2026 LEGISLATION
CCJRC’s highest legislative priority in 2026 is preventing prison expansion in Colorado.
The Department of Corrections is very near the limit of available prison beds in the current system, and the Polis administration has said that opening a new prison is “inevitable.” We disagree. Colorado’s prison growth is driven by policy choices and system bottlenecks — not crime. Learn more about our No More Prisons Colorado campaign here and sign up for legislative session updates below.
OUR PRIORITY BILLS
♥ HB26-1017: Criminal Restitution Prohibited for Insurers
Sponsors: Representatives Espenoza and Zokaie, Senator Weissman
Background: CCJRC is partnering with Stand for Children to advance long-overdue restitution reform. Under current law, insurance companies are treated as “victims” for restitution purposes. When an insurance company pays out a claim, the court can order the defendant to pay restitution directly to that company and charge 8% interest annually on the remaining balance. The result is a system where insurance companies triple-dip: they collect premiums, receive restitution, and earn interest for doing the job they’re already paid to do.
What the bill does: HB26-1017 would remove insurers from the definition of “victim” and instead allow them to recover losses through civil court. Restitution in criminal cases would be reserved for people directly harmed by the crime.
Read CCJRC Deputy Director Kyle Giddings’ powerful personal testimony about paying more than a decade of restitution, only to owe more today than when he started.
✔ INTRODUCED
✔ SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
✔ SENATE FLOOR VOTE
✔ HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
✔ HOUSE FLOOR VOTE
✔ SIGNED BY GOVERNOR
♥ SB26-036: Prison Population Management Measures
Sponsors: Senators Gonzales and Weissman; Representatives Zokaie and Bacon
Background: Prison population management laws serve as early warning systems, requiring states to take practical, preventive action before prisons reach unsafe capacity. Colorado adopted this approach unanimously in 2018 with HB18-1410 'Prison Population Management Measures' (PPMM), which is triggered when prison vacancy rates fall below 3%. PPMM was triggered for the first time in August 2025, but the law’s lack of clear reporting requirements and timelines prevented it from meaningfully reducing the prison population.
What the bill does: As Colorado continues to face emergency prison spending and mounting pressure to open a new prison, SB26-036 aims to strengthen the existing PPMM law to ensure timely action, accountability, and real population management before overcrowding escalates into a crisis.
✔ INTRODUCED
✔ SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
✔ SENATE FLOOR VOTE
✔ HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
✔ HOUSE FLOOR VOTE
✔ SIGNED BY GOVERNOR
OTHER BILLS WE SUPPORT
✔ SB26-115: Post-Conviction Relief for Certain Offenders
Sponsors: Senators Gonzales and Weissmann
Background: Across the country, states are adopting “Second Look” legislation to create a process for courts to review long prison sentences after people have served decades behind bars. These laws recognize that people change over time — especially those who were young at the time of their offense — and that continued incarceration should be tied to current public safety risk, not just past conduct.
What the bill does: HB26-1064 would allow people who committed an offense before age 21, or who are now 60 or older, to petition for resentencing after serving at least 20 years. To succeed, they must prove they no longer pose a danger and that there is good cause to modify the sentence. The bill does not guarantee release; it creates a structured, court-supervised process to determine whether a second look is warranted.
For more information, contact the Spero Justice Center.
✔HB26-1064: Youthful Offender System Updates
Sponsors: Representatives Jackson and Rydin, Senator Amabile
Background: Colorado’s Youthful Offender System (YOS) is a sentencing option for certain youth and young adults that allows them to serve their sentences in a separate, highly structured program within the Department of Corrections (DOC) rather than in a standard adult prison.
What the bill does: HB26-1064 would require YOS to provide trauma-informed, evidence-based treatment; individualized evaluations and case plans; and appropriate mental health, substance use, education, and life-skills supports for the youth in its care. It also expands protections for youth with mental health conditions or intellectual and developmental disabilities, improves staff training and safety, and increases reporting requirements so lawmakers and the public can better track outcomes and completion rates, all to improve rehabilitation, successful reentry, and public safety.
