The governor needs to hear from you. Contact him today and urge him to sign a bill (HB 1309) to ensure legal counsel for impoverished municipal defendants.
In state and county courts, an attorney is available at first appearance to advocate for the release of jailed defendants and to advise those defendants on pleas when jail is a possible sentence. In almost all Colorado municipal courts, defendants must face the judge alone at first appearance, must make arguments for release alone, and must decide how to plead alone. This is especially troublesome for defendants who are stuck in jail and can't pay their way out. Those inmates face a terrible choice: either plead guilty without counsel and be released that day, or ask for counsel and go back to jail to wait usually more than a week for the next court appearance.
This choice is particularly cruel because, unlike state and county inmates, the bulk of municipal defendants are jailed for minor misbehaviors that pose no threat to public safety, such as park hours violations, sleeping in a car, dog off leash, or petty shoplifting. It is no wonder that almost all municipal inmates simply plead guilty to get out of jail, even if they are innocent.
As a result of their uncounseled pleas, municipal defendants often go on to experience dire collateral consequences — including obstacles to employment, housing, and government benefits — that were never explained to them at court, due to the lack of counsel.
HB 1309 will ensure counsel at first appearance to the most vulnerable municipal defendants, will mandate all defendants in Colorado have the same access to counsel, and will bring Colorado's municipal court in-line with constitutional standards.
