Panel backs bill to extend Colorado jail standards and reporting to municipal jails

Senators Judah and Weisman told the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday that House Bill 10-39 would extend the state's jail-standards and data-reporting requirements to municipal jails that operate like the Aurora Detention Facility. "We want to make sure that all incarcerated people in Colorado receive equal treatment regardless of where they are," one sponsor said.

The sponsors said the bill closes an oversight that left municipal jails, in practice, exempt from standards that apply to county facilities. Testimony from reproductive-justice and transparency advocates emphasized protections for pregnant people — including minimizing restraints and ensuring safe access to medical care — and described the Aurora facility as a large municipal jail with approximately 60 people in custody daily and a bed capacity near 220.

The Colorado Municipal League testified in a neutral position but praised negotiated amendments that removed an initially proposed 72-hour maximum-holding period (which risked conflicting with municipal sentencing authority) and that clarified the definition of a municipal jail to exclude temporary holding at police stations or courthouses. CML also welcomed insertion of a nonvoting municipal representative on the jail-standards advisory committee.

After a brief amendment phase with no committee amendments offered, Senator Weisman moved HB 10-39 to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation; the motion passed on a roll call, 5-2.