HB 13-1264: Death Penalty Repeal Act

• Repeals the death penalty in Colorado for all offenses committed on or after July 1, 2013, making life imprisonment the maximum sentence for Class 1 felonies.

• Does not commute or alter sentences for defendants convicted before July 1, 2013, allowing existing death sentences to remain in effect.

• Establishes life imprisonment with no possibility of parole as the mandatory sentence for Class 1 felonies committed after the effective date.

• Includes legislative findings citing concerns about innocent executions, geographic disparities in capital prosecutions, disproportionate effects on minorities, higher costs of death penalty cases, and national trends away from capital punishment.

• Makes conforming amendments to Colorado law to replace references to "capital offenses" with "Class 1 felonies" in bail, appeals, and sentencing procedures.