A Victory in the Fight Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation: Bill to Decriminalize Prostitution in Colorado Withdrawn

March 10, 2026

Victory! A state bill was withdrawn that would have fully decriminalized all aspects of prostitution in Colorado, less than two days before a scheduled public hearing and committee vote. The proposal of this legislation one month ago was met with forceful resistance, by Street Grace and many others that advocate for a world free of commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking. This development represents a hard-fought victory that was achieved by rallying vocal opposition across a broad spectrum, from concerned citizens to law enforcement leaders, advocacy groups dedicated to personal safety and freedom from exploitation, and from both Republican and Democratic legislators and executives.

The Bill, SB26-097, “An Act Concerning Decriminalizing Commercial Sexual Activity Among Consenting Adults” would have eliminated all state criminal laws against prostitution. The bill would have repealed the state criminal offenses of prostitution, soliciting for prostitution, keeping a place of prostitution, patronizing a prostitute, and prostitute making display. It also called for the elimination of the offense of pandering when it involves knowingly arranging or offering to arrange a situation that permits a person to practice prostitution. The bill also would have eliminated a court program for persons charged with a range of prostitution-related offenses.

Vocal bipartisan opposition from Colorado lawmakers was widely circulated, including a Change.org petition opposing SB26-097 signed by Colorado Governor Jared Polis and U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, all Democrats. Numerous Republican state legislators went on record as opposing the bill, including Senators Lisa Frizell, Barbara Kirkmeyer, Janice Rich, Zamora Wilson, and Representative Jarvis Caldwell. Editorial comments were published from concerned residents of Colorado, and an editorial from the board of the Denver Gazette was entitled, “Legal Prostitution? A New Legislative Low.”

Among the more impactful public statements of opposition was an editorial by El Paso County Sheriff Joe Roybal, who wrote:

“SB 26-097 repeals multiple criminal offenses, including prostitution, solicitation, patronizing a prostitute, keeping a place of prostitution, public display for prostitution, and key provisions of pandering related to arranging prostitution. Collectively, these repeals would significantly reduce law enforcement’s ability to intervene in situations frequently intertwined with human trafficking, exploitation, organized crime, drug activity, and violence against vulnerable individuals. Although the bill applies only to “consenting adults,” history shows coercion, fraud, addiction, and economic pressure are often present, making true consent difficult to determine. Removing critical investigative tools risks increasing exploitation while reducing opportunities to identify and assist victims.”

Within days of the bill being proposed last month, Street Grace produced a social media post in which we argued: “This is a dangerous bill that, if passed, would expand the number of victims of sexual exploitation, and undermine efforts to prevent sex trafficking, pursue and punish traffickers, and provide victim support. Passage of this bill would be disastrous for the state of Colorado, and would set a precedent making it more likely that other states would follow… Colorado has widespread and severe problems arising from the sex trade, and decriminalization of prostitution will make them worse.”

While this is a victory to be celebrated, the fight continues elsewhere. In the past several years, bills to fully decriminalize prostitution have been introduced in at least nine other states (HI, IL, LA, MA, NY, OR, PA, RI, and VT) and the District of Columbia. In most of these states, the bill currently lay dormant but may be pushed through for committee votes and hearings at any time.

We thank those of you who reached out to Colorado legislators or voiced their opposition through social or legacy media, and look forward to your support in the battles ahead!