For more information, contact Dana Walters Flores JD, Senior Program Manager, Youth Justice Colorado for the National Center for Youth Law at dwaltersflores@youthlaw.org
✔ HB26-1134: Fairness & Transparency in Municipal Court
Sponsors: Representatives Jackson and Rydin, Senators Amabile and Michaelson-Jenet
Background: Some municipal courts operate in conflict with Colorado values of transparency, accountability, and fairness — denying indigent defense counsel to people facing jail, even when in custody, closing courtrooms to public observation, and failing to keep records of proceedings, even when imposing jail time.
What the bill does: HB26-1134 would bring municipal courts into closer alignment with the basic legal standards in state court by (1) aligning access to indigent defense counsel (automatic appointment, reasonable compensation, and attorney access to client information); (2) requiring public access to court hearings (including live streaming court hearings when defendants are in custody); and (3) prohibiting courts that fail to maintain records of proceedings from sentencing Coloradans to jail.
For more information, contact the Colorado Freedom Fund.
✔ HB26-1281: Homicide Criminal Offenses
Sponsors: Representatives Carter and Espenosa, Senators Weissmann and Hinrichsen
Background: Colorado law currently allows a person to be charged with first-degree murder under the “extreme indifference” provision if they engage in conduct showing extreme indifference to human life and cause the death of another person. This broad standard has led to debate about when the most serious homicide charge should apply and how to distinguish it from other forms of homicide.
What the bill does: HB26-1281 narrows when extreme indifference murder can be charged as first-degree murder, limiting it to cases involving particularly severe circumstances. It also creates two new crimes: Aggravated Vehicular Homicide, where reckless or impaired driving causes a death, and the driver has serious prior offenses or is fleeing law enforcement, committing another felony, or driving at extreme speeds; and Negligent Vehicular Homicide, for causing a death through criminally negligent driving.
BILLS WE OPPOSE
✘ SB26-112: Court Actions Related to Failure to Appear in Cour
Sponsors: Senator Zamora-Wilson and Representative Soper
Background: Under current Colorado law, people charged with low-level offenses punishable by six months or less must generally be released on a personal recognizance bond, meaning courts cannot require money bail except in limited circumstances.
What the bill does: SB26-112 would allow courts to impose cash bond in certain low-level cases if a defendant has failed to appear two or more times in the same case. It would roll back part of a 2019 law that limited cash bond for the lowest-level offenses, allowing people (often those struggling with poverty or housing instability) to be jailed pretrial for minor charges after missed court dates.
✘ SB26-099: Governor Temporary Classify Controlled Substance Analog
Sponsor: Senator Kirkmeyer
What the bill does: SB26-099 would authorize the Governor to temporarily classify a material, compound, mixture, or preparation as a Schedule II controlled substance analog by executive order, if it is substantially similar to a Schedule II drug.
AMENDMENTS NEEDED
◕ SB26-113: Require Recovery Residences to Obtain Behavioral Health Administration Licenses
Sponsors: Senators Amabile and Ball, Representatives Carter and McCormick
What the bill does: SB26-113 would shift Colorado recovery residences from a third-party certification model to a state licensing system, requiring licensure through the Behavioral Health Administration beginning July 1, 2027.
CCJRC’s concern: As written, the bill could unintentionally destabilize the sober living field by jeopardizing the role of people with lived experience of the criminal legal system or substance use disorder.
We are actively working with BHA and other stakeholders to address our concerns.
CRIMINAL LEGAL BILLS OF INTEREST
🔎 HB26-1315: Accurate Documents for Parole Determinations
Sponsors: Representatives Soper and Espenoza, Senators Weissman and Carson
🔎 SB26-014: Modification to Defense of Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity
Sponsors: Senators Amabile and Michaelson-Jenet, Representative Rydin
🔎 HB26-1123: Preventing Sexual Abuse in Jails
Sponsors: Representatives Stewart and Mabrey, Senators Amabile and Weissman
🔎 HB26-1020: Colorimetric Field Drug Tests in Drug Possessions
Sponsors: Representatives Gilchrist and Bacon, Senator Ball
🔎 HB26-1039: Adding Municipal Jails to County Oversight Requirements
Sponsors: Representatives Carter and Ricks, Senators Jodeh and Weissman
🔎 HB26-1063: Treating People with Behavioral Health Disorders
Sponsors: Representatives Bradfield and Rydin, Senators Amabile and Michaelson-Jenet
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