Prison in Colorado: Security Levels, Earned Time, and Parole

Prison in Colorado is run by the Colorado Department of Corrections, which operates 21 facilities: 19 state-run and two private.¹ The system is governed by Title 17 of the Colorado Revised Statutes, which sets the rules for classification, earned time, parole, and nearly every other aspect of an inmate’s sentence.² The executive director, appointed by the governor, oversees both the prisons and statewide parole services. What follows covers what actually matters day to day: where a sentence begins, how security level and earned time work, the rules families and visitors run into, and the two paths that lead back out.

Where a Sentence Begins

Everyone sentenced to a Colorado state prison starts at the Denver Reception and Diagnostic Center. Built in 1991, DRDC is the intake point for the whole CDOC system.³ Intake includes medical screening, mental health evaluation, and risk assessment under the Colorado Diagnostic Program, which C.R.S. 17-40-102 requires for every person sentenced by a Colorado court.⁴

Classification staff weigh the offense, sentence length, behavioral history, education, and vocational needs. The phase typically lasts several weeks. Once a security score is set, the person is transported to the facility that matches their custody level and, when possible, offers programs suited to their case plan.

Security Levels

Colorado assigns every facility one of five security levels, based on physical barriers, staffing, and surveillance:⁵

Level I (Minimum) has marked boundaries but no required perimeter fencing. Delta Correctional Center is a Level I facility.
Level II (Minimum-Restricted) adds more structured perimeter controls, generally for inmates approaching reintegration.
Level III (Medium) uses towers or double perimeter fencing with razor wire, detection devices, and continuously patrolled perimeters. Buena Vista Correctional Complex operates at this level.
Level IV (Close) requires rigorous monitoring, controlled internal movement, and fortified perimeters.
Level V (Maximum) is the highest, with double perimeter fencing, razor wire, detection systems, and typically towers or stun-lethal fencing. Colorado State Penitentiary in Fremont County is a Level V facility.

Classification is not fixed. Consistent program participation and clean conduct can move someone to a lower level. Disciplinary violations move them the other way.

Earned Time

Colorado allows most inmates to earn up to ten days off their sentence for each month of incarceration. The credit is not automatic. The case manager must certify progress in work performance, cooperation in group living, participation in counseling and self-help groups, and progress toward diagnostic-program goals.⁶

People serving time for class 4, 5, or 6 felonies, or level 3 or 4 drug felonies, can earn up to twelve days per month if they meet extra conditions: no serious disciplinary violation in the prior 24 months, program compliance, and no prior conviction for certain violent or sexual offenses. Over a multi-year sentence the extra two days a month add up.⁶

Inmates working at disaster sites earn one additional day of credit for every day on site. A single serious disciplinary infraction can erase months of accumulated earned time.

Prison Labor After Amendment A

In 2018, Colorado voters approved Amendment A by roughly two to one, removing the constitutional exception that had allowed involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime. The state constitution now reads: “There shall never be in this state either slavery or involuntary servitude.”

An inmate filed a class-action lawsuit in 2022 challenging CDOC’s work requirements. In February 2026, a Denver district court judge ruled that CDOC’s inmate work requirements as applied violate the amended state constitution. The ruling’s scope and any appeal are still open. In the meantime, the earned time statute still ties credit to work performance and cooperation, and refusing a work assignment risks lost credit, discipline, and consequences for housing and parole eligibility.

Medical Care and Copays

CDOC provides medical, dental, mental health, and optometric care. When an inmate initiates a visit with a provider, a copay applies. HB25-1026, a 2025 bill that would have eliminated the copay, was vetoed by the governor, so the fee remains.⁷ Amounts are small in absolute terms but significant against inmate wages that rarely exceed a few dollars per day. Emergency and involuntary mental health services are not subject to the same copay.

Sending Money and the Commissary

As of May 10, 2026, CorrectPay is the exclusive provider for electronic deposits to inmate accounts, replacing JPay. Deposits can be made online, through the CorrectPay app, or by phone, and every electronic transaction carries a vendor service fee.⁸

Before any deposit reaches an inmate’s spendable balance, CDOC withholds a minimum of 20 percent toward court-ordered fines, fees, restitution, or child support the inmate owes. The withholding is mandatory and applies to every deposit no matter who sends it.⁸

What remains goes to the commissary account, which the inmate uses to buy food, hygiene products, and other approved canteen items. Spending limits vary by facility and housing unit.⁹ Families can also order pre-approved care packages monthly, within the same limits.

