Colorado Freedom Fund

Links in bio to:
📰 Read the story on Montrose
👥 Join the coalition to pass HB26-1134

HB26-1134 (Municipal Court Fairness and Transparency) provides some of the light we need in municipal courts by requiring courts to keep records and appoint attorneys when people face the threat of jail time.

Tune in this Wed. (2/25/26) at 1:30 PM to hear HB26-1134 in House Judiciary Committee!

A February 15, 2026 headline from the Denver Post reads: A Colorado court sends poor people to jail without access to lawyers, advocates say. It doesn’t record the proceedings. Below the headline is a quote from Rebecca Wallace, CFF Policy Director. The quote reads: Justice dies in the dark. Montrose Municipal Court needs a light on it– this bill provides some of that light.” Rebecca is pictured next to the quote. She is a white woman with curly brown hair past her shoulders, she’s smiling and wearing a purple shirt with a colorful pattern.

Montrose Municipal Court is operating in the shadows, sending vulnerable community members to jail without an attorney or even a basic recording of the proceedings.

🔗 Click the link in our bio to join the coalition supporting HB26-1134.

Basic constitutional protections shouldn’t depend on which court you end up in. Coloradans facing jail deserve to be tried in a public courtroom with representation and a record of the proceedings.

NEXT STOP: HB26-1134 heads to House Judiciary Committee for its first vote Feb. 25 at 1:30 PM.

HB26-1134 requires CO muni courts to provide the same basic protections available in state court when people face jail.
✅ Right to a lawyer before pleading guilty.
✅ Prohibit courts from sentencing people to jail without keeping records.
✅ End closed-door hearings that keep the public in the dark.⁠

Text reads: Follow HB26-1134! Municipal Court Fairness & Transparency in House Judiciary Committee, Wed. Feb. 25. A progress bar at the bottom shows nine legislative steps with check marks, starting at “House Introduction.” At the top of the image is a large stylized C, as on the Colorado state flag, with the balances of justice in the center. In the upper right hand corner, the circular Colorado Freedom Fund logo is pictured with a hand breaking chains into powerful sun rays.

☀️ PRIORITY BILL INTRODUCED ☀️⁠
Municipal courts in Colorado are too often jailing folks for lowest-level poverty offenses with...

- no public oversight,
- no records, and/or
- no lawyer in sight.

HB26-1134 puts an end to all three.

They’ll need our help to bring municipal sentencing laws in line with our city’s values and state laws. Come get looped in on the issues, the proposed solutions, and how you can support this effort!

Text reads: Denver Sentencing Reform Launch, Wed. Feb. 18 via Zoom, 4-5 PM with Denver City Council Members Sarah Parady, Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez, and Shontel Lewis. In the top right corner, the logos for Colorado Freedom Fund and Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition. Council members are pictured at the bottom of the screen with a button that reads "Register to attend." Pictured: Sarah Parady, a white woman smiling with dark brown shoulder length hair and dark-rimmed glasses is pictured on the left; in the middle Council Member Gonzales-Gutierrez, a Latina woman with long dark brown hair, smiling and wearing a red suit; on the right, Council Member Lewis, a Black woman with natural brown hair styled with a side part who is smiling and wearing dark-rimmed glasses.

⏳ Coming up in two days! Register to hear Denver City Council Members @paradyatlarge.bsky.social, @shontel4council.bsky.social, and Gonzales-Gutierrez discuss their *critically necessary* sentencing reform work.

🗓️ Wed. 2/18/26 at 4 PM via Zoom
Registration link is in our bio! 🔗

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Denver Sentencing Reform Launch. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. Denver City Council Members Shontel Lewis, Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez, and Sarah Parady are championing critical municipal sentencing reform efforts this year! To kick things off, Colorado Freedom Fun...

We need your help to bring Denver’s ordinances in line with Denver’s values!

