Chief warns proposed state sentencing and parole changes could weaken local tools as Pueblo records 107 shootings last year

Pueblo Police Chief addressed council at the work session to flag three state bills he said would limit the city’s ability to prosecute and sentence some violent offenders, and to ask councilors to consider contacting state legislators about the measures.

Chief Noller said one bill he was watching would reduce the felony class for shootings that do not cause death — discussed in the briefing as "house bill 25 12 06" (described in the meeting as affecting charges for acts of "extreme indifference"). He told council that under current law shootings into occupied structures or crowds are charged as attempted first-degree murder or with extreme indifference, and that the proposed change would lower the felony class for some of those cases when no one is injured.

The chief also identified a separate bill discussed in the briefing as "house bill 12 14," described as focusing on the "appropriate use of prison beds" and creating procedural requirements that encourage alternatives to incarceration; he said the bill would also create a presumption of parole for some offenders. Finally, he cited a bill described as "house bill 25 11 47" that would align municipal-court sentences with state-court sentencing ranges and, in the chief’s view, would limit the city’s existing habitual-offender sentencing options.

Chief Noller said those changes would reduce prosecutors’ and judges’ sentencing tools and could lead to repeat offending: "We're gonna end up repeatedly arresting these individuals," he told council. He said drive-by and shooting investigations are resource intensive and often involve linking multiple incidents and charges to a single suspect.

To illustrate local need, the chief said Pueblo recorded 107 shootings last year and 67 drive-by shootings. He urged councilors to reach out to their state senators and representatives to express concerns about those bills, and several council members volunteered to help or said they would support city testimony in Denver.

Council members asked for bill numbers and sponsorship information; Chief Noller provided the numbers as he had them in-session and named at least one sponsor for related failure-to-appear legislation. Council members also raised questions about ankle-monitor effectiveness and parole-agency data; the chief said parole statistics would need to come from the Colorado Department of Corrections and that the department does not track every ankle-monitor failure in its police reports.

Ending: Councilors expressed support for the chief’s concerns and offered to help contact legislators. The chief asked that council members be vocal about how these bills could affect public safety in Pueblo.