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Tag: Prison Overcrowding

Colorado Lawmakers Clash Over Prison Spending As State Budget Tightens
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Lawmakers Clash Over Prison Spending As State Budget Tightens

By Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette The Polis administration is asking for hundreds of millions of dollars to expand the state’s prison system, just as Colorado’s legislators are bracing for a worsening fiscal outlook. The request sets up a clash over priorities at a time when the state faces a nearly $1.5 billion shortfall. The administration is seeking to add prison beds amid overcrowding, though advocates on both sides of the spectrum disagree over its cause. Some advocates have argued that the crisis is partly the result of a backlog of inmates awaiting parole placement. Others maintained that the “crisis” resulted from Democrats’ policies that ultimately seek to release offenders back into communities. On Wednesday, the governor asked budget writers f...
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Colorado prison beds could run out by 2026 and lawmakers face hard choices
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado prison beds could run out by 2026 and lawmakers face hard choices

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Spidey sense is tingling on the jail population … I had a reader mention something I thought worth sharing. Colorado has a problem. Our jail’s are nearing capacity. On top of that, we’re struggling to find people willing to guard them.A Corrections1 link is first below. It’s a copy (without the paywall) of a Denver Post article detailing how a Colorado budget analyst for the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee said we’re going to run out of beds for men in prison as early as 2026. Quoting with link intact: “Colorado’s prisons will run out of beds for men in the next fiscal year unless significant changes are made to either reduce the prison population or increase capacity, a state analyst projects in a n...
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Colorado’s prisons are on the verge of total collapse. 
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s prisons are on the verge of total collapse. 

By Ahnaf Kalam | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado's prisons are on the verge of total collapse. As of late 2025, state facilities are operating at nearly 98% capacity, while being severely understaffed. Men's prisons alone are projected to run out of beds entirely in the next fiscal year unless drastic measures are taken to reduce the population or add capacity. Inmates are backing up into county jails which were never designed or funded for long-term state housing, while prison staff face mandatory overtime, burnout, and reduced security and rehabilitation programs. And yet, amid this crisis, the Colorado Department of Corrections has found it in its budget to staff a full-time, taxpayer-funded practitioner of "gender-affirming care" for prison inmates. ...
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Joint Budget Committee approves $2.8M in supplemental funding to address prison overcrowding
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Joint Budget Committee approves $2.8M in supplemental funding to address prison overcrowding

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics The General Assembly’s Joint Budget Committee has approved nearly $3 million in supplemental funding for the Colorado Department of Corrections to cover the cost of additional prison beds amid an ongoing crisis of prison overcrowding. Last month, DOC facilities reached a vacancy level of 3% for 30 consecutive days, prompting the governor to implement the Prison Population Management Measures established by a 2018 law. The measures include requiring the state’s parole board to compile a list of inmates with low-level offenses who are eligible for parole and can be released from DOC facilities to bring population numbers back down to more manageable levels. The issue of overcrowding in state prisons has been a growing concern f...
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State Triggers Emergency Prison Measures Due to Overcrowding
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The Gazette, Approved, State

State Triggers Emergency Prison Measures Due to Overcrowding

By Marissa Ventrelli | The Gazette Ongoing issues within the Colorado Department of Corrections have prompted the state to trigger its Prison Population Management Measures — a policy framework established in 2018 to address overcrowding. It marks the first time the measures have been put into effect. Under the law, the governor must implement the management measures if the state’s prison vacancy rate stays below 3% for 30 consecutive days, a threshold that was met on Aug. 16. The issue of overcrowding in the state correctional facilities has been a growing concern for months, with county sheriffs sounding the alarm in May over the shortage of prison beds, leading to increased strain on local jails. Facing a budget shortfall of over $1 billion, state lawmake...
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