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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Denver Health & Safety Committee – May 13, 2026 – Municipal Sentencing Ordinance Vote

Council Committees — Wednesday, May 13, 2026

BodyDenver, Colorado

SessionCouncil Committees

DateWednesday, May 13, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 1:31:37

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:00

Welcome back to this week.

0:02

Welcome back to this weekly meeting of the Health and Safety Committee with Denver City Council.

0:11

Coverage of the Health and Safety Committee starts now.

0:22

Good morning and welcome to the Health and Safety Committee meeting for May 13th.

0:26

My name is Daryl Watson.

0:27

I'm honored to serve as the chair of this committee as well as the city council member representing all of the fine district nine.

0:33

We have one action item today, and uh let me see two items on consent.

0:39

Uh, before we jump into our action item, why don't we go around a room for introductions and I'll start first on my right.

0:45

Uh thank you.

0:46

Kevin Flynn, Southwest Members District 2.

0:49

So you're district five.

0:50

Sorry, parody.

0:51

One of your council members at large.

0:52

Sedana Gonzalez Cookedis, your other council member at large.

0:56

Uh Jamie Torres, West Denver District 3.

0:59

This side of the table.

1:00

Holding it down.

1:02

Holding it down.

1:03

All I hear lonesome.

1:05

Absolutely necessary.

1:06

It's absolutely necessary.

1:07

And I believe we have online, Council President Pro Tem.

1:11

Hi.

1:12

Good morning.

1:12

Diana Romero Campbell, Southeast Denver District 4.

1:16

Thank you all for attending.

1:19

Um I wanted to say up front, we there will be a siren alarm at 11.

1:24

Please don't run out of your room.

1:26

Um, it is just a test.

1:29

Um we don't believe you'll hear it in the room, but for those who are watching, you will hear it in your communities.

1:34

It is a test.

1:35

The notifications have gone out to everyone, but we just want to make sure folks are not concerned.

1:39

It's a good thing for emergency management.

1:42

Um, with that, I'll turn it over to the sponsors for the municipal sentencing ordinance for their review of that ordinance.

1:51

Just waiting for our slides.

1:53

So thank you all.

1:54

We are here to um give an update on changes from last time we came through committee.

1:59

This is our sixth time in committee on this bill.

2:01

Um, the last time was in April, uh, and we we particularly want to focus today on the feedback about the um huge number of sort of agency violations that exist throughout our code.

2:13

Um we have come up with a new way of handling those that um we are hopeful will resolve those concerns.

2:18

Um, there have been a few other changes, and we're gonna focus today on changes, not so much on the bill itself because we all heard about it many times.

2:26

And Councilmember Lewis is sick today, just so you all know.

2:29

I apologize.

2:30

I Councilmember Lewis, our third co-sponsor is really sick, yeah.

2:38

You ready?

2:39

Yeah, sorry.

2:40

Um we re-revised our we redivided our slides um right before committee since she is homesick.

2:47

So this is just the recap of um what we've done already.

2:49

I know you're all familiar with this, but we are um revising the DRMC so that we are matching all of our municipal sentences post-the-camp decision to the maximum possible sentences for comparable state offenses to preserve maximum sentencing authority post-camp.

3:04

We are revising the language of some offenses so that the actual elements can align the conduct that they prohibit with a more stringent state law, and then allow us to um access that higher sentencing level after camp, which without the revisions will not be possible.

3:19

Um, also rewriting offense descriptions to more clearly align with state law, where um maybe it's not changing the punishment available, but it's just uh making it more clear what state law it aligns with, and then eliminating mandatory fines on prostitution, um, and setting uh oops, my bad.

3:42

I should not be driving.

3:43

I keep doing this.

3:44

All right.

3:45

Um so here the next slide uh depicts the major changes that the bill has had since the last committee that we wanted to give a quick overview on before digging into the details in the next few slides.

3:56

So, first, we made a major change to the class four offenses in the bill that reflect a key compromise with pace and the mayor's office and agencies.

4:06

In the in committee and in our stakeholder conversations, we heard agencies concerned about the bill provision to categorize municipal only offenses as class four.

4:15

The mayor's office and pace had similar concerns about this quote unquote catch-all provision in the previous bill drafts because it made municipal only offenses class four, meaning 10 days maximum jail time and a $300 fine.

4:29

Recognizing that the regulatory functions of our city government are unique and deserve a close review.

4:35

We made a major change to the bill to leave the vast majority of the Denver Revised Municipal Code at the status quo general penalty, 300 days, $999 fine, and instead to create a commission that will go into more detail in a little bit here that will study the offense these offenses and propose appropriate penalties.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Legislative Affairs█████████████████████████████████████████████51%

Public Safety██████████████████████████████████39%

Procedural████4%

Personnel Matters██2%

Cannabis Regulation██2%

Public Health Policy██2%

Summary of Proceedings

Denver Health & Safety Committee Meeting – May 13, 2026

The Health and Safety Committee of the Denver City Council met on May 13, 2026, to consider the municipal sentencing ordinance (the “bill”) for the sixth time. The bill aims to align Denver’s municipal sentencing with state law following the Camp decision, reduce jail time for low-level municipal-only offenses, and create a commission to review regulatory penalties. After extensive debate about the bill’s scope, late-arriving concerns from the City Attorney’s Office, and the creation of a study commission, the committee voted 7-0 to move the bill to the full council.

