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Senate rejects bill that would let municipal judges require bonds after repeated failures to appear
Summary
After lengthy debate and several amendments narrowing its scope, the Colorado Senate on March 23 rejected Senate Bill 112, which would have given municipal judges new discretion to require monetary bonds for repeated failures to appear in the same case. Supporters said the measure restored accountability; opponents warned it could criminalize homelessness and increase jail use.
Senate Bill 112, a measure aimed at giving municipal judges a tool to address repeated failures to appear in court, failed on the Senate floor on March 23 after extensive floor debate and a succession of amendments.
Sponsor Senator Zamora Wilson (Senator) told colleagues the bill was a "narrow common sense accountability bill" intended for repeat, willful nonappearance in the same case and not a broad expansion of pretrial detention. She described committee changes that incorporated language from earlier House legislation and said the committee raised the penalty threshold in committee from two to three failures-to-appear (FTA) before a judge could require a monetary bond. "This bill gives courts a measured response to that problem," she said.
Supporters, including Senator Carson (Senator) and Senator Frizzell (Senator), argued municipal courts and judges across the state are strained by repeat FTAs, producing administrative burdens and costing taxpayers. Senator Carson said the bill "gives municipal judges the authority" to respond in extreme cases and stressed that the sponsor had added safeguards.
Floor amendments substantially narrowed the bill. Amendment L025, offered to address safety concerns in domestic‑violence cases, allowed judges discretionary authority to require a bond after a single FTA in those cases; the amendment was adopted. Amendment L006 raised the threshold for imposing a monetary bond to five FTAs in the same case (from three) and was adopted as a further narrowing. Additional amendments (L028, L033, L030, L031, L032) added legislative findings, clarified the focus on repeated conduct, and underscored administrative‑burden and due‑process safeguards.
Opponents said the bill still risked detaining people who lack funds or who are experiencing homelessness, addiction, or mental‑health crises. "Our trajectory of criminalizing homelessness isn't working," said Senator Mobley (Senator), urging a no vote and arguing detention and monetary bond requirements would compound problems for people without resources. Senator Weissman (Senator) said stakeholder organizations — including mental‑health advocates and some municipal judges — had registered opposition and warned the proposal could increase county jail populations and pressure vulnerable people into pleas.
After debate and a division count on the floor, the Senate recorded that Senate Bill 112 failed on second reading. The Senate also considered a procedural amendment and later actions related to the committee report; the floor record shows narrow margins in multiple counts during the vote sequence and the ultimate loss of the bill.
What happens next: With SB112 lost on the floor, the measure will not proceed to final passage this session unless sponsors reintroduce it or bring a substantially different proposal in a later session.
Provenance: The article draws on floor remarks and recorded votes during the March 23, 2026, Senate floor session.
