Colorado could soon stop charging children under 13 with most crimes, if a bill passed by a House committee becomes law. 

Currently, the minimum age for criminal prosecution in Colorado is 10. House Bill 1249 would raise the age to 13, except when a child is suspected of committing homicide. This would remove children aged 10, 11 and 12 from the jurisdiction of juvenile, municipal and county courts. 

Instead of entering the criminal justice system, children under 13 who commit crimes would be referred to local collaborative management programs to get resources such as therapy or family counseling. Victims of crimes committed by kids aged 10 to 12 could still access victim services and compensation, as the bill would remove the requirement for a police report to be filed. 

“We can and must do better for our young kids,” said bill sponsor Rep. Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez, D-Denver. “We can’t let the fact that this is how it’s always been done keep us from paving a better future for our kids.” 

The House Judiciary Committee advanced the bill in a 9-4 vote late Wednesday night, sending it to the House Appropriations Committee for further consideration. 

The vote came after eight straight hours of debate and testimony, with nearly 100 residents signing up to speak on the bill. During the hearing, proponents said arresting children does not address the cause of crime and sets them up for failure in the future, while opponents argued that serious crimes require serious criminal consequences, regardless of the perpetrator’s age. 

In 2021-22, 63 children under 13 years old were admitted into detention, accounting for 2.4% of new inmates, according to the Colorado Division of Youth Services. Of the 63 children, 58 were admitted for felony charges. 

In the last decade, nearly 2,500 cases of violent crimes and sexual offenses have been filed against 10- to 12-year-olds in Colorado, according to the Colorado District Attorneys’ Council. Of those, 970 were violent crimes such as felony assault, attempted murder or armed robbery. Around 1,500 were sex offenses, 55% of which were sexual assaults on a child, where the perpetrator was over four years older than the victim and there was intimate sexual contact. 

“10- to 12-year-olds are still a population that commit serious crimes and that the community needs to be protected from,” said Jessica Dotter with the Colorado District Attorneys’ Council, while testifying against the bill. “The standards for which they can be detained are for serious and violent offenses when there are no other options.” 

Dotter said the vast majority of criminal cases involving young child offenders are already diverted out of the courtroom, with the offenders receiving probation and deferred sentences. Dotter said this was even the result in cases when a boy threatened his classmates with a gun, when a brother raped his sister, and when a girl assaulted her classmate causing a brain bleed. 

This was also the result when Ashley and Patrick Bose’s 5-year-old daughter was sexually abused by their son’s 12-year-old friend. 

Ashley said the boy sexually abused their daughter on multiple occasions in 2019 and 2020, taking her to hidden areas in their home and asking her to touch and lick his penis. The boy was eventually criminally charged and got a plea deal, including two years probation, behavioral counseling and temporary registration as a sex offender. Two years later, his charges were sealed. 

“Although this plea deal was something, it felt like a slap on the wrist to us,” Ashley said. “We wanted him to go to jail for what he had done to our daughter. … Even 10- to 12-year-olds need to be held accountable for their actions.” 

“There is evil in this world,” Patrick said, while the couple testified in opposition to the bill. “Please protect us.” 

Proponents of the bill said most criminal cases brought against young children aren’t this serious, such as children being arrested for stealing a candy bar or snapping a classmate’s bra strap. But even in serious cases, they said the current justice system isn’t helping address or prevent these crimes. 

In Colorado, just under 60% of youth who are committed reoffend within three years of release, according to a 2022 report from the Colorado Division of Youth Services. Colorado’s adult recidivism rate is among the highest in the nation, with around 50% of released prisoners being re-incarcerated within three years. 

Arrested children are more likely to be arrested as adults, less likely to graduate high school, more likely to be unemployed and face a higher risk of violence and sexual abuse while in detention, bill sponsors said. One study found that up to 90% of people in the juvenile justice system have experienced trauma, including high rates of physical or sexual abuse. 

Children of color are also arrested at disproportionately high rates. In 2021, Black children made up just over 5% of Colorado’s 10- to 17-year-old population, but made up 23.8% of those detained in 2021-22, according to the Colorado Division of Youth Services. 

Rep. Ryan Armagost, R-Berthoud, said his own nephew was victimized by the juvenile criminal justice system. Armagost, a former law enforcement officer, is co-sponsoring the bill. 

