Governor Polis Urged to Create Formal Work Group Over Crisis at DOC

Colorado WINS and Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition urge the creation of a formal work group to address operational and safety crisis at DOC

DENVER, CO — Today, the union representing Department of Corrections (DOC) staff joined one of Colorado’s leading criminal justice reform organizations to support a call by Joint Budget Committee (JBC) Vice Chair Senator Jeff Bridges, urging Governor Polis to take concrete steps to address serious operational and safety concerns driven by increased pressure on DOC bed capacity.

The call follows the JBC’s January 20 decision to reverse an earlier vote, and approve the DOC’s FY 2025–26 supplemental budget request in full, including funding to open 788 new state prison beds. The committee had previously denied new bed funding and withheld 50% of requested jail backlog and medical cost funding, citing a lack of a plan by DOC to address the staffing shortages, parole bottlenecks, and population management failures.

Last week, JBC Vice-Chair Senator Bridges wrote to Governor Polis urging that DOC leadership collaborate with Colorado WINS to address the serious operational and safety challenges associated with the rising prison population pressures.

In his letter, Bridges warned that DOC’s request to fund hundreds of additional prison beds comes “at exactly the moment Colorado faces a severe budget crisis and DOC faces chronic staffing shortages,” and emphasized that “emergency appropriations cannot become a substitute for operational accountability.”

“Our members are adamant: they are at a breaking point and DOC’s staffing crisis has serious consequences for their safety, for the incarcerated population, and for public safety,” said Hilary Glasgow, Executive Director of Colorado WINS.

“By acting now to establish a formal Working Group that brings key stakeholders together means we can finally address the long term operational and staffing crisis plaguing DOC,” she added.

“For multiple years, DOC has requested and received funding to add more than a thousand additional prison beds while opposing modest legislative efforts to slow growth in the prison population,” said Christie Donner, Executive Director of CCJRC. 

“The challenges plaguing DOC extend beyond the department itself, particularly with respect to workforce recruitment and reentry, and a diverse group of experts is far more likely to develop a comprehensive plan than leaving these decisions to DOC alone.” 

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Colorado WINS bargains on behalf of the more than 27,000 state employees who make Colorado run, including more than 5,000 Correctional Officers, Case Managers, Parole Officers, nurses, teachers, maintenance workers and other staff at the Department of Corrections.

Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition is one of more than 100 organizations statewide participating in the No More Prisons coalition, which continues to urge lawmakers to reject prison expansion and pursue responsible population management that improves safety, accountability, and fiscal stability.