ALAMOSA — In response to what Alamosa City Attorney Erich Schwiesow described as “frustration expressed by local business owners”, Alamosa City Council will consider during Wednesday night’s meeting an ordinance that amends a section of the city’s Code of Ordinances specifically related to the criminalization of certain offenses. As part of that same discussion, the council will also consider changing the punishment for theft to align with state statutes and adding a new ordinance concerning burglary.
“Council and staff have heard the frustration of local business owners seeing repeat offenders shoplifting, and of police on the street hearing that defendants are not deterred from shoplifting because there are essentially no consequences,” Schwiesow told the Valley Courier when questioned about the motivation for the change.
“[This] addresses an issue that has been discussed by Council and by the Police Department and City Attorney’s Office over the past few years concerning how the decriminalization of most municipal ordinances has played out in actual practice since Council instituted it in 2018,” he wrote.
According to background information provided by city staff to council members, ln 2018, city council passed an ordinance that removed jail as a potential sanction for violation of municipal ordinances. An exception was made for 18 specific ordinances that were viewed by council as serious enough to, should a defendant be convicted, merit a potential jail sentence.
Under the 2018 ordinance, if a person was found to have committed an offense not included among those 18 “serious” exceptions, that offense would not bring a jail sentence unless the person committed the same – or related – offense four times in two years.
“As Council discussed at its summer retreat,” the cover sheet to council reads, “experience with that change has indicated a need to provide for greater sanctions, especially on shoplifting, than currently allowed for under the decriminalization ordinance.
Also to be considered during Wednesday night’s meeting, the City of Alamosa doesn’t differentiate between the theft of property with different value or allow for clustering together multiple thefts of property in a short period of time into one single charge. If that combination of multiple theft charges were allowed, it would impact the value of the stolen property.
The City of Alamosa also does not have a provision for burglary which ties intent to commit a crime with unlawful entry. If passed, such a provision “can be used effectively to deter shoplifting where prior trespass notices have been issued to a defendant.
As was summarized by staff in the communication to council members, “The City of Alamosa is experiencing continued problems with repeat shoplifters and others who commit multiple violations of the City’s theft ordinance and related trespass ordinance in short spans of time, and who seem undeterred by the City’s current ordinance scheme from continuing to violate the City’s theft ordinances.”
In other words, the ordinance passed in 2018 that decriminalized certain violations of the law has adversely impacted businesses.
The new ordinance would change the repeated jailable offenses from four in two years to two years in one.
It criminalizes burglary and makes a jail sentence allowable even if it is a first offense.
It categorizes theft based on amounts and follows state statutes in allowed sentencing.
It allows for “adding together” multiple convictions for theft into a single larger figure that would, presumably, carry a potentially stiffer sentence.
It also allows for any theft over $300 to bring a potential jail sentence, even on first offense.
When asked by the Valley Courier what impact this may have on people who do not have sufficient means to pay a fine or bond out of jail while waiting for trial, Schwiesow wrote, “The proposed ordinance does not dictate jail for shoplifting twice in two years, it allows for it in the exercise of the municipal court’s discretion.
“A defendant’s income or wealth has nothing to do with that discretion - people arrested for ordinance violations are not subject to pre-trial incarceration. They are given a citation and summons to appear in court.
“If they fail to appear, a warrant is issued for their arrest, but the maximum amount of the bond for warrants the Alamosa Municipal Court issues has traditionally been $500, and the maximum duration of stay if a defendant does not bond out is 48 hours, pursuant to state law, unless a pre-trial detention order issues.
“Alamosa has not issued a pre-trial detention order under the current municipal judge.”
When asked if the Alamosa County Sheriff’s Office has been consulted on this ordinance – specifically in connection with their operation of the Alamosa County Detention Center that, historically, has faced challenges with being adequately staffed, Schwiesow responded, “There is likely to be an increase in the number of person-days at the jail for municipal defendants if this ordinance is passed, but given that the amount of person-days is still primarily dependent upon the exercise of judicial discretion in sentencing, and the criminal element in committing offenses in the first place, it is difficult to say with any certainty how large an increase that might be.
“You will note the meeting materials indicate that the estimate is that it will be no more than double. As far as impact on the jail, municipal defendants make up a small percentage of the inmate population at the jail at any given time, so whatever increase may be attributable to this ordinance would appear to be unlikely to cause any administrative changes at the jail.”
The Alamosa City Council will meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday night in council chambers, 300 Hunt Ave. To view the meeting via Zoom, go to the city's website, click on city council and click on the tab to join via zoom, which will take you directly to the site. Or, for people who prefer to join by phone dial 719-359-4580 and use Webinar ID: 857 5349 2744.
