Seth Klarman
The Denver Post
DENVER — For the first time in state history, Colorado’s prison system will soon be required to adhere to minimum standards and conduct regular inspections of its facilities under a new monitoring program signed into law Monday.
A group of advocacy groups, law enforcement officials, lawyers and experts have been working on the standards since 2022, when the state Legislature approved a framework to oversee the state’s more than 50 prisons and the thousands of inmates held there. The standards set standards for a variety of prison conditions, including prenatal care for pregnant women, use of force against inmates and basic rights for inmates inside the prisons.
The standard was approved late last year, and legislation enacting it and establishing an oversight process was passed by the General Assembly in May and signed by Gov. Jared Polis on Monday. The legislation was sponsored by Democratic Reps. Judy Amabile and Lorena Garcia, and Sens. James Coleman and Rhonda Fields.
While state legislatures have sought to regulate prison and jail operations, states have historically lacked uniform standards or mechanisms for overseeing prison conditions, and advocates say prison problems typically only come to light through lawsuits.
“The framework we have created will serve as the foundation for future efforts to continue improving prisons for both the people who are in prison and the staff who work there,” Meghan Baker, an attorney with Colorado Disability Law, which led the process to draft the standards, said in a statement Tuesday.
The standards are monitored by an advisory committee made up of law enforcement officials, two county commissioners, a public defender, health care providers with experience in prisons, and advocates. Prisons are evaluated for compliance with the standards at least every five years, but the Colorado Attorney General can conduct special evaluations of individual facilities based on complaints.
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