🔗 Register here: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Text reads: Denver Sentencing Reform Launch, Wed. Feb. 18 via Zoom, 4-5 PM with Denver City Council Members Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez, Shontel Lewis, and Sarah Parady. In the top right corner, the logos for Colorado Freedom Fund and Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition. Below the text, yellow handwritten text reads "Get Engaged!". Council members are pictured at the bottom of the screen with a button that reads "Register to attend." Pictured: Sarah Parady, a white woman smiling with dark brown shoulder length hair and dark-rimmed glasses is pictured on the left; in the middle Council Member Gonzales-Gutierrez, a Latina woman with long dark brown hair, smiling and wearing a red suit; on the right, Council Member Lewis, a Black woman smiling with brown hair styled in a twist out and wearing dark-rimmed glasses.

Big things are happening in Denver! Join City Council Members Gonzales-Gutierrez, @shontel4council.bsky.social, and @paradyatlarge.bsky.social to talk about their work championing municipal court reform this year.

CFF and @ccjrc.bsky.social are hosting a virtual launch event:

Wed. 2.18.26 at 4PM

Denver Council Members @shontel4council.bsky.social and @paradyatlarge.bsky.social will make a special appearance as we talk municipal court reform in cities, at the Capitol, and courtrooms statewide.

Join us as we continue work on municipal courts- CO's most punitive court for low level crimes.

Text reads: 2026 Municipal Court Convening Thursday, Jan. 29 via Zoom. 4-5 pm, Q&A 5-5:30 pm. A purple button in the top right corner reads “register to attend.” In the middle of the graphic, text reads: Special Appearances by Denver City Council Member Shontel Lewis and Sarah Parady. To the right of the text, Council Member Lewis is pictured smiling. She is a Black woman with brown hair styled in a twist out and she’s wearing dark-rimmed glasses. Pictured to her right is Council Member Parady, a white woman smiling with dark brown shoulder length hair and dark-rimmed glasses. Below their photos is text that reads “Convening By,” followed by the logos for Colorado Freedom Fund, Together Colorado, Colorado Center on Law and Policy, El Movimiento Sigue, Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, ACLU-Colorado, and Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition.

Tomorrow is the 2026 Municipal Court Convening and we hope to see you there!

🗓️ Thur. 1/29/26, 4-5:30 PM on Zoom

Registration in advance is required, link in bio! 🔗

Don't miss your chance to get an update and get involved. Use the link in our bio to register! 🔗

The details:
- 4-5 PM Main session and presentation
- 5-5:30 PM Q&A

Thanks to our awesome line-up of co-conveners, @acluofcolorado.bsky.social, @ccjrc.bsky.social, @cocoalition.bsky.social, CO Center on Law and Policy, El Movimiento Sigue, and Together Colorado.

Text Reads: 2026 Municipal Court Convening, Thursday Jan. 29 via Zoom, 4-5 PM, Q&A 5-5:30 PM. Special guests Rep. Javier Mabrey and Westminster City Council Member Jack Johnson. Below the text is a button that reads “Register to attend.” A large white box at the bottom of the graphic has text that reads “Thank you, co-conveners!” along with the logos for Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, El Movimiento Sigue, Colorado Center on Law and Policy, Together Colorado, ACLU-Colorado, and Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition.

⚖️ Join us virtually this Thursday (1/29) for the 2026 Municipal Court Convening!

CO municipal courts criminalize poverty, sending our vulnerable neighbors to jail for acts of survival. We’re coming together to talk about recent advocacy at the local and state levels and what’s on deck in 2026.

Thank you to co-conveners @ccjrc.bsky.social, @acluofcolorado.bsky.social, @cocoalition.bsky.social, and El Movimiento Sigue!

We'll be talking:
- Municipal court fairness updates in Colorado.
- CFF’s priority bill for the 2026 leg. session.
- Fighting back against carceral initiatives at the Capitol and the ballot box.

Advanced registration is required. Grab your spot at us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi....

Text reads: 2026 Municipal Court Convening; Thursday, January 29 via Zoom. 4-5 PM, Q&A 5-5:30 PM. Special guests Rep. Javier Mabrey and Westminster City Council Member Jack Johnson. Rep. Mabrey and Council Member Johnson are pictured. Rep. Mabrey is a Latino man with short brown hair, he’s smiling and wearing a blue suit. Council Member Johnson is a white man with short blonde hair and black framed glasses, he’s smiling and wearing a blue plaid shirt. A purple button reads “Register to attend.” At the bottom of the graphic, a banner reads “Thank you, co-conveners!” followed by pictures of logos for El Movimiento Sigue, Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, ACLU-Colorado, and Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition.