Public Comments & Testimony

No members of the public testified, but the City Attorney’s Office (PACE) and the Mayor’s Office provided statements. Tim Hoffman (Mayor’s Office) acknowledged that a comprehensive list of administration concerns was not shared with sponsors until the night before, but stated that discussions are ongoing and the administration does not yet have an official position.
Marley Bordowski (City Attorney’s Office) apologized for the timing of the written concerns and thanked sponsors for incorporating many prior suggestions. She explained that the list of outstanding issues—including window peeping, threats to pets, and protection order violations—arose from element-by-element comparisons required by the Camp decision, and that her office is shorthanded.

Discussion Items

Bill Overview and Changes: Sponsors Councilmember Parady and Councilmember Gonzalez Gutierrez (Councilmember Lewis absent) outlined major revisions since the last committee meeting:
- Removed the “catch-all” provision that would have set all municipal-only offenses at 10 days jail/$300 fine. Instead, most regulatory offenses retain the status quo penalty (300 days/$999 fine) pending a new commission.
- Added a municipal-only offense for threats to pets in domestic violence contexts, after PACE raised concerns.
- Proposed a 20-member commission (to include representatives from DPD, PACE, victim rights organizations, public defender, etc.) to study appropriate penalties for regulatory offenses and recommend repeal of antiquated crimes. The commission would report within six months of bill passage.
Agency Concerns: Alex Vidal (DDPHE) requested that noise ordinance violations (used against large construction/entertainment companies) and offenses like interfering with public health officials and animal quarantining be removed from the reduced-penalty list. Molly (Excise & Licensing) confirmed that administrative citations are unaffected and supported the commission process.
Councilmember Positions:
- Councilmember Flynn expressed appreciation for the many changes but stated he could not vote the bill out of committee without details on the commission’s membership and appointment process.
- Councilmember Cashman criticized the administration for withholding written concerns until the night before, calling it “beyond unacceptable.”
- Council President Sandoval acknowledged staff shortages but said the late-night document sent to council members but not sponsors was inappropriate.
- Councilmember Sawyer raised concerns about mixed messages from PACE’s letter (e.g., whether assault, weapons, and killing police animals would drop to 10 days). Sponsors clarified those all have state law analogs and are not affected.
- Councilmember Torres expressed frustration with the administration’s tactic of delaying information, but supported moving the bill to the floor, noting that pressure from a floor vote often forces cooperation.

Key Outcomes

Vote: The committee voted 7-0 to move the municipal sentencing ordinance to the full City Council. (Roll call: Flynn – aye, Gonzalez Gutierrez – aye, Sandoval – aye, Sawyer – aye, Torres – aye, Watson – aye, Romero Campbell – aye.)
Next Steps: The bill will go to the full council on May 19, 2026 (with an extra week due to the holiday). Sponsors committed to finalizing commission details (membership, appointment process) before the floor vote.
Context: Sponsors noted that 75% of those prosecuted in Denver municipal courts live at or below the federal poverty line, with 12,000 prosecutions per year, and that delaying passage continues a “revolving door” costing $250 per night per inmate. The Camp decision requires alignment with state sentences, and the bill’s central change is to cap municipal-only offenses at 10 days jail, preventing loss of Medicaid for low-level offenders.

Meeting Transcript

Welcome back to this week. Welcome back to this weekly meeting of the Health and Safety Committee with Denver City Council. Coverage of the Health and Safety Committee starts now. Good morning and welcome to the Health and Safety Committee meeting for May 13th. My name is Daryl Watson. I'm honored to serve as the chair of this committee as well as the city council member representing all of the fine district nine. We have one action item today, and uh let me see two items on consent. Uh, before we jump into our action item, why don't we go around a room for introductions and I'll start first on my right. Uh thank you. Kevin Flynn, Southwest Members District 2. So you're district five. Sorry, parody. One of your council members at large. Sedana Gonzalez Cookedis, your other council member at large. Uh Jamie Torres, West Denver District 3. This side of the table. Holding it down. Holding it down. All I hear lonesome. Absolutely necessary. It's absolutely necessary. And I believe we have online, Council President Pro Tem. Hi. Good morning. Diana Romero Campbell, Southeast Denver District 4. Thank you all for attending. Um I wanted to say up front, we there will be a siren alarm at 11. Please don't run out of your room. Um, it is just a test. Um we don't believe you'll hear it in the room, but for those who are watching, you will hear it in your communities. It is a test. The notifications have gone out to everyone, but we just want to make sure folks are not concerned. It's a good thing for emergency management. Um, with that, I'll turn it over to the sponsors for the municipal sentencing ordinance for their review of that ordinance. Just waiting for our slides. So thank you all. We are here to um give an update on changes from last time we came through committee. This is our sixth time in committee on this bill. Um, the last time was in April, uh, and we we particularly want to focus today on the feedback about the um huge number of sort of agency violations that exist throughout our code. Um we have come up with a new way of handling those that um we are hopeful will resolve those concerns. Um, there have been a few other changes, and we're gonna focus today on changes, not so much on the bill itself because we all heard about it many times. And Councilmember Lewis is sick today, just so you all know. I apologize. I Councilmember Lewis, our third co-sponsor is really sick, yeah. You ready? Yeah, sorry. Um we re-revised our we redivided our slides um right before committee since she is homesick. So this is just the recap of um what we've done already. I know you're all familiar with this, but we are um revising the DRMC so that we are matching all of our municipal sentences post-the-camp decision to the maximum possible sentences for comparable state offenses to preserve maximum sentencing authority post-camp. We are revising the language of some offenses so that the actual elements can align the conduct that they prohibit with a more stringent state law, and then allow us to um access that higher sentencing level after camp, which without the revisions will not be possible.

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