CO SB 159

enacted

Inmate Earned Time Formula for Sentence to Department of Corrections

Colorado · 2026 Regular Session · upper

Description

An inmate who is serving a sentence to the department of corrections (DOC) for certain lower level criminal offenses, has not incurred a penal discipline violation within a specified time period, and is program compliant is currently eligible to earn 12 days of earned time per month. The act increases eligibility to 14 days per month. An inmate who is serving a sentence for, or who has been previously convicted of, certain higher level criminal offenses, including a felony offense listed in the 'Victim Rights Act', is currently eligible to earn 10 days of earned time per month. The act increases eligibility to 12 days per month. An inmate who completes a milestone or phase of a behavioral health program in an area related to recovery from a condition that contributed to the inmate's underlying offense may be awarded up to 150 days of earned time. The DOC is directed to enact policy changes to incentivize inmates to pursue activities that award earned time. The act creates a working group to make recommendations for a capacity management plan (plan) for the DOC with input from impacted groups. The plan must be informed by strategies to assess prison programming and clinical care, inmate release processes, services for successful release outcomes, prison population management, and prison capacity changes. Members of the house of representatives judiciary committee, the senate judiciary committee, and the joint budget committee may submit in writing to the chair of the working group a request to prioritize specific issues or provide other relevant information. The working group shall submit an interim and a final report to the general assembly, the DOC's certified employee organization, and the governor's office.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Introduced: 2026-04-09
Status date: —
Latest action: 2026-05-19 — Governor Signed
Bill type: bill
Last updated: —

Subjects

Crimes, Corrections, & Enforcement

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

2026-05-19
Governor Signed
executive-signature
2026-05-05
Sent to the Governor
executive-receipt
2026-05-05
Signed by the Speaker of the House
passage
2026-05-04
Signed by the President of the Senate
passage
2026-04-30
House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments
passage,reading-3
2026-04-29
House Second Reading Special Order - Passed - No Amendments
2026-04-28
House Committee on Judiciary Refer Unamended to House Committee of the Whole
committee-passage,referral-committee
2026-04-20
Introduced In House - Assigned to Judiciary
introduction
2026-04-20
Senate Third Reading Passed - No Amendments
passage,reading-3
2026-04-17
Senate Second Reading Passed with Amendments - Committee, Floor
reading-2
2026-04-16
Senate Second Reading Laid Over to 04/17/2026 - No Amendments
2026-04-13
Senate Committee on Judiciary Refer Amended to Senate Committee of the Whole
committee-passage,referral-committee
2026-04-09
Introduced In Senate - Assigned to Judiciary
introduction

Versions

Introduced — 2026-04-09Compare
Engrossed — 2026-04-17Compare
Reengrossed — 2026-04-20Compare
Revised — 2026-04-29Compare
Rerevised — 2026-04-30Compare
Final Act — 2026-05-04Compare
Signed Act — 2026-05-19Compare
(document, no version)Compare

Documents

Votes

Refer Senate Bill 26-159, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole.
2026-04-13 · pass · 0-0
Member-level votes (7)
- John Carson: no
- Lindsey Daugherty: yes
- Nick Hinrichsen: yes
- Katie Wallace: yes
- Lynda Zamora Wilson: no
- Dylan Roberts: no
- Mike Weissman: yes
Adopt amendment L.002 (Attachment F)
2026-04-13 · pass · 0-0
Refer Senate Bill 26-159 to the Committee of the Whole.
2026-04-28 · pass · 0-0
Member-level votes (11)
- Cecelia Espenoza: yes
- Ava Flanell: no
- Matt Soper: no
- Jennifer Bacon: yes
- Chad Clifford: yes
- Lorena Garcia: yes
- Rebecca Keltie: no
- Scott Slaugh: no
- Yara Zokaie: yes
- Michael Carter: yes
- Javier Mabrey: yes
BILL
2026-04-30 · pass · 0-0
Member-level votes (65)
- Bacon: yes
- Barron: no
- Boesenecker: yes
- Bottoms: excused
- Bradfield: no
- Bradley: no
- Brooks: no
- Brown: yes
- Caldwell: no
- Camacho: yes
- Carter: yes
- Clifford: yes
- DeGraaf: no
- Duran: yes
- English: yes
- Espenoza: yes
- Feret: yes
- Flanell: no
- Froelich: yes
- Garcia: yes
- Garcia Sander: no
- Gilchrist: yes
- Goldstein: yes
- Gonzalez R.: no
- Hamrick: no
- Hartsook: no
- Jackson: yes
- Johnson: no
- Joseph: yes
- Keltie: no
- Lieder: no
- Lindsay: yes
- Luck: no
- Lukens: yes
- Mabrey: yes
- Marshall: no
- Martinez: yes
- Mauro: yes
- McCormick: yes
- Nguyen: yes
- Paschal: yes
- Phillips: yes
- Richardson: no
- Ricks: yes
- Rutinel: yes
- Rydin: yes
- Sirota: yes
- Slaugh: excused
- Smith: yes
- Soper: no
- Stewart K.: yes
- Stewart R.: yes
- Story: yes
- Suckla: no
- Taggart: no
- Titone: yes
- Valdez: yes
- Velasco: yes
- Weinberg: no
- Willford: yes
- Winter T.: no
- Woodrow: yes
- Woog: no
- Zokaie: yes
- McCluskie: yes

Related bills

No related bills recorded for this bill.

Official source

https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/SB26-159

Attribution

Data from openstates_bulk_csv, retrieved 2026-07-24T03:52:26.466301Z

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