Colorado prisons reach critical overcrowding, reform efforts scrutinized

This story first appeared at Colorado Newsline

DENVER | Criminal justice reform advocates are pressing Colorado corrections officials for more details on their efforts to reduce the state’s prison population after the requirements of a 2018 law were triggered for the first time.

The vacancy rate in state prisons stood at 1.92% as of Aug. 16, marking the 30th consecutive day the department maintained a vacancy rate below 3%, according to a Colorado Department of Corrections letter reviewed by Newsline. House Bill 18-1410, a bipartisan law passed unanimously by the General Assembly in 2018, requires that once that threshold is reached, the department must begin to take steps to reduce the incarcerated population in coordination with the state parole board and the Office of Community Corr