Proposition 128 would require offenders to spend more time in prison before being released on parole

DENVER – Among the many measures Colorado voters will see on the November ballot is one asking them to change parole requirements for certain violent crimes.

Proposition 128 would extend the time that people convicted of certain violent crimes — including second-degree murder, assault, aggravated robbery, first-degree assault, arson and kidnapping — must serve before they can be eligible for discretionary parole or earned time reduction.

The state commission released convicted sex offender Kenneth Dean Lee in less than six years from what should have been a prison term of 23 years to life. The parole board said Lee “posed a low risk to society to reoffend.”

“I will be known as the person who can be trusted,” Lee said during his parole hearing.

About eighteen months after his release, he was arrested again. According to Aurora police, Lee sexually assaulted a seven-year-old girl while posing as an immigration officer. He pleaded guilty in 2023 to sexual assault of a child, burglary and sexual exploitation of a child and was sentenced to 40 years in prison

Michael Fields of Advance Colorado said releasing someone like Lee sent a terrible message.

“I think it’s a message to the community that we care more about releasing these people early than we do about the safety of your children or you in general,” Fields said.

That’s why Fields pushed for Proposition 128 on the November ballot. It would require offenders convicted of certain violent crimes to serve 85% of their sentence before they can be eligible for parole or be released early for the time deserved. Under current law, they must serve 75% of their sentence before being eligible for parole.

Earned time reduces time spent in jail by up to 10 to 12 days per month, in exchange for pursuing goals to help rehabilitate them.

“We need to keep people safer,” Fields said.

Under Proposition 128, offenders would spend more time in jail. Advocates say this will lead to safer communities.

“If we want to protect people from violent criminals, we need to ensure they serve longer sentences,” Fields said.

But opponents say it will lead to more state spending and not reduce crime.

“I think Prop 128 takes us back to a time we shouldn’t be going to,” said Anaya Robinson, senior policy strategist for the ACLU of Colorado.

Robinson said keeping people in custody longer won’t make Colorado safer.

“Not everyone who comes before the parole board is approved. They have to make a very documented case as to why they deserve to leave before their sentence is over,” Robinson said. “And in reality, the people released so early on discretionary parole very likely pose little to no threat to the community anymore.”

Opponents of Proposition 128 also say it would remove incentives for offenders to earn parole and increase Colorado’s prison population.

“We are considering whether we may need to build more prisons to keep people in prison longer,” Robinson said.

“I want people, when they get out of prison, to be productive members of society. That should be our goal, but it is not our primary goal,” Fields said. “Our main goal is to protect people.”

Proposition 128 would only affect offenders convicted on or after January 1, 2025. It would also make offenders convicted of a third violent crime ineligible for parole or earned time reduction.

Proposition 128 would require a simple majority.