DENEVR — Colorado voters will officially decide this November if they want to reinstate the option for defendants accused of first-degree murder to be held without bond.
House Bill 24-1225 — titled First Degree Murder Bail & Jury Selection Statute — as well as House Concurrent Resolution 24-1002 cleared their final hurdle in the Colorado Senate on Thursday morning, meaning voters will make the ultimate decision at the ballot in November.
Politics
Bill introduced in Colorado House would reinstate no bail for murder suspects
HB24-1225 was introduced on Feb. 8 alongside HCR24-1002 and passed in the Colorado House of Representatives by a vote of 59-5 on March 4. It then proceeded to the Colorado Senate, along with HCR24-1002. They both passed unanimously on Thursday morning.
Currently, any Colorado defendant charged with first-degree murder has the right to bail.
HB24-1225 and HCR24-1002 were introduced in the wake of the People v. Smith decision from June 2023, in which the Colorado Supreme Court unanimously ruled that because the state had abolished the death penalty, any person charged with first-degree murder after July 1, 2020 must have the right to bail.
After this ruling, bail hearings began popping up on court dockets for defendants who were previously being held without bond — something multiple lawmakers called an "unintended consequence" of throwing away the death penalty. In the past year, this has resulted in sky-high bonds, such as:
- A 19-year-old charged with five counts of murder in connection with a 2020 house fire that killed a Senegalese family in Green Valley Ranch had bond set at $10 million cash-only (he has since pleaded guilty and was sentenced)
- An Aurora dentist accused of poisoning and killing his wife in March had bond set at $10 million cash-only
- An Arapahoe County man accused of shooting and killing a mother outside a home one day before their divorce was to be finalized had bond set at $100 million cash-only
HB24-1225 was written in hopes of amending the Colorado Constitution to read that a person charged with first-degree murder can be held without bond when proof is evident or presumption is great, meaning the judge must find significant evidence against the accused. HCR24-1002 would refer a constitutional amendment to Colorado voters, allowing them to decide if first-degree murder in this capacity should be restored as a non-bailable offense.
The bill's prime sponsors are Rep. Monica Duran (D-Jefferson County), House Minority Leader Rep. Mike Lynch (R-Larimer and Weld counties), Sen. Rhonda Fields (D-Aurora) and Sen. Bob Gardner (R-El Paso and Teller counties).
Politics
Bill introduced in Colorado House would reinstate no bail for murder suspects
The Colorado District Attorneys’ Council said this bill will be enacted only if it receives 55% or more of the vote this fall.
