Pikes Peak Region Government & Law Enforcement Officials
Opposition Letter to Colorado Senate Bill 21–273
The District Attorney’s Office and law enforcement agencies in the Fourth Judicial District respectfully offer this statement of opposition to proposed Colorado Senate Bill 21–273.
We are deeply concerned about the detrimental impact this bill will have on public safety in our communities, and that such drastic changes are recommended based in part on a false premise that these are “victimless” crimes. Advocates and opponents of SB21–273 agree it will reduce arrests, increase personal recognizance bonds, and reduce jail populations — but it will not reduce crime. In fact, our experience shows the direct consequences of these measures will in fact lead to further increases in crime within our communities.
By passing the bill, Colorado will permanently continue the drastic measures forced upon us by the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, many criminal offenders that normally would be arrested and booked into jail have been cited and released. Bill sponsor Senator Pete Lee was quoted as calling these pandemic-related jail reductions “a grand experiment across Colorado.” In our experience, it has not been a successful experiment.
The sheriffs throughout Colorado have successfully managed their jail population without the need for new legislation to assist them. They are able to work with law enforcement leaders in their jurisdictions to ensure a close collaboration guarantees that only those individuals that need to be are confined. We certainly do not expect legislators to force changes on all jurisdictions in Colorado without input from the elected Sheriffs charged with managing those jails.
We have significant public safety concerns about the list of crimes people would be allowed to commit without the option of a jailable arrest being available to law enforcement. We think the majority of people in our communities will be upset to learn our state wants to limit custodial arrests for crimes that affect a large number of individuals, families and businesses in our communities. These crimes include misdemeanor level crimes such as cruelty to animals, inciting or engaging in a riot, abuse of corpse, and a significant number of “property” crimes, such as theft of up to $2,000. All of these crimes have direct impacts upon not only the specific crime victims but also upon safety, security, and well-being of all the residents and visitors to our communities.
A person’s prior criminal behavior is a good indicator of their future criminal behavior, but under SB21–273, law enforcement would no longer have the ability to make a well-reasoned decision in the field to take someone to jail for these crimes rather than issue them a summons, no matter what their criminal history shows. Repeat offenders, even those who are caught for only so-called “lower level” crimes, wreak havoc on our communities and we need to retain our discretion to book them into jail when appropriate.
It is also important to note that Colorado’s Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice (CCJJ) has recommended substantive changes to crime classifications for misdemeanors in this session and will make recommendations for felony reclassifications for consideration in the next session. We cannot foresee at this point in time whether classifying felonies lower at CCJJ’s recommendation would exacerbate our public safety concerns about misdemeanors being largely excluded as jailable offenses. Any list of concerning misdemeanors at this point in time would lack those concerns created by a reclassification of particular felonies to misdemeanor crimes that will in likelihood occur in the next legislative session.
While the current version of the bill focuses only on misdemeanors (and below) being non-jail eligible, it also mandates that only a personal recognizance bond, and not a monetary bond, may be used in all crimes but the highest level felonies (class 1, 2, or 3), unless the court finds 1) a substantial risk that the defendant will flee prosecution or threaten the safety of another person and 2) that no other condition of release besides monetary bond can reasonably mitigate the risk. The bill does not allow the court to consider a prior history of “simply” failing to appear in other cases as part of an assessment of whether a defendant poses a risk of fleeing prosecution. It also only allows the court to consider the risk to the safety of another person — not overall community safety. Bill proponents made clear that language was intentional in their Senate Judiciary Committee testimony — they indicated they do not support an amendment that would allow the court to consider community safety. Misdemeanor crimes, whether person crimes or property crimes, lead to significant quality of life concerns by all members of our communities.
The bill’s provisions are incompatible from a public safety perspective. This means while felonies, Victim Rights Act crimes, and some other crimes were removed as non-jail eligible in this bill, the practical implication of prohibiting monetary bond is largely the same in terms of community safety.
These proposed changes are meant to dismantle a system that affords discretion to law enforcement, prosecution, and courts, without offering a viable alternative to protect the public. The bill offers no alternative that actually supports a defendants’ appearance in court or compliance with the law. It offers no alternative that protects the public through supervised conditions of release with swift consequences for not following the personal recognize bond rules. It offers no alternative that considers a crime victim’s need for a timely resolution to the case, including their right to restitution when appropriate. The bill’s sponsors have made no effort within the bill to provide any monetary funding to the currently existing pre-trial services programs that are already available within our communities to help provide these services programs with additional resources to accommodate the greatly increased number of defendants who will now be released into our communities.
These changes in the law will show criminal offenders accountability is optional and leave crime victims on the sidelines of the criminal justice system. Crime victims deserve to be respected and protected by our criminal justice system, and community members deserve to have a system that works to prevent future crimes.