📅 The 2026 CFF Municipal Courts Convening is just over one week away, so register now! Join us on Zoom with @javiermabrey.bsky.social and Westminster City Council Member Jack Johnson on Thursday, 1/29 at 4pm MST.

We'll be talking:
- Municipal court fairness updates in Colorado.
- CFF’s priority bill for the 2026 leg. session.
- Fighting back against carceral initiatives at the Capitol and the ballot box.

Advanced registration is required. Grab your spot at us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...!

Text reads: 2026 Municipal Court Convening; Thursday, January 29 via Zoom. 4-5 PM, Q&A 5-5:30 PM. Special guests Rep. Javier Mabrey and Westminster City Council Member Jack Johnson. Rep. Mabrey and Council Member Johnson are pictured in the bottom right of the graphic. Rep. Mabrey is a Latino man with short brown hair, he’s smiling and wearing a blue suit. Council Member Johnson is a white man with short blonde hair and black framed glasses, he’s smiling and wearing a blue plaid shirt. A purple button at the bottom reads “Register to attend.”

📅 2026 CFF Municipal Courts Convening: Register Now! Join us on Zoom with @javiermabrey.bsky.social and Westminster City Council Member Jack Johnson on Thursday, 1/29 at 4pm MST.

A quote reads, “Colorado Freedom Fund is helping lead the charge toward a more just Colorado. I’m proud of our work on HB25-1147 fighting for equal treatment for our most vulnerable neighbors. We’ll be back, and we will get this policy signed into law.” The quote is attributed to Javier Mabrey, CO State Representative, who is pictured in the bottom right corner. He is a Latino man with a short beard and brown hair, and is smiling while wearing a blue suit.

Text reads: Support our liberatory work. ColoradoFreedomFund.org/donate. Eight hands make up a heart that surrounds the circular Colorado Freedom Fund logo of a fist breaking through chains into powerful sun rays.

👀 Read our year-end update at bit.ly/CFF_2025 (link in bio)

Text reads: Colorado Freedom Fund, 2025 Year in Review. At the top of the graphic, the circular Colorado Freedom Fund logo of a fist breaking through chains into powerful sun rays. Below, three Polaroid-style photos appear. In the photo on the left, Rebecca Wallace, a white woman with brown curly hair testifies at the Capitol while sitting at a table. In the center photo, Rebecca Wallace and Tiffany McCoy, a Black woman with curly hair pulled back in a ponytail, stand together smiling indoors. In the photo on the right, Dana Steiner, a white non-binary person with curly brown hair smiles as they take a selfie outdoors with a group of Lobby Day volunteers in matching blue t-shirts. A teal arrow at the bottom indicates to scroll for more.

Text reads: We expanded our reach in rural Colorado. Below, a map of Colorado counties with thirteen counties highlighted in yellow along the front range of northern Colorado. The legend indicates yellow counties are “where we’ve been posting.” Four counties are highlighted in teal: Mesa county (western Colorado) and Rio Grande, Alamosa, and Costilla counties (southern Colorado). The legend indicates teal counties are “new counties this year!”

Text reads: We championed HB25-1015. Expanded online bond pay means more people free pretrial across Colorado. Fireworks explode onto a blue background. Above the text is a teal scale balancing two gold dollar signs.

Text reads: We fought against criminalization of poverty in municipal courts. Next to a greyed out check mark, text reads “Championed HB25-1147- Municipal Court Fairness. Passed, but was vetoed. We will finish this work.” Next to a green check mark, text reads, “Defeated HB25-1276, a regressive bill that would have jailed more folks for poverty offenses.” In the background, an image of the Colorado Capitol building.

🐣 2025 vs. CFF. What a year...

Our 2025 Year in Review reflects on progress and challenges in the past year and the work ahead. We expanded our reach in rural Colorado and led a coalition to counter criminalization of poverty in Colorado municipal courts.

