Despite requests from county court officials to push it off, Aurora will still move forward with ending the prosecution of domestic violence cases in municipal court starting July 1. 

Aurora City Council passed a resolution in September to stop prosecuting domestic violence cases, instead handing their cases off to the 17th and 18th Judicial Districts for prosecution.

However, in January, 18th Judicial District officials expressed concerns about having adequate resources to handle the influx of cases that would come from Aurora. 

The 18th Judicial District currently handles about 859 domestic violence misdemeanor cases every year, according to council documents. The Aurora Municipal Court had 2,404 open domestic violence cases as of July of last year, including 1,304 active warrants.

Shifting those cases to county courts is estimated to add 200 cases each year to the 17th Judicial District and about 1,300 cases each year to the 18th Judicial District, doubling the district’s annual caseload.

In the last few weeks, staff were informed that the state did not fund requests from the 17th and 18th judicial districts for the staffing and resources to accommodate the additional workload from Aurora, officials said in Monday night’s meeting.

Because of the request denial, Arapahoe County and the 18th Judicial District requested Monday that the council consider delaying the transition until July 1, 2026 or consider phasing the transition over time.

On Monday night, the council decided they will continue to move forward with the transition of domestic violence cases to district courts as of this July, with a few councilmembers and the mayor objecting to the decision.

City Attorney Pete Schulte and City Manager Jason Batchelor said that, due to the state’s budget deficit, they don’t think finances and resources will be any better next year. 

“Whatever the start date is, it’s going to be gradual,” Schulte added. “It’s not like we’re going to turn the fire hose on and all of the sudden they’ll have 1,200 additional domestic violence cases.”

Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky said Arapahoe County just “de-Bruced,” so they will be “flush with cash.”

“We have made our minds up, they have been given ample notice, there is zero wiggle room from me,” Jurinsky said. “If they happen to get 1,200 cases at once … then they get 1,200 DV cases, that’s what it is.”

Councilmember Francoise Bergan said the counties are citing budget issues as the reason for the request, but that the city is facing budget issues too.

Schulte added that the city built its 2026 budget under the assumption that the cases were being handed off. 

However, Councilmember Angela Lawson said she has concerns about the victims in the cases, she said, adding that county officials said in their letter that there’s a chance they may have to drop cases they don’t have resources to handle.

Schulte said there’s “always a risk” of that happening. 

Councilmember Crystal Murillo said she has always had “deep concern” about the handoff, and that the possibility of having cases dropped deepens that concern. 

The majority of councilmembers agreed to keep moving forward with the transition starting July 1.