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Colorado could become the second state in the country to legalize prostitution if a new bill just introduced at the state legislature is successful.
Exchanging physical sexual favors for money isn’t explicitly outlawed by the federal government, which largely leaves such laws to the states. Nevada is the only state in the country with laws that allow for prostitution, however, with ten of that state’s seventeen counties sanctioning regulated, legal sex work. Colorado’s Senate Bill 26-097 would take that a step further, requiring local governments to opt into sex-work reform.
Introduced on February 11, SB 097 would decriminalize commercial sexual activity among consenting adults and repeal state criminal offenses for prostitution, soliciting prostitution, keeping a place for prostitution, patronizing prostitutes and prostitute making display, according to the bill summary. The measure would also call on “local licensing authorities” to regulate escort bureaus and massage parlors that charge for sexual activities, with each client-patron contract treated as a matter of public record.
Conducting such activities would be illegal for anyone under eighteen, with language in the bill protecting any victims of human trafficking from criminal or juvenile charges. Pandering, or trying to intimidate or menacingly induce a person into buying sex, would be a class five felony, which carries a $5,000 to $10,000 fine. Pimping, defined as living on or being supported by money earned by another person through sexual activity, would remain a class three felony.
The measure is supported by the ACLU of Colorado, but the towns of Fountain, Monument and Woodland Park have already registered in opposition, according to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office.
A push to decriminalize sex work gained political steam in Colorado in 2021. Although an actual bill didn’t materialize that year, Colorado lawmakers passed a law in 2022 granting immunity to sex workers when they report crimes. Colorado Governor Jared Polis and Attorney General Phil Weiser, a Democratic candidate for governor in 2026, have both been silent on the issue of sex-work decriminalization so far, but this bill’s sponsors — state senators Nick Hinrichsen and Lisa Cutter, and representative Lorena Garcia and Rebekah Stewart, all Democrats — think it’s time to make the leap to protect one of the world’s oldest and most vulnerable professions.
“Decriminalizing commercial sexual activity among consenting adults is a matter of statewide concern. Sex work transactions often occur online, spanning multiple local government jurisdictions,” the bill reads. “Sex workers deserve clarity and certainty that they can safely conduct business within the state, regardless of the local governing authority.”
According to a 2018 review of sex worker health and safety published in the PLOS Medicine journal, sex workers — most of them women — face “disproportionate risk of violence and sexual and emotional ill health” that is linked to the criminalization of their work. The review, based on studies and data from 1990 to 2018, found an “urgent need to reform sex-work-related laws and institutional practices so as to reduce harms and barriers to…health.”
Although the sixteen-page bill is a little light on regulatory details right now, SB 097 does say that a “director” could “deny a license” if an “applicant” fails a criminal background check or has been convicted of human trafficking charges. There would also be restrictions on locations where sex work solicitation could occur, according to the measure.
If lawmakers approve SB 097, people charged or convicted of prostitution before its implementation in July 2026 could apply to have their records sealed.
The measure has been assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee, but no hearing has been scheduled yet.
