What Accounts for the Recent Increase in Felony Filings in Colorado? Exploring Demographic, Institutional, and Policy Explanations

• In Event: Policy Decisions and Justice System Practices

Abstract

After five consecutive years of declines, felony criminal filings in Colorado increased by 41 percent between 2012 and 2017. A number of explanations have been offered for this change, but there has not been any reliable empirical research. We analyze a range of data sources to determine the relative effects of population and demographic changes, police practices, district attorney practices, and public policy shifts on the increase in felony filings. Demographically, we assess the impact of the eight percent growth in overall state population during this period, as well as population increases in groups of particular criminological interest (i.e., young men). We also examine changes to police enforcement and prosecutorial charging practices as factors that might contribute to the increase. From a policy perspective, we explore an array of recent developments—from those that make drug sentencing more lenient (potentially increasing the number of offenders in the community), to those that make certain impaired driving and domestic violence cases more likely to be charged as felonies (directly increasing the number of filings). We also examine how the recent legalization of marijuana in Colorado interacts with demographic shifts, police and prosecutorial behaviors, and public policies that could affect felony filing patterns.

Authors

• Jeffrey Lin, University of Denver

• Kim English, Colorado Division of Criminal Justice

• Peg Flick, Colorado Division of Criminal Justice