Visiting Rules

Every visitor must submit an application and pass a background check. A copy of a current, valid government-issued photo ID must accompany the application, and the address on the ID must match the address on the form.¹⁰ Approval can take several weeks, and CDOC re-runs the background check annually.¹¹

The dress code trips up more visitors than any other rule. Solid gray, green, orange, white, or yellow clothing is prohibited, as is anything resembling inmate attire or camouflage. Shorts of any style and cargo pants are not allowed. Clothing cannot expose the cleavage line, back, or midriff. Skirts and dresses must reach at least the top of the knee. Jewelry inside the visiting area is limited to a wedding ring set, one religious medallion, and medical alert badges. Hats, hooded garments, jackets, and scarves stay outside, except for religious head coverings and disability accommodations.¹²

Visitors who arrive in the wrong colors or clothing are turned away. There is no loaner clothing. Check the dress code before you drive.

Phone, Mail, and Messaging

Phone calls, electronic messages, and physical mail are the three ways inmates stay in contact. HB23-1133 required CDOC to subsidize a portion of prison phone service costs, bringing per-minute rates down. Exact costs depend on call type and destination.

JPay tablets and messaging remained available through May 9, 2026, after which CorrectPay became the sole electronic services provider.⁸ Each electronic message carries a per-message fee. Physical mail is inspected for contraband and must follow facility-specific size and weight limits. All digital communications are monitored.

Contraband Penalties for Visitors

Bringing prohibited items into a Colorado prison is a criminal offense, not just grounds for losing visiting privileges. Introducing a dangerous instrument into a detention facility is a class 4 felony. The statute defines “dangerous instrument” broadly: firearms, explosives, ammunition, knives, sharpened objects, poison, acid, bludgeons, and any device capable of causing death or bodily injury. A class 4 felony in Colorado carries two to six years in prison plus a mandatory three-year parole period.¹³

Other contraband, such as unauthorized money, electronics, or drugs that don’t rise to a dangerous instrument, falls under a separate statute and can be charged as a class 6 felony or a class 2 misdemeanor depending on the circumstances. Anything you bring in that isn’t explicitly permitted can trigger criminal charges.

Getting Out: Parole and Community Corrections

Colorado has two release paths that operate before a sentence expires on its own: discretionary parole and mandatory parole. They are not the same thing.

Discretionary Parole

The Colorado State Board of Parole reviews inmates who have reached their parole eligibility date but not their mandatory release date. The Board applies evidence-based guidelines to decide whether the person presents a reasonable probability of not reoffending on parole.¹⁴ An interview, in person or by video or phone, happens within 90 days before the first eligibility date. If parole is denied, the Board sets a deferral period before the next hearing.¹⁵

Mandatory Parole

Mandatory parole is a supervised period every inmate must serve after finishing the incarceration portion of the sentence. Neither the court nor the offender can waive it. The length depends on offense level. Drug felonies, for example, carry mandatory parole periods ranging from one year for level 3 and 4 to three years for level 1.¹⁶ The Board sets conditions, destination, and duration within statutory limits and can discharge someone early if they’ve demonstrated sufficient rehabilitation.

Community Corrections

Many inmates pass through community corrections, commonly called halfway houses, before full release. For a violent offense, CDOC refers to community corrections nine months before parole eligibility, with placement possible six months before that date. For non-violent offenses, the referral comes at 19 months and placement at 16 months before eligibility.¹⁷

The process is graduated. Residents can eventually reach Intensive Supervision Program status, which allows living at an approved residence in the community under parole officer supervision. That requires being within 180 days of parole eligibility, meeting behavioral benchmarks, and having a residence plan approved by both the community corrections board and a parole officer.¹⁷

Whatever the path, parole officers enforce the conditions, including drug testing and electronic monitoring. Violations can send someone back to a CDOC facility to serve the remaining balance of the sentence.

1
Colorado Department of Corrections. Facilities
2
Justia. Colorado Code Title 17 – Corrections
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Colorado Department of Corrections. Denver Reception and Diagnostic Center
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Justia. Colorado Code 17-40-102 – Program Established
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Justia. Colorado Code 17-1-104.3 – Correctional Facilities – Locations – Security Level – Report
6
Justia. Colorado Code 17-22.5-405 – Earned Time
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Colorado General Assembly. HB25-1026 Repeal Copayment for DOC Inmate Health Care
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Colorado Department of Corrections. Send Money to an Inmate
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Colorado Department of Corrections. Canteen
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Colorado Department of Corrections. Visiting Applications
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Colorado Department of Corrections. General Information and Approval Process
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Colorado Department of Corrections. Visitation Rules and Procedures
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Justia. Colorado Code 18-8-203 – Introducing Contraband in the First Degree
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Colorado Department of Corrections. Parole
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Colorado State Parole Board. Parole Board Rules and Regulations
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Justia. Colorado Code 18-1.3-401.5 – Mandatory Parole
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Colorado Department of Corrections. Community Corrections