Governor Jared Polis on Monday signed a bill to strengthen a 2018 law meant to speed up the release of eligible people from Colorado’s crowded prisons.

Senate Bill 26-36 makes several changes to the state’s prison population management measures, which have not had the intended effect after they were triggered for the first time last year.

The state’s prison vacancy rate stood at 2.99% as of April 30, roughly nine months after the measures, which are triggered when state prisons are more than 97% full, went into effect. Only a couple dozen people have been granted parole since then, according to state officials.

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Additionally, 541 people were held in county jails awaiting transfer to state prisons, more than double the number budgeted by the state to be temporarily held in county jails. Bill supporters say the overcrowding presents safety issues for the incarcerated population and people who work in prisons.

“If we do not take action to address the backlog and overcrowding issue, we risk the health and safety of people in our prisons and force the state to purchase a costly prison at the expense of core services like K-12 education and healthcare,” bill sponsor Representative Jennifer Bacon, a Denver Democrat, said in a statement after the bill passed its House committee hearing.

The law passed in 2018 requires that the department take certain steps to reduce the incarcerated population once that threshold is reached. The department must also notify certain parties — such as the governor, district attorneys and the parole board — when the measures take effect.

SB-36 would trigger the prison population management measures once the vacancy rate is below 4% for 30 consecutive days. It also expands on the department’s reporting requirements, adding more people and entities to the list of who it must notify of the low vacancy rate. The department would need to share monthly updates on the progress made to reduce the prison population while the measures are activated.

While the 2018 prison population management measures law passed the Legislature unanimously with bipartisan support, Republicans in both the House and the Senate voted against this year’s updates to the law. Representative Bob Marshall, a Highlands Ranch Democrat, joined Republicans in the House in voting against the bill.

Other bill sponsors include Senator Julie Gonzales, a Denver Democrat, Senator Mike Weissman, an Aurora Democrat, and Representative Yara Zokaie, a Fort Collins Democrat.

Polis signed into law two additional bills intended to ease overcrowding in prisons.

Senate Bill 26-158 would allow the parole board to approve an application for early parole for someone who completed a specialized program for people convicted when they were younger than 21 years old. The governor has final authority to allow parole for people who complete the program, but he hasn’t granted it to anyone since 2023. The bill would move the decision to the parole board if the governor doesn’t take action within 60 days of the application.

Senate Bill 26-159 tweaks the state’s earned time formula and directs the DOC to implement policies that would incentivize good behavior. It also establishes a working group that will make recommendations on how the DOC can best manage its capacity.