Colorado’s prison population growing because of get-tough DUI law

Since 2015, more than 1,100 felony DUI cases were filed in the courts.

KRISTEN WYATT, Associated Press

DENVER (AP) — A new get-tough DUI law in Colorado is reversing a decline in prisons populations, state lawmakers learned Tuesday in a briefing by economists.

Colorado closed three prisons in the last 10 years and was anticipating closing more after legislation passed making it easier for parolees to stay out of prisons when they violate the terms of their release.

But, a 2015 law allowing district attorneys to pursue felony cases, not just misdemeanors, against people accused of drunk driving has prompted more than 1,100 new felony DUI cases filed in state courts, the state Judicial Branch reports.

The DUI change could increase prison populations by about 448 people, or 0.8 percent, over the next three years, legislative economist Greg Sobetski said.

An extra 500 or so prisoners over the next couple years is a small increase, considering that Colorado had about 20,000 people in state prisons in the summer of 2016. But it’s a change from recent years, when prison populations declined sharply.

Sen. Kent Lambert, a Colorado Springs Republican who leads the budget committee, said the uptick isn’t enough to disturb plans to rethink how Colorado uses prisons.

A February study commissioned by Gov. John Hickenlooper found that prisons could be streamlined in many areas. A 948-bed state prison in Centennial, for example, was described as “a significant waste of a resource.”