CASTLE ROCK — The first-ever district attorney for Colorado’s newly created 23rd Judicial District stood in front of a line of TV news cameras Wednesday and pointed to a poster-sized map of Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln counties.
A bright yellow line, labeled the “23rd Judicial District Bypass,” followed roads from the south of the judicial district, around to the west, then back to the east, making a big half-loop around the three-county district without ever crossing into its borders.
That, new District Attorney George Brauchler said, was the route criminals should take to avoid his jurisdiction.
“We are inhospitable to lawbreakers,” he declared.
Next month, Brauchler will become the first district attorney for Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln counties. The three counties were previously part of the 18th Judicial District, which also included Arapahoe County, but will become the separate 23rd Judicial District in January — the first new judicial district in the state in 62 years.
Lawmakers voted in 2020 to break the four-county 18th Judicial District — which was by far the most populated judicial district in the state — into two, and Brauchler was elected this November to take the helm of the new office. Amy Padden will serve as district attorney in the 18th Judicial District, which will consist solely of Arapahoe County.
Brauchler on Wednesday stood with nearly three dozen politicians and law enforcement officers and declared that he planned to put criminals in jail as often as he can.
“If you come down here with the intent to victimize us, to steal from us, your expectation should be incarceration,” Brauchler said in a wide-ranging news conference that focused on general themes of law and order.
Brauchler suggested that people who are charged with theft should face jail time as often as possible, even if that means police officers briefly book someone into jail on a minor theft charge instead of issuing them a summons, that is, a ticket with an order to return to court to face charges.
“Every thief goes to jail,” Brauchler said. “That’s the message this community wants.”
Theft under $300 is a petty offense in Colorado, which means it carries a presumptive personal recognizance, or PR, bond. People charged with petty offenses in most cases should be released from jail without paying monetary bail. Because of that, many officers charge such defendants through summons — citations that order defendants to later return to court — without physically taking them to jail.
Brauchler, who previously served two terms as DA in the 18th Judicial District, suggested officers should make the trip to jail with such defendants.
“My focus is, we are going to grab you up, you are going to get the ride to jail, and we are going to take a look if you fit something other than this PR bond, and, if not, we are going to release you,” he said in an interview.
He acknowledged that such trips to jail would in many cases result in a few hours of incarceration at most, but said that was more of a deterrent than a summons.
George Brauchler, the newly elected district attorney for the newly formed 23rd Judicial District, speaks during a press conference at the Douglas County Administration Building in Castle Rock, Colorado on Dec. 18, 2024. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly said Wednesday that his office supports an aggressive approach to crime management. The Douglas County jail has room for 520 inmates, but routinely keeps an average population of about 345 inmates, he said, and the sheriff’s office is fully staffed and equipped to handle more incarcerated people.
But he doesn’t expect much to change on the ground for his deputies. Since he took office, Weekly has asked deputies to book people into jail whenever possible, he said, and that will remain the goal, though whether deputies drive someone to jail will depend on how busy they are and the particulars of the case.
“I truly believe if people know there are going to be consequences, if they know if they come into Douglas County, they’re going to be arrested… if they know they will be taken into custody, that is a game-changer,” Weekly said.
And while police departments broadly declared their support for Brauchler’s approach on Wednesday, it wasn’t immediately clear how his vision would be practically implemented outside of the prosecutor’s office.
Lone Tree police Chief Kirk Wilson said organized retail theft is a major concern in his city, and said the thefts are often connected to other more serious crimes. But he doesn’t plan to shift how the department makes arrests.
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“We’re not really going to change anything on our side,” he said. “…We just evaluate each situation on its own merits, and some people we will serve (cituations) and release, but others, due to other circumstances, if they have drugs on them or in a stolen car, they’re probably going to be booked.”
He added that the classic perception of shoplifting — in which a person steals one or two items tucked in their jacket — is no longer what police officers see most often. In the last few years, they’ve seen more organized efforts by repeat offenders and coordinated groups to steal as much merchandise as possible from a store in a single go, he said, like by taking a suitcase from a shelf and filling it with goods, then running out the door.
“Today it looks like, quite frankly, a fentanyl addict and two of his buddies going into a store and robbing it in broad daylight, not with weapons, but taking as much as they can and walking out the store,” he said. “I’m supportive of holding people accountable for these acts.”
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