Sentencing

After an individual is found guilty of a crime, a judge imposes a sentence which may include fees, fines, community service, probation, jail, community corrections, or prison. The prosecutor and defense attorney on the case provide recommendations to the judge, who decides on the ultimate sentence. This section presents information on sentencing by the most severe sentence imposed on the case.

Why is this important? It is important to ensure sentences minimize unnecessary punitiveness while appropriately addressing serious crime. In addition, we want to treat all individuals fairly and equitably.

Criminal history and recidivism measures are limited in that they are calculated based on cases filed within the eight District Attorneys’ offices participating in the Colorado Prosecutorial Dashboards Project (the 1st, 2nd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 18th, and 20th). We do not have information on cases filed outside these jurisdictions nor do the measures reflect cases from Colorado municipal courts or cases from outside the state of Colorado. Criminal history relies on data since 2007. For these reasons, criminal history and recidivism may be underestimated.

Indicators

Below are a set of indicators that provide additional context about sentencing. These indicators help the DA's Office ensure they are ensuring fairness in the type and severity of sentences imposed, reducing unnecessary pretrial detention, and avoiding unwarranted incarceration without compromising public safety.

We would expect to see the person-sex-weapons cases, along with the mandatory sentence DUIs, represent the majority of the population incarcerated, as the graph shows. We will monitor what comprises the “other” category and examine what portion of these are due to mandatory sentencing requirements.

Our aim is to achieve racial/ethnic equity in sentence outcomes to ensure that cases receive fair treatment. However, factors such as type of charge, number of charges, number of active cases per defendant, and criminal history impact sentence outcomes for every defendant. See our disparity analysis for a more detailed look at differences by race/ethnicity while taking into account potential differences in defendant and case characteristics.

Click Here for more information about race and ethnicity data collection and limitations.

Public Defender Qualification: In Colorado, incarcerated defendants are automatically appointed a public defender for as long as they remain in custody. Out-of-custody defendants must apply and meet indigence requirements to qualify for a public defender. Therefore, there is the potential for public defenders to be representing individuals accused of more serious crimes.

Our aim is to achieve equity in sentence outcomes to ensure that cases receive fair treatment. However, factors such as type of charge, number of charges, number of active cases per defendant, and criminal history impact sentence outcomes for every defendant. Further, as individuals who are in-custody are automatically entitled to a public defender, there is potential for public defenders to represent individuals with both more serious charges and a more substantial criminal history. We look forward to the data analysis by PPI, which will include criminal history, to better evaluate our data.

Pretrial Detention Indicators

Below are a set of indicators that provide additional context about pretrial detention, incarceration in jail prior to case resolution. These indicators help the DA's Office ensure the reduction of unnecessary pretrial detention.

Our aim is to achieve equity in pretrial detention to ensure that cases receive fair treatment. However, factors such as type of charge, number of charges, number of active cases per defendant, and criminal history impact pretrial detention decisions for every defendant.

Click Here for more information about race and ethnicity data collection and limitations.

Notes:

Underlying data counts for each chart can be accessed through this link.
This data reflects only those cases where a sentence was ultimately imposed. Cases that resulted in diversion, an outright dismissal, or some other resolution, are not reflected here.
This data represents initial sentences only, sometimes a case may have a subsequent sentence in cases because of a revocation of probation or due to a request to modify the sentence. Those subsequent sentences are not represented here.
Warrants are excluded (for all cases identified as a warrant).