🎉 HB-1067 passed! 🎉

 
 

48 Hour Bond Hearings in Municipal Court

Basic due process for Colorado’s most vulnerable.

Last year, Colorado legislators agreed: people deserve a bond hearing within 48 hours.

This year, we’re picking up the people who got left behind.

HB22-1067 requires municipal courts to hold bond hearings within 48 hours of arrest, closing a legal loophole and bringing municipal courts in line with state court and constitutional requirements.

DID YOU KNOW? 57% of people experiencing homelessness in Denver have been approached by law enforcement for sleeping outside.¹

Why we need HB22-1067

1. Municipal offenses affect Colorado’s most vulnerable

Municipal courts handle the least serious crimes in the state, most often offenses closely tied to homelessness, mental health conditions, and substance use disorders - like sleeping on a park bench, disorderly conduct, or open container. More serious cases involving misdemeanors and felonies are handled in state courts.

2. Equal access to justice for low-level offenses

Colorado law already requires that people arrested for more serious state offenses be brought before a judge for bond setting within 48 hours of arrest, but people accused of low-level municipal offenses can wait up to 6 days to see a judge.

3. The Constitution requires 48 hour bond hearings

“We conclude that the federal due process right entitles detainees to a [bond] hearing within 48 hours [of arrest].”  Odonnell v. Harris County 882 F.3d 528, 543 (5th Cir. 2018).

Extended pretrial jail for municipal offenses is…

1. Unnecessary

Most people jailed for municipal offenses are immediately released when they see a judge at their bond hearing. Time spent jailed and waiting for a hearing  is time the person would otherwise have been free and does not serve to improve public safety. 

2. Costly

One night in a Colorado jail costs more than $100, a burden generally shouldered by county taxpayers, not the municipality. Taxpayer dollars spent keeping people in jail for low-level offenses while they wait to see a judge could be redirected toward behavioral health supports and other evidence-based interventions to improve public safety. 

3. Harmful

Extended pretrial jail for vulnerable Coloradans harms the entire community.

  • Low wage, hourly workers lose their jobs.

  • Children are left without parental care.

  • Housing insecure folks lose hotel rooms, shelter beds, and substance use beds.

  • People living on the streets lose contact with treatment providers.

  • People struggling with substance use disorders face substantially increased risk of overdose death upon release.

  • People struggling with mental health conditions have substantially increased risk of suicide and self-harm in jail.

Incarcerated people are 40 times more likely to die of an opioid overdose within the first two weeks after release than someone in the general population. Suicide mortality rate is 3 times higher in jail populations than in either prison population

PASS HB22-1067

6 days behind bars can equal a lifetime of consequences.

Help ensure prompt access to justice for people who are most harmed by our carceral system.

DOWNLOAD FACT SHEET ↓ READ THE BILL

Bill Sponsors

  • Smiling woman with mid-length brown, a purple blouse, and floral jewlery.

    Representative Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez

    BILL SPONSOR

  • Smiling man in a blue suit wearing glasses.

    Representative Steven Woodrow

    BILL SPONSOR

  • Smiling man with white hair and a blue shirt.

    Senator Pete Lee

    BILL SPONSOR

 HB22-1067 Bill Tracker

1/14/2022 Introduced In House - Assigned to Judiciary

1/15/22 Passed House Judiciary!

We’re building a coalition.

Let’s work together to protect our most vulnerable neighbors in Colorado from the harms of the criminal INjustice system.

Sources

1. https://www.safetyandjusticechallenge.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/homelessness-brief-web.pdf