Colorado Law Intended to Reduce Prison Population Hasn’t Improved Conditions
by Michael Thompson
In 2018, Colorado lawmakers unanimously passed a law designed to relieve overcrowded state prisons. It was set to trigger whenever the total vacancy rate for state prison beds drops below 2% for more than 30 days. That happened in August 2025, yet the law has done little to alleviate overcrowded conditions so far.
House Bill 18-1410 does not mandate mass releases. Instead, it tries to expedite existing processes to release people who are already eligible for discretionary parole. Christie Donner, executive director of the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, points out that “it’s a way of identifying and expediting processes, removing some of the barriers so that there can be a responsiveness to when they’re running out of beds.”
These opportunities to free up beds occur only for prisoners who have reached their discretionary review date but have not yet reached the mandatory release date. However, rather than increasing the rate of release for discretionary parole, the rates have actually dropped since the law passed. As a result, of the 88 people whom have met the criteria to be considered for the prison population management law, only 29 were granted release. When lawmakers asked about the law’s effectiveness, nonpartisan legislative analyst Justin Brakke said, “I think the short answer is it’s not doing much.”
A key component of the problem is that the law is very restrictive and excludes certain crimes. Furthermore, the state Department of Corrections does not have the authority to assign parolees to available community supervision beds. That authority rests with the local boards of the community corrections centers, which may have conflicting priorities.
The available community centers have high turnover rates as the parolees reintegrate into their communities. That makes bed availability more fluid. However, many community centers are co-ed and have a certain number of beds set aside for women. Those beds may then remain empty as the beds dedicated to men remain in high demand, according to Brian Hulse, chair-elect for the Colorado Community Corrections Coalition. In addition, the centers strive to return people to their home communities. Hulse added, “We might have beds open in a rural area, but not necessarily the right fit for clients that need to go to that community, whereas the demand might be in an urban area where a particular program[] or jurisdiction might be at capacity, too.” The outgoing chair of the Colorado Community Corrections Coalition, Mark Wester, added that they are aware that the prisons are at the threshold level and “the coalition ha[s] been working hard to make sure we accommodate as many people as possible.”
The law currently only mandates that state leaders are notified that the threshold has been met. It is hoped that the awareness will generate an appetite for change, according to Donner. That may be especially true as prisons are also facing pressure on the other end. Although the state only budgets for 250 people to be held in county jails awaiting transfer to prison, the backlog has risen to 590.
According to Hulse, “Awareness around what the state is facing from a prison population management standpoint I think brings more acuity to decisions made and efficiency in which those decisions are made.”
Source: Colorado Newsline
As a digital subscriber to Prison Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.
Already a subscriber? Login