As the dust settles from the 2024 election, it’s now clear that a majority of Colorado voters are interested in more funding for police, more time served for prisoners and a new system to keep judges accountable.
Amendment H passed with more than 2 million Coloradans voting in favor, a nearly 50% margin. The measure amends the Colorado Constitution to fully implement a new judicial discipline system that was proposed in the 2023 legislative session.
The next step, following the amendment’s passage, will be the full creation of the adjudicative board. Gov. Jared Polis is tasked with appointing four Colorado attorneys and four citizens who aren’t judges or attorneys. Once appointed by the governor, it will be up to the Colorado Senate to confirm them. The Colorado Supreme Court will then have to select four district judges to serve on the board.
There will also be a 12-member rule-making committee set up, with four members appointed by the state Supreme Court, four by the adjudicative board, four by the Commission on Judicial Discipline and one victim’s advocate appointed by the governor.
The adjudicative board, once it’s set up, will be the venue for formal judicial disciplinary hearings and for appeals on informal remedial action. Its decisions will be appealable to the Colorado Supreme Court or a tribunal of seven Colorado Court of Appeals and district court judges.
Individual disciplinary proceedings will remain confidential, but the commission will be allowed to release aggregate information on trends or patterns to the complaints made against judges.
Longer Sentences Served, More Money for Police
With the passage of Proposition 128, those convicted of a number of crimes deemed as violent will be required to serve a longer portion of their sentence before being eligible for parole. The measure passed with more than 62% of the vote.
Offenders who committed a crime between July 1, 1985, and Jan. 1, 2025, will now be required to serve at least 75% of their sentence if they were convicted of second-degree murder, first-degree assault, first-degree kidnapping, first- or second-degree sexual assault, first-degree arson, first-degree burglary or aggravated robbery.
Starting next year, those convicted for second-degree murder, first-degree assault, class 2 felony kidnapping, sexual assault under Section 18-3-404 of the Colorado Revised Statutes, first-degree arson, first-degree burglary or aggravated robbery will be required to serve at least 85% of their sentence before being eligible for parole.
In another criminal law tweak, Colorado voters, by a margin of 68% to 32%, have removed the right to bail exception for first-degree murder cases when proof is evident or presumption is great.
Proposition 128 was one of two measures propagated by Advance Colorado, and the second, Proposition 130, passed as well. When the legislature convenes in January, it will be required to appropriate $350 million to a new police officer training and support fund.
That would be a significant increase from the past two years. The state has sent $30 million to local law enforcement agencies, but the state’s total appropriation to the Colorado Department of Public Safety in its most recent budget totals over $700 million. CDPS’s mandate is broader than solely law enforcement, but includes both the Colorado State Patrol and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
With Colorado facing a state budget gap that’s expected to total around or more than $1 billion, legislators will be required to cut or reduce existing programs for the new fund.
The money from the new fund will go to increasing annual pay for officers; bonuses for hiring, retention or merit; hiring additional officers in specific areas or for specific crimes; officer education; and a death benefit for officers killed in the line of duty.
Some New Revenue for the State
Colorado voters, by a roughly 250,000 vote margin, have now instituted a tax on gun dealers, gun manufacturers and ammunition venders. The tax rate of 6.5% will apply to net taxable sales of any gun, gun precursor part or ammunition.
The money raised from this tax is already earmarked through the ballot measure, with the $39 million expected to be generated from the new tax going to crime victim support services grants, veteran mental health services, youth behavioral health services and school safety.
Coloradans are also allowing the state to keep the tax revenue above the voter-approved limits it earns from sports betting to fund water conservation and protection projects across the state, rather than refunding the money. That measure, Proposition JJ, passed with more than 75% of the vote.