Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Tuesday signed a corrections bill that seeks to ease chronic overcrowding in state prisons by expanding earned‑time credits and launching a new working group to overhaul population management.

Senate Bill 159 establishes a working group to make recommendations for how the Department of Corrections can reduce overcrowding in its facilities.

As previously reported by Colorado Politics, the system is under strain largely because — some advocates argued — nearly 5,000 inmates approved for parole remain incarcerated due to a lack of parole officers, available beds in community corrections, and required transition programs.

Others, such as District Attorney George Brauchler of the 23rd Judicial District, have countered that prison overcrowding is an artificial crisis, manufactured by what he described as a “Democrat-led prison-closing frenzy. In an opinion piece, he said it’s the result of the “predictable, deliberate and unnecessary outcome of Democrat political decision-making that has long prioritized offenders over public safety and victims.”

Polis activated the state’s prison population management measures for the first time last August after the state’s prisons reached a vacancy rate below 3% for 30 consecutive days. However, almost a year later, the measures have not made a significant impact on the state’s prison population.

In the 2026-27 budget, lawmakers authorized the Department of Corrections to add 941 beds for male inmates, but the locations for those beds are still undecided.

Polis requested funding for two new prisons, a proposal the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee rejected.

Instead, the JBC approved a budget placeholder that would allow the department to contract for beds at two previously closed private prisons in Trinidad and Burlington.

The bill is sponsored by Sens. Mike Weissman, D-Aurora, and Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, and Reps. Javier Mabrey, D-Denver, and Matthew Martinbez, D-Monte Vista.

Sens. Mike Weissman, D-Aurora, and Julie Gonzales, D-Denver — who sponsored the bill alongside Reps. Javier Mabrey, D-Denver, and Matthew Martinbez, D-Monte Vista — are also behind another measure passed this legislative session that adjusts the prison population management measures, raising the vacancy rate threshold that triggers the plan and expanding the list of agencies that the corrections agency must notify when vacancy rates meet that threshold.

Senate Bill 159 also changes the state’s earned time formula by increasing the number of days certain inmates can have reduced from their sentence per month — from 12 days to 14 days for inmates convicted of low-level crimes and from 10 days to 12 days for inmates convicted of certain higher-level offenses.

Additionally, the bill allows inmates who complete a milestone or phase of a behavioral health program to receive up to 150 days of earned time if their behavioral health condition contributed to their offense.

Weissman explained to colleagues that the corrections system “has to encompass two realities at once. One is that people sometimes do bad things, and they need to be punished for it. And that’s why they’re in the first place.”

The other, he said, is that people can change, and the bill wants to incentivize that behavior through earned time.

“Any correctional administrator will tell you they need an incentive for good behavior inside,” Weissman said.

The earned time component will help people become eligible sooner, but Weissman noted the inmates still have to convince the parole board they’re ready for release.

Republicans opposed the measure, arguing it’s at odds with a ballot measure passed in 2024 that required inmates who commit violent crimes to serve at least 85% of their sentence. Supporters pushed back on that allegation, saying the bill does not apply to violent offenders.

Rep. Rebecca Keltie, R-Colorado Springs, argued that the bill would reward inmates “like a five-year-old” for doing what they should be doing anyway.

“If they’re grown adults and you want them to make decisions on their own, then let them make decisions on their own,” she said.

The bill passed on a 22-12 vote in the Senate and a 40-23 vote in the House.

Marianne Goodland contributed to this story.