AURORA | Aurora’s nascent “three-strikes” traffic law resulted in 638 cars being impounded from November to February, according to Aurora police, and at least 38 of the confiscated cars were sold at city auctions so far.
“The Aurora Police Department is committed to stopping the practice of motorists operating vehicles with expired, fictitious and stolen license plates — or driving without a license plate at all — which is a significant issue in the Denver metro area and one of great concern to our community,” police spokesperson, Joe Moylan said in a statement.
Aurora police started enforcing the so-called “three-strikes” Aurora law Nov. 5. The measure requires police to tow and impound vehicles of drivers who are simultaneously committing three traffic offenses behind the wheel: no driver’s license, no proof of insurance and no valid car-license plate.
Councilmember Stephanie Hancock sponsored the measure in 2024, “to address the growing issue of unregistered and uninsured vehicles, something affecting neighborhoods all across our city.”
Since the law was implemented, the number of impounded vehicles monthly has been slightly decreasing, according to police and court records obtained by the Sentinel.
Records show 195 cars were impounded in November, 177 in December, 135 in January and 131 in February. The number of cars impounded in March and April was so far unavailable. Of the cars impounded through February, records show that 38 cars were never retrieved by owners and subsequently were sold at city car auctions. Three of those cars, however, were never bid on.
Motorists suspected of violating the Three Strikes law are required to provide documentation to the city impound lot, proving they have a valid driver’s license, car insurance and car registration, or they can’t retrieve their vehicle. Ticketed drivers must also appear for a county court appearance, bringing the required documents and paying any fines imposed.
File Photo by Philip B. Poston/Aurora Sentinel
Aurora hopes to alter state ticketing system
While the fines for scofflaws can add up, Aurora currently receives no financial benefit from the new law, according to city officials. That’s because, currently, all tickets for invalid registration or driver’s licenses have to be prosecuted through the county court, not city court. The fines imposed then fill county and state coffers, not those of the city.
A statewide measure currently in the Legislature that would allow city courts to adjudicate drivers-license and license-plate infractions is currently moving through the state House.
Democratic state representatives Eliza Hamrick and Brianna Titone have worked with Hancock, a Republican, to introduce House Bill 1112, which would allow Aurora and other governments the authority to enforce car registration and driver license laws directly in their local courts.
The bill is currently in the state Senate Appropriations committee.
Aurora and some surrounding counties and municipalities have, for the past few years, focused on cracking down on expired and invalid car registrations, police say.
“Many drivers were still on the road with tags that expired as far back as 2019, even before the height of the pandemic,” Hancock said in an email. “This wasn’t just a nuisance — it was a public safety concern that was getting worse by the day.”
City council members critical of the Three Strikes project said the program was too punitive for the offense, and it would affect poorer residents who were offenders, likely because of their lack of money.
Hancock said the important goal is safer roads.
“It wasn’t about punishment — it was about restoring accountability and keeping our roads safe for everyone,” Hancock said in the email.
Other municipalities, including Colorado Springs and El Paso County, have taken notice of the Three Strikes program and have also begun increasing enforcement, she said.
From street, to impound, to auction
The Three Strikes program strictly spells out what happens after suspects are ticketed and their cars are towed to a city impound lot.
If police determine a driver doesn’t have the required documents, everyone inside the car must abandon it, and it’s towed away.
Thirty days after the cars are impounded, the vehicles are permanently seized if not reclaimed by owners and sold at a police auction, according to the ordinance.
City records show Aurora police had 16 vehicles scheduled for auction Feb. 19, 2025, and 23 scheduled for auction April 2, 2025. Owners of vehicles scheduled for the April auction had until March 26 to clear and reclaim their cars, according to city records obtained by the Sentinel. None of those vehicles were retrieved before the auction.
The city does not transparently track how many vehicles are confiscated under the Three Strikes program. To retrieve the number of citations written, cars confiscated and sold at auction, the Sentinel was required to complete a Colorado Opens Records Act request. The city charged the Sentinel $136.13 to provide the numbers from November through February.
In a list of 175 vehicles impounded between Dec. 18 and Jan. 23 for drivers not having a valid license, registration and insurance, 57 of those vehicles did not have any record of being registered ever by the current owner, according to police. That does not include the number of people who had falsified temporary or permanent license plates, which was not detailed by police records analysts.
Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain told Aurora City Councilmembers during a Public Safety, Courts and Civil Service Policy Committee meeting March 13 that the police department is now collecting more detailed data for crimes in Aurora, including mapping where people were pulled over for the Three Strikes law.
During a presentation, he showed a map of Aurora with red triangles scattered all over the city, especially on East Colfax Avenue and Havana Street, showing people who were pulled over for the “three strikes.”
The map was dated from Jan. 6 to March 2, showing 249 registration summons — just registration violations, not Three Strikes offenses — and where they were pulled over. The red triangles are scattered across the city, showing that there is no specific area in Aurora where people are caught driving without registration.