Municipal courts can’t issue harsher punishment than state court for same offenses, Colorado Supreme Court rules The justices ruled that when a municipal ordinance and a state statute prohibit identical conduct, the municipal penalties for such conduct “may not exceed the corresponding state penalties f…

Read more about this decision → www.denverpost.com/2025/12/22/c...

Read the amicus brief filed by CFF and ACLU-CO → bit.ly/MuniCourtAmicus

We joined @acluofcolorado.bsky.social in filing an amicus brief in this case and while there’s more work to be done in 2026 (and beyond), this is a massive improvement for our neighbors charged with these poverty-based offenses.

A banner in the top right reads “CO Supreme Court Victory!” with confetti bursting out of the corner. A newspaper snipping from the Denver Post has a headline dated December 22, 2025 and reads “Municipal courts can’t issue harsher punishment than state court for same offenses, Colorado Supreme Court rules.” Rebecca Wallace, a white woman with brown curly hair is pictured at the bottom of the image. She is named and a quote above her reads “We have long said that it defies logic, fairness and the law that municipal courts can send people to jail for poverty offenses with 30 times longer sentences than they could get in state court. …Today, the Colorado Supreme Court unanimously agreed.”

✨HUGE WIN! Yesterday, the Colorado Supreme Court delivered a unanimous ruling: Municipal courts can no longer issue harsher punishments than state courts for the same offenses.

✨Yet ANOTHER data-driven report that bail reform works and communities are safer when they are freer.

👀Read the study: datacollaborativeforjustice.org/work/bail-reform/testing-the-long-term-impact-of-bail-reform-across-new-york-state-a-quasi-experimental-evaluation/

Carousel of quotes from Denver Post article Carousel 1: Denver Post- Opinion , Sept. 5, 2025 Trump threatens pretrial fairness in a push that only protects wealthy bondsmen. President Trump took aim at Illinois’ Pretrial Fairness Act, which ended cash bail in the state in 2023. Quotes by CFF Policy Director Rebecca Wallace: "It’s no surprise that Trump used false claims and fearmongering to vilify the thoughtful pretrial reform law in Illinois...”

Carousel 2: "Coloradans should know Illinois has ended cash bail with strong results: Jail populations are down. Crime is down. Court appearance rates are steady. Poor families no longer must forego rent and food to buy freedom for their kin."

Carousel 3: "Trump’s extreme politics of fear rely on Americans buying into the notion that the only way to be safe and prosperous in this country is to increase federal executive and police power and massively expand the number of people we cage. The success of Illinois’ Pretrial Fairness Act may well be exactly why it has come under Trump's gaze."

Carousel 4: "Want receipts? check out the links in our posts. End Cash Bond. Pretrial Fairness is Possible. Join us!" Colorado Freedom Fund logo of fist breaking chains in the sunshine.

Success in ending cash bond in Illinois threatens a key deception by Trump: that more people in cages makes us safe.

👀Read CFF Policy Director Rebecca Wallace’s Op Ed: denverpost.com/2025/09/05/trump-bail-bond-pretrial-fairness/

Pictured: USA Today headline: "Mandating cash bail is a matter of public safety, the White House says. Research from the place that reformed its system in the most radical way possible tells a different story." Quote by Prof. Alison Siegler: "All the evidence I’ve seen points to positive outcomes since Illinois eliminated cash bail. It’s really clear from the data that things have gotten better, not worse."

✊USA Today with some fact-based reporting.

Illinois ended cash bail & the data is in: crime is down, court appearances are steady, & poor families no longer have to buy freedom for kin.

usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/08/26/trump-wants-to-end-cashless-bail-how-this-affects-you/85822325007/

Independent monitor criticizes Denver police's proposed education-based discipline policy Calling it a “not-so-veiled” attempt to eliminate accountability for officers,” Denver Independent Monitor Lisabeth Pérez Castle sharply criticized a proposal by the Denver Police Department to permit...

💡So Denver Police want to educate rather than punish officers for lower level misconduct to help those officers really understand their mistakes and avoid them in the future?

IMAGINE A WORLD where we offerred the same grace, education and opportunities to community members.