republic-os/legislation/us/states/co/2026a/sb-36.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Prison Population Management Measures"
description: "When the prison bed vacancy rate in correctional facilities and state-funded private contract prisons falls below 3% for 30 consecutive days, current law requires the department of corrections (department) to notify certain individuals and entities (notification) and implement prison population management measures. The act increases the threshold prison bed vacancy rate to 4% before the prison population management measures to go into effect. The act includes additional individuals and entities that are required to receive the notification and requires the notification to occur within 48 hours of the vacancy rate falling below 4% for 30 consecutive days. The act requires the individuals and entities that receive the notification to acknowledge receipt of the notification and confirm compliance with the prison population management measures. The act requires additional prison population management measures, including requiring the department to request expanding community corrections capacity and make referrals to the parole board, and requiring notified individuals and entities to consider alternatives to prison sentences for certain offenders. The act appropriates $303,812 to the department to implement the act. The act decreases the appropriation for the 2026-27 state fiscal year to the department for inmate daily rate payments to local jails by $478,778.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/co"
legislature: "Colorado General Assembly"
session: "2026A"
identifier: "SB 36"
citation: "Colorado SB 36 (2026A)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Crimes", "Corrections", "& Enforcement"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["J. Bacon", "J. Gonzales", "M. Weissman", "Y. Zokaie"]
version_count: 7
action_count: 15
vote_count: 14
first_action: "2026-01-26"
last_action: "2026-06-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/50d951d1-5ba3-4b88-b002-1f3b73c123d0"
source_url: "https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/SB26-036"
source_hash: "18ecac5d54a93f26bb1ff76b5f9d806854656e1361251814b4889d4fed6e994b"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-co"]
---

# Colorado SB 36 (2026A) — Prison Population Management Measures

When the prison bed vacancy rate in correctional facilities and state-funded private contract prisons falls below 3% for 30 consecutive days, current law requires the department of corrections (department) to notify certain individuals and entities (notification) and implement prison population management measures. The act increases the threshold prison bed vacancy rate to 4% before the prison population management measures to go into effect. The act includes additional individuals and entities that are required to receive the notification and requires the notification to occur within 48 hours of the vacancy rate falling below 4% for 30 consecutive days. The act requires the individuals and entities that receive the notification to acknowledge receipt of the notification and confirm compliance with the prison population management measures. The act requires additional prison population management measures, including requiring the department to request expanding community corrections capacity and make referrals to the parole board, and requiring notified individuals and entities to consider alternatives to prison sentences for certain offenders. The act appropriates $303,812 to the department to implement the act. The act decreases the appropriation for the 2026-27 state fiscal year to the department for inmate daily rate payments to local jails by $478,778.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_files/110943/download)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_files/114982/download)
3. **Final Act** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_files/116626/download)
4. **Reengrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_files/115065/download)
5. **Rerevised** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_files/116079/download)
6. **Revised** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_files/115963/download)
7. **Signed Act** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_files/116925/download)

## Votes

- Refer Senate Bill 26-036, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. — **pass** (pass) · upper
- Adopt amendment J.003 — **pass** (pass) · upper
- Adopt amendment J.002 — **pass** (pass) · upper
- Refer Senate Bill 26-036, as amended, to the Committee on Appropriations. — **pass** (pass) · upper
- Adopt amendment L.001 (Attachment B) — **pass** (pass) · upper
- Adopt amendment L.003 (Attachment D) — **pass** (pass) · upper
- Adopt amendment L.004 — **pass** (pass) · upper
- REPASS — **pass** (pass) · lower
- CONCUR — **pass** (pass) · lower
- AMEND (L.009) — **pass** (pass) · lower
- Refer Senate Bill 26-036 to the Committee on Appropriations. — **pass** (pass) · upper
- Refer Senate Bill 26-036, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. — **pass** (pass) · upper
- Adopt amendment L.002 (Attachment C) — **pass** (pass) · upper
- BILL — **pass** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- J. Bacon — primary (person)
- J. Gonzales — primary (person)
- M. Weissman — primary (person)
- Y. Zokaie — primary (person)
- A. Benavidez — cosponsor (person)
- A. Boesenecker — cosponsor (person)
- C. Clifford — cosponsor (person)
- C. Kipp — cosponsor (person)
- E. Sirota — cosponsor (person)
- I. Jodeh — cosponsor (person)
- J. Amabile — cosponsor (person)
- J. Coleman — cosponsor (person)
- J. Jackson — cosponsor (person)
- J. Mabrey — cosponsor (person)
- J. Marchman — cosponsor (person)
- J. Phillips — cosponsor (person)
- K. Brown — cosponsor (person)
- K. Nguyen — cosponsor (person)
- K. Wallace — cosponsor (person)
- L. Cutter — cosponsor (person)
- L. García — cosponsor (person)
- M. Carter — cosponsor (person)
- M. Lindsay — cosponsor (person)
- N. Hinrichsen — cosponsor (person)
- R. English — cosponsor (person)
- R. Rodriguez — cosponsor (person)
- S. Camacho — cosponsor (person)
- T. Exum — cosponsor (person)
- T. Story — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2026-06-01** Governor Signed `executive-signature`
- **2026-05-22** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2026-05-22** Signed by the Speaker of the House `passage`
- **2026-05-22** Signed by the President of the Senate `passage`
- **2026-05-08** Senate Considered House Amendments - Result was to Concur - Repass
- **2026-05-07** House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-05-06** House Second Reading Special Order - Passed with Amendments - Committee, Floor
- **2026-05-06** House Committee on Appropriations Refer Amended to House Committee of the Whole `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2026-04-28** House Committee on Judiciary Refer Unamended to Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2026-04-22** Introduced In House - Assigned to Judiciary `introduction`
- **2026-04-22** Senate Third Reading Passed with Amendments - Floor `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-04-21** Senate Second Reading Special Order - Passed with Amendments - Committee, Floor
- **2026-04-21** Senate Committee on Appropriations Refer Amended to Senate Committee of the Whole `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2026-04-13** Senate Committee on Judiciary Refer Amended to Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-26** Introduced In Senate - Assigned to Judiciary `introduction`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/50d951d1-5ba3-4b88-b002-1f3b73c123d0`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Colorado legislature records).