The location of the violations and demographics of those ticketed are linked to criticism by some council members and the Aurora Police consent decree. Some city lawmakers pushed back on the measure last November, saying it was likely that mostly poor residents and people of color would be most impacted by the bill. Aurora is currently under a consent decree mandated by the Colorado attorney general, in part, because of findings that the city treats different classes of people and races disparately.
Chamberlain revealed the demographics for people ticketed for expired or invalid registration only. He detailed court summons given to drivers for invalid registration between Jan. 6 to March 3, equalling 984 tickets. The demographics for those tickets showed 457 white people ticketed, 236 Hispanic or Latino, 225 Black people and 66 were unknown.
“Impounds would be related to operations conducted periodically throughout the year by the Traffic Section or by officers on routine patrol who encounter unlawful drivers or motorists engaged in other criminal activity,” Moylan said, basically saying that people are being found in violation of the “Three Strikes” law in many different ways, and not specific crack downs.
In the February and April auctions, the car sold for the highest auction price was a 2014 white Subaru Impreza. The winning bid for the Subaru was $2,700. Three cars had no bids in the April auction.
The average price for impounded vehicles auctioned on that list was $791, and the overall sum was $26,100.
The city sells hundreds of cars per year through the Rollers Auction Site, for a variety of reasons, including stolen cars, abandoned cars and cars confiscated in the commission of crimes. The city does not clearly identify which cars are sold as part of the Three Strikes program
Rollers adds a 13% buyer’s surcharge to each vehicle sold, which is reduced to 10% if the buyer pays cash. The sold cars are also subject to applicable taxes.
Spokespersons from the Aurora Police Department and the city said the proceeds go to the city’s general fund.
For those who retrieve their cars, the fees can add up fast.
Under Three Strikes, the vehicle impoundment fee is $240. The police department administration fee is $47.25, and the tow-lot storage fee is $40 a day. According to Moylan, contract towing companies are also entitled to a one-time $150 fee. This fee applies to vehicles impounded for three or more days. Added together, it means scofflaws face fines that start at more than $400. If the car is left in impound for a month, that could add another $1,200. In addition, those ticketed also face court fines for each traffic infraction: no license, no registration and no insurance.
Multiplying the minimum court fees of $500 by the total cars impounded so far means Aurora’s law has grossed at least $319,000 in impound fees, but Aurora does not receive any of that money. Registration and driver’s licence infractions must be prosecuted in county courts. If one traffic violation is required to go to county court, the whole ticket is written to county court, meaning all “Three Strikes’ violations go to county courts.
If someone can’t afford to get their car out of impound or abandon it, they still have to go to county court and pay fines for driving without insurance, a license and valid registration.
Driving without proof of insurance in Colorado is a minimum fine of $500 unless the person brings proof of insurance when they come to court. Then the minimum fine is half, costing $250. A second conviction for driving without insurance is $1,000 minimum and half if the person brings proof of insurance when they come to court, according to the Aurora municipal code.
State fines for driving without a license are $15-$100.
Fines for vehicle registration violations range from $15-$75, according to the Colorado Department of Motor Vehicles. The fine and surcharge for an expired plate of more than 60 days is $95.50, according to Colorado State Law. City Attorney Pete Schulte said that Aurora police often issue warning tickets for lack of valid registration and focus on infractions that head to city court. The city currently cannot impose convictions and fines for the car registration infractions, he said.
“It’s a lot quicker for a police officer to write a citation into the municipal court than it is to write to the county court,” Schulte said.
A motorist convicted of having falsified, suspended, altered or stolen license plates and registration can receive a possible sentence ranging from 10 days in jail or a $150 fine or both, up to 90 days in jail or a $300 fine or both, according to the Aurora Police Department.
Three Strikes was the culmination of Aurora’s crackdown on enforcing registration and license plate violators, beginning in 2023. Police and city council proponents stated on social media that they were taking action after “hearing” residents’ complaints.
In January, however, police Sgt. Scott Benedict, a department supervisor, said officers confronting drivers with no license, registration or insurance say they’re aware of state traffic laws, but motorists are shocked when their cars are towed.
“I think a lot of people know that it’s already a possibility, and then when they actually get their car towed because of their status, as far as not having the required documentation, I think the reality of it kind of sinks in,” Benedict said.
I made this very suggestion multiple times more than a year ago here on The Sentinel and the NextDoor app (after reading about it being effective in other cities). I stressed that these knuckleheads cared more about their cars than they did about decent citizens.
Kudos to whomever made this decision.
Next? Eliminate the modified exhausts and window tints. Enforce the noise ordinance and make them remove the dark tint that is illegal here in CO.
Keep Going. Good job all!
No this is quite literally auto theft. You don’t know a person’s reasons and yet are so quick to judge. I had a car that I needed to renew the registration however it wouldn’t pass emissions do to an electrical issue and they wanted me to buy new catalytic converters that are carb compliant which is about 3 times the cost of the original ones. So what are you supposed to do if you can’t afford that cost. My car I can guarantee wasn’t giving off excessive emissions and yet they won’t let me renew my plates. They have a financial hardship waiver but you have to already be receiving public assistance in order to qualify. It’s just ridiculous that you think it’s ok for the police to steal someone’s means of transportation which that person might otherwise have been an upstanding citizen and now he has no transportation, can’t get to his job, so no job now and so he ends up becoming a career criminal because that was the only choice he was left with . No not everyone will be like this but some will I promise you. It’s called Tyranny and just so you know vehicle registration and all the statutes and regulations were written for commercial vehicles NOT your personal car. Laws like this are an injustice to all Americans and they will subtly take away all your rights if you let them.
