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Arvada revises municipal criminal code after Colorado Supreme Court ruling; updates sentencing classes and mirroring of state law
Summary
The council adopted a rewrite of Chapter 62 to align Arvada’s municipal offenses and sentencing with recent Colorado Supreme Court guidance; the change standardizes offense classes, removes rarely used charges and adds several state‑level misdemeanors for local concurrent jurisdiction.
The council adopted a comprehensive rewrite of Chapter 62 (Offenses) to modernize Arvada’s municipal criminal code and align sentencing and structure with state law following recent Colorado Supreme Court rulings. The revisions respond to the court’s decision limiting municipal sentencing when a corresponding state statute exists and introduce a triplicate‑style organization mirroring Title 18 (state criminal code).
Judge Katie Kurtz and City Attorney Janelle Miller explained the changes: the city removed obsolete charges, retained the majority of current offenses, reclassified offenses into classes (e.g., class 1 misdemeanor, class 2 misdemeanor, petty offense) with corresponding maximum penalties consistent with state limits, and added five charges (including third‑degree burglary and refusal to permit inspections) where concurrent municipal jurisdiction is appropriate. The rewrite also incorporates additional procedural and defendant‑rights material that previously did not appear in the municipal code.
The ordinance passed on final reading 5–0. Staff and the municipal court said the changes were necessary to prevent sentencing discrepancies that the Supreme Court found incompatible with state law.
