{"id":2113,"date":"2026-06-29T13:05:05","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T13:05:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=2113"},"modified":"2026-06-29T13:05:05","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T13:05:05","slug":"denvers-municipal-sentencing-reform-would-go-further-than-required-giving-some-council-members-heartburn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=2113","title":{"rendered":"Denver\u2019s municipal sentencing reform would go further than required \u2014 giving some council members heartburn"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Denver leaders on Monday night are set to consider drastic changes in how city judges punish municipal-level criminal offenders.<\/p>\n

Read more PHOTOS: Vizzy Denver Pride Parade along 17th Ave. Sunday, June 28, 2026.<\/a><\/p>\n

The City Council drafted the proposal\u00a0in light of a Colorado Supreme Court ruling that prohibits cities from handing down sentences that are harsher than the state\u2019s penalties for the same offense. But the proposed ordinance, brought by the council\u2019s three most progressive lawmakers, goes beyond what the ruling mandates by also changing the sentences for low-level, municipal-only crimes in an effort to decriminalize what they call \u201ccrimes of poverty.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we just put people on a conveyor belt through the jail because they are poor, because they are unhoused, because they are committing crimes of desperation, that does not solve those issues. It, in fact, makes them worse \u2014 and it is a massive waste of public resources,\u201d said Councilwoman Sarah Parady, one of the bill\u2019s sponsors, during the first full council vote last week.<\/p>\n

Municipal-only crimes that don\u2019t have a counterpart in state law include the failure to leash a dog, violating curfew, smoking indoors, disturbances of the peace and littering. The proposed changes would reduce them to a maximum penalty of 10 days in jail and a fine of $300, down from the 300 days in jail or $999 fine that are the current maximums for most municipal crimes.<\/p>\n

The proposal has gone through more than a dozen iterations as the sponsors have worked with Mayor Mike Johnston\u2019s office to find compromises over how to reduce some of those sentences without risking public safety.<\/p>\n

In a letter to the council, Johnston said he was no longer opposed to the legislation after the most recent round of changes.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a result of the dialogue between my office and the ordinance\u2019s sponsors, we were able to resolve every single concern we had with the legislation,\u201d Johnston wrote in the June 24 letter.<\/p>\n

His administration called out specific municipal-only crimes that officials prioritized for keeping a more severe sentence, including some that often intersect with domestic violence, like threats to property and flourishing a weapon.<\/p>\n

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Other local crimes, such as indecent exposure and wrongs to minors, will also remain in a higher sentencing tier.<\/p>\n

What the proposed changes would do<\/h4>\n

The proposed ordinance \u2014 which is set to have its final vote Monday unless a majority of the council votes to postpone it \u2014 would lay out a new 5-tiered sentencing structure and align the city\u2019s maximum punishments with state statutes for similar offenses.<\/p>\n

The new municipal sentencing scheme would break down offenses in five buckets:<\/p>\n