department of corrections
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Colorado House opens debate on $46.8B budget already showing strain
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With rising Medicaid costs, no dollars set aside for new legislation and dozens of bills still seeking funding, Colorado lawmakers on Wednesday began debating the proposed $46.8 billion budget that is already proving difficult to keep on track. By the time the main budget measure and its 64 accompanying “orbital” bills — which rely on…
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Appeals court divided over effect of retroactive sentence on parole calculation
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Colorado’s second-highest court grappled last week with the framework for calculating a defendant’s earliest possible parole date in light of two intersecting legal principles — a judge’s ability to make an order retroactive, and the requirement that separate, simultaneous sentences be treated as one continuous sentence. By 2-1, a three-judge Court of Appeals panel decided…
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Colorado policymakers scramble with prisons on track to exceed capacity
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Colorado’s prison system is on track to exceed capacity within the next year, driven by a sharp slowdown in parole releases, staffing shortages and an aging inmate population — all as lawmakers grapple with an $800 million general fund shortfall that limits options for expanding beds or spending in alternative programs. If projections hold, the…
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Colorado’s prison population management plan activated due to overcrowding
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Ongoing issues within the Colorado Department of Corrections have prompted the state to trigger its Prison Population Management Measures — a policy framework established in 2018 to address overcrowding. It marks the first time the measures have been put into effect. Under the law, the governor must implement the management measures if the state’s prison…
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Colorado moves to limit use of four-point restraints in prisons
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In Colorado prisons, inmates deemed to be a threat to themselves or others are often strapped to a bed by their arms and legs with metal restraints, left alone for hours or even days in this position. In at least one instance, a person was kept in these restraints for 39 days straight in the Colorado…
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Divided appeals court OK’s corrections department’s violation of speedy trial law
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Colorado’s second-highest court last month declined to overturn a man’s Arapahoe County convictions, while acknowledging the head of the Colorado Department of Corrections failed to follow a law designed to give detainees a speedy trial. A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals noted the department’s then-executive director, Rick Raemisch, did not forward to the…
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Colorado legislature OKs reducing prison sentences for inmates pursuing higher education
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Colorado has among the worst recidivism rates in the country, with over 50% of people released from prison ending up back behind bars within three years. On Friday, Colorado lawmakers passed a bill supporters say would help change that. If signed into law, House Bill 1037 would reduce prison sentences for non-violent offenders who complete higher education while incarcerated.…
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Appeals court says judge, DA, corrections agency could blow past deadlines, still send man to prison
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Colorado’s second-highest court determined last month that an Arapahoe County judge, prosecutors and corrections officials could disregard the deadlines in state law and still have the ability to send a youthful offender to prison. The state’s Youthful Offender System enables defendants who were at least 18 at the time of their criminal offense but younger…
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House passes bill to reduce prison sentences for inmates pursuing higher education
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An effort to incentivize Colorado prisoners to pursue higher education took a major step forward on Tuesday, receiving near-unanimous approval from the state House of Representatives. House Bill 1037 would deduct six months from an inmate’s prison sentence for earning a certificate while incarcerated, one year for an associate or bachelor’s degree, 18 months for a master’s degree…
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Colorado bill would reduce prison sentences for inmates pursuing higher education
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Colorado has among the worst recidivism rates in the country, with over 50% of people released from prison ending up back behind bars within three years. Lawmakers want to change that with House Bill 1037. If passed into law, the bill would deduct one year from an inmate’s prison sentence for every associate, bachelor’s or…