Armagost said his nephew first became involved with the justice system as a young kid, and it “determined how the rest of his life would play out.” He said his nephew acted out criminally due to a negative home life and didn’t receive the necessary support in the criminal justice system. This created a cycle where he continued to reoffend into adulthood, going in and out of the system, Armagost said. 

“He was set up to fail from the beginning,” Armagost said. “That’s how easy it is for Colorado to manufacture adult prisoners. … If this bill had been in place for my nephew, I believe his life would have been different.” 

Armagost said, during his time in law enforcement, he watched this same situation play out with countless other children and teens, saying the current system is “not working.” Gonzales-Gutierrez added that the current system can also delay treatment for young offenders, as they often don’t receive services like therapy until they’re found guilty because it could be seen as an admission of guilt. 

Terrence Moore was first arrested at 10 years old, he said in a written testimony read at Wednesday’s hearing. 

Now 24, Moore said he used to carry a knife while walking to school on Colfax Avenue because he was afraid of the people using and selling drugs along the street. One day, Moore forgot to put the knife in his backpack when he got to school, and it fell out of his pocket while he was playing. Moore said he was arrested and spent six months in custody, during which time he witnessed frequent fights and was taught about drug dealing from older inmates. 

“When I finally got out, I was a different person,” Moore said, adding that he immediately purchased drugs to see if he’d be able to sell them. “I saw the world through the eyes of those guys on the inside. … I wish I had never been sent to jail. I should’ve been sent home. I should’ve been seen as a young kid who needed help. I should’ve been able to go back to my mom.” 

Under the bill, children aged 10 to 12 could still be taken into temporary custody by law enforcement, but law enforcement would then refer the child to their local collaborative management program. Other professionals including school staff and mandatory reporters could also refer kids to a collaborative management program. 

A team from the program would create an individualized plan for every child referred regarding which services they need. For felony sex offenses, the team would have to meet with the county department of human or social services to develop the plan and determine if the department will provide special prevention and intervention services or investigate the alleged crime.

The bill would also increase the minimum age when a child can be tried as an adult from 12 to 14 years old, and limit charging minors as adults to only in cases of class 1 or 2 felonies or crimes of violence. 

The House Judiciary Committee ended up voting 9-4 to advance the bill. The vote was mostly split along party lines, with all Democrats except for Rep. Marc Snyder of Colorado Springs voting in support of the bill, and all Republicans except for Armagost voting in opposition. 

“I don’t think we’ve gotten this right,” Snyder said. “It can’t just be all or nothing. It totally takes away any discretion except for that one narrow exception, for homicide. … I just cannot understand. I think of that poor couple, the Boses, with their horrible situation. … I sincerely worry if this passes, where we’ll be a couple years from now.” 

Snyder and other opponents said they felt the bill needed to reach a “middle ground,” such as allowing 10- to 12-year-olds to still be criminally charged when they commit sexual assault or violent crimes. 

Rep. Elisabeth Epps, D-Denver, disagreed, saying she doesn’t think the bill should even provide an exception for homicides. 

“Accountability and punishment are not interchangeable,” said Epps, who voted in support of the bill. “Accountability is meant to stop harm, and punishment is enforcing rules. … Tell me how putting a child who hurt me in a cage, sending a child to the most violent place on earth … how does that keep me safe?” 

Fifteen organizations registered against the bill, including the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police, Colorado Municipal League, Colorado Organization for Victim Assistance, County Sheriffs of Colorado and Colorado District Attorneys’ Council. 

Sixteen organizations are backing the bill, such as the Colorado Children’s Campaign, Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, Colorado Freedom Fund, Healthier Colorado and Mental Health Colorado. 

This is the second time Colorado lawmakers have tried to raise the minimum age for criminal prosecution to 13.

Last year, House Bill 22-1131 sought to make the same change, though it lacked the portions of HB 1249 concerning collaborative management programs. Last year’s bill was downgraded to a task force to study potentially raising the age in the future, after the proposal received opposition from both sides of the aisle for potentially cutting off young offenders and victims from support services provided by the criminal justice system. The additions to HB 1249 align with the recommendations made by the task force.