Denver advances criminal-code rewrite, leaves disputed penalties for later review

Denver City Council advanced Council Bill 26-0328 on first reading June 22 after adopting seven amendments, moving ahead with a rewrite of municipal criminal classifications and penalties while leaving several disputed provisions for more work before final passage.

The ordinance would amend chapters 1, 34 and 38 of the Denver Revised Municipal Code to revise criminal penalties for municipal crimes. During the June 22 debate, council members and city attorneys tied the measure to the Colorado Supreme Court’s CAMP ruling and said Denver had to align parts of its municipal penalty structure with state law.

Much of the debate focused on three provisions that sponsors said still need review. Council restored unlawful display or flourishing of a weapon to a class 2 violation, with a 300-day jail term and $999 fine structure, instead of the lower class 4 level in the broader rewrite. The bill was also amended after city attorneys and council members said CAMP limited Denver’s ability to set some non-domestic-violence protection-order penalties above comparable state penalties. And sponsors reclassified threats as a class 3 violation and directed that subsection to the working group.

Council also restored language covering firearms prohibited in city-owned or leased buildings and classified that offense as a class 2 violation after saying it had been omitted in drafting.

Council members said a working group is expected to revisit the weapons-display, protection-order and threats sections before second reading, and sponsors said they also expected an amendment to address a request to include the district attorney in that group.

The bill still needs more hearings before final action. Before adjournment, council announced a courtesy public hearing for June 29 and a required public hearing for July 27.