone is 55 years old or younger.
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requires that an individual under 55 years of age serve a meaningful portion of his or her sentence (25% of the sentence or 10 years whichever is shorter) before becoming eligible.
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Authorizes the doctors who are most familiar with their patients’ condition to determine medical eligibility, including doctors outside of DOC.
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Makes other needed technical corrections.
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Directs Legislative Council to conduct a study, with stakeholder input, on placement options outside of DOC that already exist and gaps for elders and those approved for special needs parole.
Other Bills of Interest to CCJRC
House Bills
Sponsors: Representative Regina English (D), Representative Jennifer Bacon (D), Senate President James Coleman (D)
CCJRC Position: Support
Status: Passed House Judicial 02/05, Assigned to Appropriations but not yet calendared.
Bill Summary: HB25-1013 establishes visitation as a fundamental right for individuals confined in prisons in Colorado. While the Department of Corrections may create rules to manage t social visitation, the rules must not impose restrictions beyond what is necessary for ensuring the safety of the facility and the public. Visitation is crucial for maintaining the human dignity of incarcerated individuals, fostering family and community connections, and aiding in successful rehabilitation and reintegration into society. One of the key factors in reducing recidivism is allowing folks to maintain their connections to community, this bill ensures that these benefits are protected.
Sponsors: Reps Javier Mabrey (D) and Yara Zokaie (D) Sen. Robert Rodriguez (D)
CCJRC Position: Support
Status: Passed out of the House 01/27 with a vote of 62-0, Introduced in Senate 01/29 and assigned to Judiciary Committee, Judiciary Hearing 03/05, Laid Over for Amendment
Bill Summary: HB-1015 removes unnecessary barriers to online bond payment, making it more accessible statewide. Although online bond payment has been required in Colorado since 2022, private jail contractors have created obstacles that have made it difficult to use. As a result, Coloradans in rural parts of Colorado are being left in jail, even when they have the funds to pay a bondsman. Making sure folks who are eligible to go home can do so is crucial, as pretrial detention can lead to a series of collateral consequences such as: losing jobs, homes, and custody of children. We often see pressure on individuals to plead guilty to crimes they didn’t commit just to be released, to avoid the above consequences.
Sponsors: Reps. Michael Carter (D) and Lorena García (D)
CCJRC Position: Support
Status: Passed House Judiciary 01/22, assigned to Appropriations (not yet calendared)
Bill Summary: DOC currently charges copays for most medical appointments inside of the Department of Corrections, what was seen to supplement the cost of medical care for folks inside, has ended up costing the state more in and administering the fees than what was taken in. HB-1026 would eliminate copays to inmates on medical care, mental health service and dental and optometric care. It would also prevent. DOC from charging fees on missed medical appointments. Eliminating these fees will make Colorado communities healthier by reducing the barriers to treatment. This bill is supported by the American Medical Association and National Commission on Correctional health.
Sponsors: Reps Lorena García (D), Sens Judy Amabile (D) and Julie Gonzales (D)
CCJRC Position: Support
Status: Passed House Judiciary 01/22, Assigned to Appropriations (not yet calendared)
Bill Summary: HB-1049, recommended by the Jail Standards Committee, seeks to expand the rights of individuals in Colorado jails regarding phone calls and conference calls. Currently, individuals in jail have the right to make a reasonable number of telephone calls to lawyers and family members. HB-1049 would expand this to include interactive conference calls. HB-1049 also ensures individuals can make and receive private, unrecorded phone/ conference calls with their lawyers at no cost. Under current law, Colorado jails are only required to allow private, in-person meetings with lawyers. By extending the right to private communication to telephone and conference calls, this bill modernizes Colorado’s current client privacy calls and particularly benefits rural and indigent defendants, ensuring their rights are better protected.
Sponsors: Rep Shannon Bird (D), Sen Byron Pelton (R)
CCJRC Position: Oppose
Status: Introduced 01/08, assigned to House Judiciary March 12th @ 1:30pm in HCR 0107
Bill Summary: While HB-1015 is a step in the right direction regarding bond policies, HB-1072 represents a significant step backward. This bill would prevent a judge from granting a personal recognizance (PR) bond without the approval of the District Attorney (DA) in the following circumstances: the individual has a conviction for a violent crime within the past two years.
The individual has at least two pending cases involving crimes of violence. Additionally, the bill sets a minimum bond of $7,500 for individuals who meet these criteria. By removing a judge's discretion to assess the specific facts of a case when determining bond, HB-1072 undermines the entire bond process. It also imposes a burdensome requirement on judges to evaluate probable cause in cases they may not be overseeing, further complicating court and bond procedures. Judges already have the authority to consider past criminal history and pending cases when making bond decisions. HB-1072 is an unnecessary and burdensome mandate that negatively impacts both the courts and defendants and their legal counsel.
