Diversion and Deferral

This section presents data on cases granted diversion or deferred judgment. Diversion and deferred judgments are alternatives to traditional prosecution that attempt to address individuals’ needs. If programmatic requirements are met, the case will be dismissed.

Why is this important? Understanding what cases are diverted or deferred and the rate of successful program completion provides information on whether the alternative minimizes unnecessary punitiveness and maintains community safety.

Indicators

Below are a set of indicators that provide additional context about diversion and deferrals. These indicators help the DA's Office ensure they are providing alternatives to traditional prosecution effectively and fairly.

As stated in our discussion of the "Case Filing Differences by Defendant Race/Ethnicity" indicator, it has been a challenge to collect accurate race and ethnicity information about our Hispanic populace. Until we develop a more accurate way of collecting this data, it should be viewed with caution.

Deferred judgements offer an opportunity for a criminal defendant who does not pose a community safety risk to avoid a permanent criminal conviction on the contingency of successfully completing certain obligations.

In the past, a cause of disparity in this category may be attributable to the interplay between prosecutorial duties and the role of federal immigration authorities. If a Hispanic suspect remained in custody on a releasable offense due to a Federal immigration hold or was in the process of being deported, the likelihood of successfully completing a deferred judgement was significantly decreased, thereby decreasing the number of these individuals being offered a deferral. In 2019 the Colorado legislature passed HB19-1124 restricting the Federal government's ability to enforce civil immigration detainers in criminal cases.

Data from 2023 may be skewed because it only represents the first six months of the year. We will monitor this data to see if a significant disparity exists as the year progresses.

Our aim is to achieve racial/ethnic equity in plea outcomes to ensure that the vast majority of cases receive fair treatment. This is a high priority and important indicator for our office to monitor and take action to eliminate disparity.

It is not possible to examine deferred judgement differences for Black individuals and individuals of Another Race due to the low number of cases.  Click Here for more information about race and ethnicity data collection and limitations.

Deferred judgements should be limited to cases where a defendant has a limited prior criminal history, the facts and circumstances indicate he or she does not pose a significant community safety risk, and their issues can be addressed through therapeutic or rehabilitative measures.

High success rates indicate that prosecutors are appropriately identifying those individuals who can take advantage of and successfully fulfill the conditions of their deferral.

Deferred judgements should be limited to cases where a defendant has a limited prior criminal history, the facts and circumstances indicate he or she does not pose a significant community safety risk, and their issues can be addressed through therapeutic or rehabilitative measures.

Low recidivism rates following a deferral indicate that prosecutors are appropriately identifying individuals who will benefit from, take advantage of, and engage in future lawful behavior following their deferral.

Notes:

• Underlying data counts for each chart can be accessed through this link.