Back when he was a state representative, El Paso County Commissioner Mark Waller sponsored 2010’s House Bill 1352, a groundbreaking law that reduced sentencing for drug offenses in Colorado, emphasizing drug treatment programs as a supplement or alternative to prison, and pumping savings from reduced sentencing into community-based treatment programs.
Waller, by the way, is a former prosecutor and a Republican. At the time, Waller says it was thought the bill would save Colorado tens of millions of dollars in incarceration costs over the years, but thus far costs haven’t dropped — an outcome he blames on unions in the prison system. Though that frustrates him, he says he’s still glad the bill passed: „It’s so important for us to be smart on crime rather than tough on crime.“