Does Colorado have the death penalty?

DENVER (KDVR) -- As of 2023, there are 27 states that still have the death penalty and 23 that have abolished it.

On Monday, a surge of people went to Google to ask whether the Centennial State had the death penalty.

Does Colorado still have the death penalty?

No, it does not. A bill was signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis in March 2020 that abolished it.

This means that the maximum sentence a person can receive in Colorado is life without the possibility of parole.

Even though the bill did not apply to the three people who had already been sentenced to death and were awaiting execution, Gov. Polis commuted their sentences to life in prison without parole after signing the bill.

The three people who had their sentences commuted were Nathan Dunlap, Mario Owens and Robert Ray.

What crimes have been punishable by death?

Before the death penalty was abolished, a jur...