Sponsors: Rep Ryan Armagost (R) Rep Monica Duran (D) Sen Nick Hinrichsen (D)
CCJRC Position: Oppose
Status: Passed House Judiciary on 2/18 with a 6-5 vote; referred to Appropriations (not yet calendared)
Bill Summary: In current law, the sentencing structure for theft, except for auto theft, is based on the value of the item stolen. The bill exempts theft of firearms from that sentencing structure and makes theft of a firearm a class 6 felony, regardless of the firearm's value. Subsequent violations, including multiple firearms stolen in the same criminal incident, are separate class 5 felonies.
Sponsors: Rep. Ryan Armagost (R) Rep. Jennifer Bacon (D), Sen. Rod Pelton (R)
CCJRC Position: Support
Status: Passed House 59-0-6, Awaiting to be introduced in the Senate
Bill Summary: HB 1116 mandates that the Department of Corrections conduct warrant checks on individuals in their custody at three key points: during the initial intake process, six months after admission to prison, and between three to six months before their scheduled release to community corrections. If an individual has an active warrant, the DOC must collaborate with the Public Defender Liaison to facilitate virtual court appearances, appoint council, and allow them to address the warrant while still incarcerated. This process helps individuals resolve outstanding legal issues before reentering the community, reducing the risk of complications due to unresolved warrants.
Sponsors: Rep. Shannon Bird (D), Rep. Dan Woog (R)
CCJRC Position: Oppose
Status: Introduced 01/29, Assigned to House Health & Human Services, Scheduled March 18th Upon Adjournment in HCR 0112
Bill Summary: This bill would increase the statewide cap on juvenile detention beds for the 2025-26 fiscal year, raising the limit from 215 to 254 beds. If Bill 1146 passes, starting in 2026-27, the cap would be set at 125% of the projected average daily juvenile detention population. Currently, the Colorado Division of Criminal Justice projects that the juvenile detention population will remain steady. While some jurisdictions may be experiencing capacity issues, expanding detention facilities instead of investing in community-based and supported alternative housing is the wrong direction for Colorado.
Sponsors: Rep. Javier Mabrey (D) Rep. Elizabeth Velasco (D), Sen. Judy Amabile (D) Sen. Mike Weissman (D).
CCJRC Position: Support
Status: Passed the House on a vote of 37-27-1; will next be introduced in the Senate
Bill Summary: HB-1147 brings municipal courts in closer alignment with basic legal standards in state court. The bill caps the maximum incarceration sentence for a municipal violation that has a comparable state law crime at the same length as the state-level offense. When there is no comparable state-level offense, the maximum period of incarceration is capped at the maximum for a state-level petty offense. Currently Coloradans face a possible sentence that is 30x longer in municipal court vs if they were charged in state court. HB-1147 will help prevent hefty sentences being applied to poverty crimes like people being swept off the streets and into jail, most often for camping, sleeping on a park bench, petty theft, urinating outdoors, and similar offenses.
Sponsors: Rep. Jennifer Bacon (D), Rep. Michael Carter (D), Sen. Julie Gonzales (D)
CCJRC Position: Support
Status: Passed House on a vote of 39-23, Waiting to be introduced in the Senate
Bill Summary: The bill revises criminal protection order laws by standardizing required content, limiting their scope to protecting victims and witnesses, and restricting their use for enforcing bond conditions, and allows restrictions on alcohol or drug use only when directly relevant to victim or witness safety. Courts must review protection orders at sentencing, and consecutive sentencing for violations is limited to domestic violence and certain victim-related crimes. Additionally, 1148 gives discretion to police officers to arrest, seek a warrant, or issue a summons to someone in violation of a protection order.
Sponsors: Rep. Shannon Bird (D) Rep. Andrew Boesnecker (D)
CCJRC Position: Oppose
Status: Introduced 02/06, Assigned to House Judiciary (not yet calendared)
Bill Summary: Under current law, it is illegal for a person to possess a firearm if the person was convicted of or adjudicated for certain felonies. The bill adds motor vehicle theft in the first, second, and third degree to the list of violations that prohibit a person from possessing a firearm.
Sponsors: Rep. Michael Carter (D) Rep. Jennifer Bacon (D) Sen Mike Weissman (D)
CCJRC Position: Support
Status: Introduced 02/10, Scheduled in House Judiciary March 12th Upon Adjournment HCR 0107
Bill Summary: In Colorado, people can be charged with homicide or assault, even if they didn’t intend to kill someone, if their conduct showed an “extreme indifference” to the risk of death to another person. Under current law, attempted murder with extreme indifference is classified as a class 2 felony, carrying a sentence of 16 to 48 years per count, with the possibility of mandatory consecutive sentences, regardless of whether there was serious bodily injury, minor injury, or no injury at all to another person. Also, Colorado is the only state in the country that makes it a crime to “attempt” to commit homicide or assault under an “extreme indifference” theory. This bill would rewrite this law by creating a tiered system where attempt murder with extreme indifference would be a class 3 felony if there was serious bodily injury to another, a class 4 felony if there was minor bodily injury, and a class 5 felony if there was no injury at all. The bill does not alter existing laws for extreme indifference offenses that result in death.
