Gov. Jared Polis on Monday signed a bill into law that seeks to ensure municipal court defendants have access to attorneys, along with providing other transparency measures that advocates argue are necessary to ensure civil liberties are protected.
, dubbed the Fairness and Transparency in Municipal Court Act, also bans city courts that don’t document their proceedings from sending people to jail.
The legislation, sponsored by four Democrats, marks a second stab at codifying protections for municipal defendants after Polis vetoed a similar bill last year.
The governor, though, took issue with the part of the bill that sought to address sentencing disparities between municipal and state courts. A Colorado Supreme Court ruling settled that issue in December, leading bill sponsors this year to focus on the transparency elements from last year’s legislation.
The bill comes after The Denver Post found multiple cities were not providing attorneys to poor people facing jail time — a right guaranteed under the Constitution.
Lawmakers made it a point to address a particular municipal court in Montrose, which had been sentencing people to jail without keeping written, audio or visual recordings of the proceedings.
Industry watchers previously said they could find no other example like it in the state. HB-1134 outlaws this practice, and Montrose city representatives say they have already taken measures to ensure the city is a court of record.
Municipal courts around the state have been adjusting to a new normal following the state Supreme Court’s ruling, which found individuals cannot be sentenced to a longer jail sentence in municipal court than they could for the equivalent charge in state court.
After the state legislature passed major sentencing reforms in 2021, municipal courts had become the state’s most punitive forums for minor crimes, The Post previously reported.
