LCS Wins Two National Awards at NCSL Summit in Chicago

In the halls of the Colorado State Capitol, the work of non-partisan staff often hums quietly in the background, essential to the machinery of lawmaking but rarely grabbing headlines.

That changed this year in Chicago, where the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) recognized the Colorado Legislative Council Staff (LCS) with two major honors for their contributions to civic engagement and complex policy research.

The awards highlight a dual-track success for the state: one focused on the public-facing mission of the Capitol, and the other on the rigorous, often difficult, analysis of the state’s correctional system.

A Modern Approach to Civic Engagement

Mac Brown, of the LCS Visitor Services section, received the Legislative Staff Achievement Award from the National Legislative Services and Security Association. Since joining the team in 2019, Brown has transformed how the public interacts with the state’s seat of government. By modernizing training for volunteers and summer guides, Brown ensured that the Capitol’s human touch remained consistent even as the building’s footprint expanded.

Beyond internal operations, Brown bridged the gap between history and digital culture. By establishing a formal social media usage policy, Brown curated the Capitol’s presence on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook, turning these platforms into digital extensions of the state’s history. These efforts, alongside the creation of specialty tours—including the popular October “Spooky Tours”—have provided new avenues for Coloradans to engage with their legislature.

The impact of this work extends to the physical planning of the Capitol’s 150th Colorado Day celebration and the coordination of the 2026 national conference held in Denver. For Brown, whose background is in vocal performance, these projects represent a commitment to making the legislative process accessible.

The High Cost of Incarceration

While Brown’s work focused on the public face of the legislature, a separate team of policy and research staff earned the NCSL Notable Document Award for their deep-dive report on Special Needs Parole and Correctional Release Options. The report, mandated by Senate Bill 25-190, tackled a sobering reality: Colorado’s aging prison population and the mounting financial burden of medical care behind bars.

The findings, presented by authors Juliann Jenson, Brendan Fung, Clayton Mayfield, and Eliyah Chadioun, paint a picture of a system at a crossroads. Nearly 1 in 4 Colorado inmates, or about 4,000 inmates, are age 50 or older, a demographic shift that has driven inmate health care costs to $154 million for the 2025-26 fiscal year—roughly 14 percent of the Department of Corrections’ total General Fund appropriation.

The report underscores a significant bottleneck in current policy. While the law allows for special needs parole for those who are seriously ill or no longer pose a public safety threat, the approval rate remains low.

Between 2021 and 2024, the Parole Board approved only 39 out of 176 reviewed cases. Researchers found that the primary obstacle is not the legal framework itself, but the lack of housing and medical infrastructure available for these individuals upon release.

The Economics of Aging Inmates

The data suggests that the state’s current approach is not only a humanitarian challenge but an economic one. According to the study, transitioning 34 eligible inmates to community-based placements could yield an estimated $2.1 million in initial savings by reducing medical and county jail reimbursement costs.

However, the transition is complicated by the loss of federal benefits. Because inmates cannot receive Medicaid or Medicare while incarcerated, the process for regaining eligibility upon release is complex, often leaving individuals without the resources needed for assisted living. The report points to models in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont, where public-private partnerships have successfully funded long-term care facilities, with Medicaid covering 50 to 80 percent of the costs.

For the state legislature, the takeaway is clear: the status quo comes with a rising price tag. Retrofitting existing facilities or building new ones carries significant upfront costs, but the study suggests these investments may be necessary to address the long-term fiscal pressure of an aging prison population.

This award-winning analysis provides a roadmap for future policy decisions, setting the stage for discussions on how Colorado might balance public safety with the rising costs of geriatric care in the justice system.