DENVER — Children will have access to public defenders for municipal violations in Denver starting on July 1.
Municipal cases include tickets for shoplifting, trespassing, public fighting, or tickets from allegations at school that don't rise to the state level of offense, according to the Denver Office of the Municipal Public Defender (OMPD).
"This new program is the first in the state to even be attempted," says Nicole Duncan, Senior Attorney at OMPD. "Typically, what happens is youth do not get representation unless their families pay for private counsel whenever they are facing municipal charges."
Duncan says youth is only entitled to youth council at the state level, so youth typically don't have access to public defenders at the municipal court level.
"I strongly believe, that municipal court is, in fact, step one to the school-to-prison pipeline, and because of that, this office fought to have a bill passed that would allow for us to represent children in municipal court."
Denver City Council unanimously approved the bill amending city code in December 2023 to allow for the change.
"City Council members Kashmann and Gonzales-Gutierrez were the sponsors of this amendment, and they were really supportive of this," says Denver Chief Municipal Public Defender, Colette Tvedt.
Duncan says it was alarming to previously see children either accept plea deals on cases, or try to represent themselves in court with no legal training.
"Many times, youth would enter plea deals on the spot at their first court date without having access to counsel— without being able to look at the evidence against them," says Duncan. "Without really advocating for their rights that they have."
While the program officially starts on July 1, Duncan says the first official docket will be July 11.
Counsel will generally be automatically appointed for kids.
