Municipalities and state policymakers appear headed for another collision course, this time involving the ability of local governments to exceed the threshold set by the state for sentences and fines, a thorny area implicating both sides’ ability to tackle crime.     

At issue is a proposal that would prohibit municipal courts from imposing harsher sentences than state courts for the same crimes. 

House Bill 1147 seeks to remedy what sponsors believe is an adverse consequence of a 2021 law that reduced maximum penalties for low-level, nonviolent crimes in state courts. 

Because municipal courts are not part of the state judicial system, they were not included in the measure — meaning municipal judges could hand down sentences that supersede the state’s sentencing and fine limits for the same offense.  

The bill passed on a 6-5 vote, with Rep. Chad Clifford, D-Greenwood Village, voting in opposition, though he admitted he was extremely torn and later told Colorado Politics he liked the bill.

The bill also clarifies that municipal court defendants have the same right to counsel as defendants in state court. The sponsors said the clarification became necessary following news reports that Grand Junction’s municipal court allegedly failed to provide indigent defendants with an attorney. 

Both issues addressed in the bill have led to legal battles.

Municipalities have pointed to “home” rule, which gives local governments in Colorado some autonomy to govern themselves, rather than being entirely controlled by the state government. Backers of the bill have countered that a home rule status doesn’t necessarily mean a municipality can do whatever it wants, regardless of what the state says.   

Backers: local penalties should not be harsher than state thresholds

In 2023, Jeremiah and Michelle Mobley allegedly stole $30 worth of clothing from a boutique in Rifle. As a result, local authorities charged them with theft under the city’s municipal code, which carried a maximum sentence of six months in jail.

Had the Mobleys been charged in Garfield County court instead, they would’ve faced a maximum sentence of 10 days for the exact same crime. 

The couple sued the City of Rifle, arguing its municipal code is unconstitutional because it imposes a more severe sentence than the state — 18 times more, to be exact.

The city countered that its position along I-70 meant it faced higher rates of theft than other parts of the state, allowing it to impose stricter penalties for the crime.  

A municipal court judge ruled in the city’s favor, and the Mobleys appealed to the Colorado Supreme Court with the help of the ACLU and the Alternate Defense Counsel.

Before a decision could be made, Rifle agreed to change its municipal code to bring it in line with state sentencing guidelines.  

The Mobley case is just one example of municipal courts imposing significantly higher sentences than county and state courts for the same crimes, according to Rep. Javier Mabrey, D-Denver, one of the bill’s sponsors. 

The majority of defendants in these cases are low-income, homeless or mentally ill individuals charged with low-level nonviolent crimes, such as trespassing or petty theft, he said.   

Mabrey said the legislature purposely lowered the sentences on misdemeanor offenses in recognition of their intersection with mental health and poverty. He said he doesn’t think those changes are being implemented as the law’s sponsors intended. 

“To me it’s analogous to Brown v. Board of Education, or southern states having all-white juries in cases where a defendant is Black,” he said. “It’s a very fundamental question of civil rights.”

Increasing jail sentences doesn’t reduce crime, Mabrey said.

“Over the past few years, we have been passing legislation that is evidence-based and is about keeping our communities safer,” he said. “We are not going to be in a position where people who are committing these low-level offenses are going to be locked up for life, so why are we putting them in a position where their low-level offenses are completely ruining their lives, their ability to have stability, their ability to keep roofs over their head, and their ability to have stability?”

“You are putting people on the track where they are more likely to commit crimes and be dangerous in our communities when you’re getting them endlessly trapped in the criminal justice system for low-level offenses.”

In 2023, Grand Junction resident David Schroeder, who was homeless, was arrested for stealing $10 worth of food and a dog harness. He was charged in municipal court, where he was sentenced him to nine months in the county jail. Schroeder would have faced a maximum of 20 days in jail had he been charged at the state level, said Rebecca Wallace of the Colorado Freedom Fund. 

