Colo. Rev. Stat. » Title 16
Colorado Revised Statutes

Colo. Rev. Stat. § 16-17-101 (2026)

Governor may commute sentence

✓ current as of July 2026
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The governor is hereby fully authorized, when he deems it proper and advisable and consistent with the public interests and the rights and interests of the condemned, to commute the sentence in any case by reducing the penalty in a capital case to imprisonment for life or for a term of not less than twenty years at hard labor.

Source: L. 1872: p. 123, § 1. G.L. § 875. G.S. § 999. R.S. 08: § 2043. C.L. § 809. CSA: C. 131, § 117. CRS 53: § 105-6-1. C.R.S. 1963: § 105-6-1. L. 77: Entire section amended, p. 891, § 1, effective July 1.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 4 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1993–2025 · leading case: Herrera v. Collins, 506 U.S. 390 (1993).
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Herrera v. Collins, 506 U.S. 390 (1993). · cites it 2× “IV, § 7, Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 16-17-101 , 16-17-102 (1986); Conn.”
Ohio Adult Parole Auth. v. Woodard, 523 U.S. 272 (1998). · cites it 2× “IV, § 7, Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 16-17-101 , 16-17-102 (1997); Conn.”
The People of the State of Colorado v. Robert Keith Ray., 2025 CO 42 (Colo. 2025). · cites it 4× “" § 16-17-101, C.R.S. (2024). Thus, the Governor wasn't required to reduce Ray's sentence to LWOP; he had other options.”
Schwartz v. Owens, 134 P.3d 455 (Colo. Ct. App. 2005). · cites it 3× “Section 16-17-101, C.R.S.2005, addressing a death sentence in any capital ease, is not pertinent here.”
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