Sponsors: Rep. Matt Soper (R) Rep. Yara Zokaie (D) Sen. Mike Weissman (D) Sen. Lisa Frizell (R)
CCJRC Position: Support
Status: Introduced 2/19, Assigned to House Judiciary, Scheduled March 12th Upon Adjournment HCR 0107
This bi-partisan bill was introduced in response to the scandal at the Colorado Bureau of Investigation where their leading DNA analyst, Missy Woods, deleted, omitted or manipulated DNA data in at least 1,003 criminal cases and CBI failed to take appropriate steps even after other DNA analysts raised concerns about the quality and reliability of her work for a decade. Woods was recently indicted on 102 counts.
Bill Summary: HB-1275 will enhance oversight in crime laboratories by defining “knowing misconduct” as intentional deceptive actions by lab employees and “significant events” as major deviations from established procedures that risk compromising lab integrity. Under the bill, any wrongful actions must be reported immediately to supervisors or the lab director, who is then responsible for investigating and reviewing past records. The process also requires that district attorneys notify defendants—and victims when applicable—of any reported misconduct tied to their cases. Importantly, the bill strengthens defendants’ rights by providing access to counsel, investigation, and discovery, as well as a streamlined path for post-conviction relief. If misconduct is proven to have materially affected a case, courts must vacate the conviction and order a new trial.
Sponsors: Reps. Matt Soper (R) & Shannon Bird (D) and Sens. Dylan Roberts (D) & Lisa Frizell (R)
CCJRC Position: Oppose
Status: Introduced 2/20, Assigned to House Judiciary (not yet calendared)
Bill Summary: HB-1276 clarifies and expands conditions under which courts can impose bond for release for certain offenses. Under current law, individuals charged with minor offenses (maximum penalty of six months’ imprisonment) must be released on personal recognizance bond unless specific conditions apply. The bill ensures these provisions apply in both state and municipal courts and adds that bond may be required if a defendant has failed to appear in court twice in the same case. Additionally, the bill expands exceptions to the prohibition on monetary bond conditions for release in cases involving petty offenses like theft, arson, or threats of violence—if the defendant has failed to appear twice in the current case. For other petty or traffic offenses, monetary bond may be imposed if the defendant has failed to appear three or more times on the present case or has another pending charge for the same offense in the same jurisdiction.
Senate Bills
Sponsors: Sen. D. Michaelson Jenet (D), Sen. J. Amabile (D), Rep. M. Bradfield (R), Rep. R. English (D)
CCJRC Position: Support (working with advocates on amendment)
Status: Passed Senate Judiciary 5-2, Assigned to Senate Appropriations (not yet calendared)
Bill Summary: SB-043 is a much-needed update to laws that affect justice involving youth. Key parts of this bill include addressing youth detention housing issues, particularly those with disabilities; mandating rehabilitative treatment and life skills programming; updating incompetency standards; and clarifying requirements for clinician evaluations, tailored treatment plans and case manager roles for youthful offenders; and creates a community-based grant program to stop youth from even entering the system. The bill also creates a state grant program to fund local nonprofits to provide trauma-informed health services and develop deflection programs for youth.
Sponsors: Sen. Nick Hinrichsen (D) Sen. Mike Weissman (D) Rep. Michael Carter (D) Rep. Shannon Bird (D)
CCJRC Position: Support
Status: Passed Senate on a vote of 22-11-2, Introduced in the House 02/11 (not yet calendared)
Bill Summary: Last year, the Denver Post exposed that the city of Pueblo has been using municipal-level contempt of court charges in response to failures to appear (FTAs), disproportionately affecting unhoused individuals. Under this practice, if someone had multiple FTAs, the city would stack contempt of court charges against them. As a result, individuals initially charged with petty offenses—including offenses not eligible for jail time—could end up serving lengthy jail sentences due to the added contempt charges. In one case, a Pueblo resident received a 575-day sentence for an offense that originally did not allow jail time. ACLU-CO sued and won. SB-062 aims to address this issue by prohibiting municipalities from using FTAs as the basis for criminal charges and preventing municipal judges from imposing jail sentences for FTAs.
Signed or Awaiting Signature by the Governor
HB25-1129: Department of Corrections Peer Behavioral Health Services Reentry Program
HB25-1081: Reporting Statistics on Restitution
SB25-089: Concerning A Supplemental Appropriation to the Department of Corrections
Postponed Indefinitely (died)
HB25-1141: Gift Card & Retail Property Crime Penalties
HB25-1142: Increase Criminal Penalty for Failure to Exit Premises
SB025-044: Synthetic Opiates Increasing Criminal Penalties
SB25-066: State Contracts with Opioid Antagonist Businesses
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