AURORA | Aurora lawmakers agreed Monday to repeal “tough on crime” ordinances that accumulated over the past few years after the state’s highest court ruled them illegal.
The measure, approved unanimously, repeals or modifies dozens of minimum jail sentences for petty and misdemeanor crimes mandating jail time for crimes like shoplifting, car parts theft, vagrancy and other crimes.
The move came after the Colorado Supreme Court ruled in December, in People v. Simons, that Aurora, nor any city, can create harsher punishments for misdemeanor crimes than does the state.
The previous city council, led by a Republican majority, has for a few years promoted what they dubbed a “tough on crime” policies and laws, mandating jail time and long jail sentences for crimes like trespassing, shoplifting and car theft.
In the Simons case, the defendant was charged by an Aurora city court with motor vehicle trespass and later trespass, each with a maximum penalty of 364 days, a $2,650 fine or both. The state law says theft under $300 is a petty offense with a maximum punishment of ten days in jail, a $300 fine, or both.
The ruling also required Aurora to reduce its previous, harsher mandatory jail sentences, according to city legal officials, creating consternation among city prosecutors and public defenders in trying to resolve a long list of resentencing cases in order to comply with the high court ruling.
City Attorney Pete Schulte said earlier this year that a joint review went beyond what was legally required.
The high-court ruling prompted the city to examining more than 100 ordinance sections to determine which provisions might be affected by the court ruling and how they should be reclassified under state law.
In many cases, offenses that previously carried up to 364 days in jail must now be treated as lower-level misdemeanors or petty offenses with significantly shorter maximum sentences, according to city public defenders.
Fallout from the ruling has sparked debate among city lawmakers about the future of Aurora’s municipal court system.
Councilmember Francoise Bergan said during earlier meetings this year that the decision represents a loss of local control by cities and questioned whether Aurora should continue prosecuting most criminal cases at all.
“We no longer have that authority as a municipality to impose harsher penalties,” Bergan said. “Personally, I think we should stop hearing criminal cases altogether.”
Efforts to close city courts entirely to non-traffic matters have since stalled.
On Monday, Schulte told city lawmakers that much of the mandatory sentencing was fruitless as local sheriffs refused to keep inmates convicted of petty crimes for long jail sentencing citing space shortages and jail costs.