Driving without is breaking the law. Period. Not supposed to drive it on np pkayes or expired. Done.
Driving without is breaking the law. Period. Not supposed to drive it on np pkayes or expired. Done. Sorry.
I don’t know who objects to this law, but I don’t care. We are all subject to laws if we want to drive in Colorado. We must pay for a license, auto registration, and insurance regardless of race, gender, or any other characteristic. The rules haven’t been enforced until now. I’m a progressive, but I see this through the lens of a tax-paying citizen. We need safe streets and we need every driver covered by insurance! Period!
Now, we should do the same thing with guns. Let’s license owners, register all guns, insure the for liability, require locked storage, and require training. People whose guns are used in a mass shooting should be subject to investigation on these terms – especially the locked storage and insurance! Both guns and cars can be lethal in the wrong hands. Let’s keep tbem as safe as we can!
Congratulations to Council Member Hancock. This law is working exactly as intended. What can’t be measured are the accidents and victim insurance claims that won’t occur from these illegally operating cars.
Perfect! Go after the poorest people and impose violations to make them pay more money! Great job Aurora.. keep funding jails and prisons and less money for schools. Let’s make this place a paradise.
Pookie, if they are unable to afford to 1.) Register their car 2.) Get/maintain a driver’s license 3.) Insurance to protect themselves, their occupants, or the people they hit in an accident, they ain’t got any GD business driving as it is. It’s about taking responsibility for your actions and what one needs to do in life; sh!t ain’t guaranteed.
I’m a Liberal.
If you can’t afford a car, and the related NECESSARY obligations, you need to take the bus, ride a bike, ride share or walk.
Generations of people before you have done it and continue to do so.
PS: if you can’t afford a bunch of kids, think before you have them. That’s what mature, responsible adults do.
Hope you never fall on hard times, because you’ll definitely be eating your words. This law is way too punitive considering these penalties can be awarded on the very first offence. And who can afford to get their car out of impound?? Definitely not us poorer folks. Aurora lawmakers have been out of control for a while now. They have produced some of the most draconian laws for petty offences and misdemeanors that one would ever see!!
Actually, I agree with the guidelines but I think that if the car is towed there should be a 7 day grace period for the storage fee.
No plates. Don’t drive.
Get insurance in line. Its the biggest scam there is. Nobody can afford insurance anymore.
Yea if you’re a minority or black it’s hard to get a job, an apartment, sometimes a car even without a record (unless your Mexican). So being able to afford a car is not the matter, It’s being able to get established which is hard in my native town of Denver Colorado, you think you know everything you don’t know but you don’t! Liberal. I’m sure your life is great tho.
I’m white struggling my ass off..I don’t live their. But still. Living in my truck since thanksgiving. I’m working now but hard to save anything working 4 days a week part time at that. I get it. It’s nothing but struggling to struggle. This isn’t a minority thing. This is an across the board thing nowdays..and yes people that have never struggled don’t give none..it’s a shame. Struggling people getting kicked down even farther. But again..they don’t care.
In these times as many people that are struggling some should have a lil more leiniancy. I for one wouldn’t stop..I give none..and no I don’t drive something slow. Be grateful I don’t live in any of your communities. I haven’t been stopped yet or got..let push the ones struggling even deeper. Basically what happened to me, different situation. Then who I was roommates w started thriving from me. Confronted him and got kicked out. Been living in my vehicle since thanksgiving. Got laid off that week too. Been working all spring but I’m so behind. And yes..I wouldn’t stop..#neverstop..try me
Instead of focusing on helping people they are just increasing the government’s boot pressure on people’s necks, they racket people to maintain their big government inefficient spending while people are struggling with stagnating wages, high living costs, inflation, these heartless bureaucrats won’t just give people a break.
In the last past 15 years these people has brought Denver from a free, low cost safe place to live to a hunter’s game like place, resembling more to places like San Francisco or New York where these kind of policies are common ground and where people live like in hunger games’ movies like situations, a race toward the bottom what a shame? These liberals crooks have even built themselves a highway on I70 where they charge people to not get stuck in traffic, that’s ridiculous.
This is nothing but extracting more money from citizens so the government can keep spending wastefully.
Nothing but more government greed. I’m a conservative mind you. You will have another liberal craphole soon.
Louisiana should pass the exact same laws. Driver are constantly breaking these laws in Louisiana, especially in New Orleans. Additionally, they run red lights, right pass the police vehicles with our consequences!
This is legal as long as the owners are paid what their cars are worth. They can’t steal the cars then sale them without paying the owners what the car is worth. The Supreme Court has already ruled on this when Indiana was stealing cars from people and not paying them.