Wallace and the ACLU wrote to Grand Junction’s municipal court about Shroeder’s case.

“Many municipal courts need to hear from this body in order to believe that the law applies to them,” said Wallace. “(House Bill) 1147 takes aim at the most disparate and egregious practices in what I believe are a small set of municipal courts.”

Meanwhile, Professor Alexandra Natapoff of Harvard Law School said the severity of punishment should not differ based on arbitrary factors, such as what city the crime took place.

“When municipal court punishments exceed state punishments for the same conduct or the same offense, we face a foundational problem of principle and inequality, which is why this bill is so important,” she said.

According to Natapoff, 80% of states cap their municipal court penalties at six months or less. Colorado’s municipal courts have a one-year cap. By passing the bill, Colorado would be one step closer to parity with the other 29 states that have municipal courts, she said.    

Critics: Bill attacks home rule 

The Pueblo Police Department received more than 150,000 calls to its dispatch center last year — significantly more than similar-sized cities, such as Boulder and Greeley, said Pueblo Police Chief Chris Noeller.

To say Pueblo should handle crime the same way Greeley or Boulder does is shortsighted, he argued, because every municipality sees different levels and types of crime.

While other communities may be fine imposing sentences analogous to the state’s, cities with higher crime rates should be able to increase punishments if they feel the need to, Noeller said. 

“Our community demands action from its leaders and the police department to address this widespread criminal behavior,” he said. “These offenses are continually occurring under the system we currently have. This will only become more exacerbated by a lowering of consequences.”

Aurora City Attorney Pete Schulte spoke of the city’s decision to increase penalties for theft of items worth up to $100 to a minimum of three days in jail. The move came after the city experienced a sharp increase in retail theft from 2023 to 2024, he said.

Schulte said he understood the concern for homeless people but argued that, if people needs food, shelter or clothing, they should seek out community resources — not steal from local businesses. 

Greenwood Village City Prosecutor Shannon Chambers-Nelson said theft in her city has increased by nearly 150% since the misdemeanor law went into effect. The average value of items stolen in cases for which she issues jail time is $279. 

“$279 is not petty to our police, retailers, nor our residents,” she said. “I assume when the legislature was passing (SB21-271), they were thinking of the young adults shoplifting for the first time, the young mother that is trying to make it to their next paycheck, or the unhoused member of the community that takes a pair of shoes.”

She added: “I can tell you, as a prosecutor, that is not what I’m seeing on a daily basis. $279 worth of goods is not those individuals.”

Prosecutors and judges should have the discretion to establish sentencing based on a number of factors, including prior criminal history and rates of particular crimes in their area, she said. 

A split panel

The 11 members of the House Judiciary Committee were split nearly down party lines on the issue, with one Democrat voting against the measure, alongside the panel’s four Republicans.

Rep. Jennifer Bacon, D-Denver, said regardless of their feelings about the sentencing portion of the bill, all members should be behind the provision guaranteeing defendants’ constitutional right to counsel.

“It is not okay for me as a state legislator to know that across 200 municipal courts, people may not have counsel. That is an issue of state concern if we care about the Constitution,” she said. 

Objecting to the bill, Rep. Ryan Armagost, R-Berthoud, said it would take away municipalities’ power to set sentences as they see fit for crimes uniquely prevalent to their community.

When he was a law enforcement officer, Armagost said Larimer County addressed a rise in a specific drug crime by raising the penalty, which reduced instances of that crime. 

Because there are so many shopping malls in his district, Rep. Max Brooks, R-Castle Rock, said he believes municipalities in his home of Douglas County should be able to impose harsher penalties for theft than other parts of the state without as much retail activity. 

“My constituents expect me to oppose because this is not reflective of what we want in Douglas County,” he said. 

In addition to Mabrey, the bill’s other sponsors are Elizabeth Velasco, D-Glenwood Springs, and Sens. Judy Amabile, D-Boulder, and Mike Weissman, D-Aurora. 

The bill’s next stop is the House floor.