Review staff flags municipal preemption, gift-card and sentencing changes in proposed theft measure

Conrad Imo of the Office of Legislative Legal Services summarized the purposes of proposed initiative measure 215 at a legislative review-and-comment hearing: increase penalties for thefts under $300 and for repeat offenders; impose mandatory minimum sentences for theft and motor vehicle theft (including limits on parole or alternative sentencing for repeat offenders); permit municipalities to establish penalties for theft under municipal ordinance that exceed state maximums for identical conduct; clarify valuation of gift cards; include gift-card fraud as a means of forgery; and eliminate a $1,000 vehicle-damage threshold for second-degree motor vehicle theft.

"[T]he major purposes of the proposed amendments . . . appear to be to increase the penalty for theft involving less than $300, increase the penalty for theft when the person has previous theft convictions, impose a mandatory minimum sentence for theft convictions, increase the theft penalty when the defendant acts in conspiracy or concert . . . and clarify the value of a theft when the thing involved is a gift card," Imo said.

Staff asked whether the initiative meets the Colorado Constitution's single-subject requirement; proponents responded that the single subject is "penalties for theft." Staff also noted a recent Colorado Supreme Court decision holding that when state and municipal offenses prohibit identical conduct, state maximum sentencing caps can preempt municipal penalties; staff asked whether the initiative intends to allow municipal penalties to exceed state caps. Proponents confirmed they intend the measure to clarify municipal authority to impose higher penalties in some circumstances and agreed to address that clarification in drafting.

Technical drafting issues remain: staff offered to go over a set of technical comments and cross-references with the proponents. The review closed after staff and proponents agreed to consider the technical edits and amendments.