Committee approves narrow failure‑to‑appear amendment after heated debate over criminalization of poverty

The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced SB112 on March 9 after a contentious hearing that laid bare a core tension: municipal courts and judges said they need a narrow tool to address deliberate, repeated failures to appear (FTAs), while defenders and anti‑poverty groups warned the change would criminalize homelessness and poverty.

Sponsor Senator Zamora Wilson (speaker 7) explained that L2 would replace the bill text with language adapted from a prior House measure and set a uniform three‑FTA threshold across qualifying offenses. "When defendants intentionally fail to appear three or more times, courts need a tool to ensure the court case can move forward," she said.

Municipal-court judges testified they have seen FTA rates climb and described operational burdens: multiple warrants, repeated bookings and docket delays. Judge Hayden Kane (speaker 45) showed the committee a stack of files for one defendant with dozens of open cases and urged a narrowly tailored remedy.

Opponents including municipal public defenders, the Colorado Freedom Fund and anti-poverty groups argued that the bill will disproportionately affect people experiencing homelessness and those with behavioral-health conditions who miss court for reasons other than willful avoidance. "Jail is not mental‑health treatment," Marla Garrett (speaker 47), a deputy public defender, told the committee.

The committee adopted an additional amendment (L5) narrowing the bill’s application to petty theft, criminal mischief and arson petty offenses where a defendant has three or more FTAs; L5 passed on a roll call. After final debate the panel approved the amended bill 4–3 to the Committee of the Whole. Dissenting senators cited concerns about carceral capacity, disproportionate impacts on vulnerable populations, and the limited availability of reminder and support services in some municipal courts.