Getting a Job After Prison in Colorado

There is one question that determines whether you get hired. Not the application. Not the background check. Not what the charge was or how long you were inside.

The question is this: why you, over the thirty other people I could hire who don't have a criminal record?

If you walk in without a ready answer, you will not get the job. The interviewer can see the pause the moment you don't have something prepared, and once they see it, the room shifts against you. What you need is an answer practiced enough to say with confidence and humility at the same time.

The answer that works is this:

Everybody deserves a second chance. Somebody is going to give me one. And they are going to get the best employee they ever had, because I am never, ever going to do something that sends me back to prison.

Say it clean. Say it without flinching. It makes no excuses, asks for no sympathy, and tells the employer the one thing they actually need to know: you have more reason to perform than anyone else in that stack.

Then live it. The light is on you from the first day. Use it. Work twice as hard as the person next to you. Show up earlier, stay later, and make that scrutiny your shining light, not a shadow. The person standing next to you does not have anyone watching them that closely. You do. That is the advantage if you decide to use it.

What the Law in Colorado Says About Your Record

Colorado has meaningful legal protection in place for returning citizens entering the job market. Understanding exactly what it covers changes how you approach the search.

The Colorado Chance to Compete Act (HB19-1025, C.R.S. Section 8-2-130), effective September 1, 2021 for all employers, prohibits private employers with eleven or more employees from asking about criminal history on the initial job application. Employers also cannot advertise that people with criminal records may not apply, and cannot require disclosure of criminal history until after the first interview or a conditional offer of employment. The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment enforces the law. Complaints are filed with CDLE; the law does not allow private lawsuits.

There are exceptions where employers may ask about criminal history upfront: where state, local, or federal law prohibits employing a person with a specific criminal history in the role; where the employer is required by law to conduct a criminal background check; and where the position involves unsupervised access to children or vulnerable populations. These are narrow categories, not blanket permission.

Denver has a local ordinance with expanded requirements on top of the state law. Denver requires employers to provide a written pre-adverse action notice and give applicants ten business days to respond before a final denial based on criminal history. Denver's ordinance also prohibits asking about non-convictions, dismissed cases, and juvenile records, and requires training for hiring managers on fair chance practices.

Colorado employers cannot ask about criminal records that have been sealed or expunged. If your record has been sealed, you generally have the right to answer that you have no such record.

Colorado HB 1004, effective August 7, 2024, made major changes to occupational licensing. Licensing boards in Colorado can no longer consider certain prior criminal convictions. Any conviction they do consider must directly correlate to the profession being licensed. The lookback period is limited to three years from either the conviction date or the completion of the sentence, whichever is more recent. If you want to know before investing in training whether a conviction would disqualify you, you can petition the licensing board for a preliminary determination. The reform affects more than fifty regulatory programs in the state.

Building the Answer Before You Need It

Colorado law gets you past the application and into the conversation. But the conversation still happens, and the question is still coming.

Start with what you did with your time inside. Colorado's Department of Corrections provides pre-release job readiness training, and Employment and Training Navigators work specifically with parolees on job readiness and training funding. If you participated in any education, vocational training, or work programs inside, that is content, not a gap.

Then connect it to the specific job. Construction, hospitality, warehouse, and trades are the sectors in Colorado where returning citizens find the most accessible entry points. Match your answer to what the employer in front of you actually needs, not a general request for understanding.

Practice out loud. To another person. Until the hesitation is gone entirely. The Chance to Compete Act got you in the door. Your answer keeps you there.

Companies in Colorado That Hire People with Criminal Records

Several employers with significant Colorado operations have publicly committed to fair chance hiring or are known to evaluate applicants with records individually. Denver's large construction, warehouse, logistics, hospitality, and transit sectors create consistent entry-level demand.

Amazon operates fulfillment and logistics facilities in the Denver metro and along the Front Range and is a national fair chance employer. Walmart, Home Depot, and Target have Colorado operations and corporate second chance commitments. Goodwill of Colorado operates the ReHire Colorado program, a statewide transitional employment initiative providing paid on-the-job training and workforce support for people with employment barriers. Hospitality, restaurants, grocery, retail, automotive dealerships, and construction trades are identified by Denver reentry organizations as the most active fair chance hiring sectors in the metro area.

The Colorado DOC has worked with the Latino Coalition for Community Leadership and other organizations to build a network of first-chance employers specifically interested in hiring recently released individuals. Contact the Second Chance Center or your parole Employment and Training Navigator to access those employer connections.

Staffing agencies remain the most reliable first step. Labor staffing firms in Denver, Colorado Springs, Aurora, and the Front Range place workers in warehouse, manufacturing, and light industrial roles with more flexibility than direct hire.

For the full national list of companies with public fair chance commitments, see the InmateAid Fair Chance Employer Reference List.

The Tax Credit Employers Get for Hiring You

Here is the closing argument for every conversation with an employer on the fence.

There is a federal program called the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, or WOTC. When an employer hires someone from a qualifying group, including individuals recently released from prison, the employer may receive a significant federal tax credit per qualifying hire. That is not charity. It is a business incentive the federal government created specifically to make hiring returning citizens financially advantageous.

You are not asking anyone to take a risk on you. You are telling them your hire comes with a tax benefit attached that none of the other thirty applicants can offer. Say it at the end of the interview, after you have made your case: I qualify for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit. Hiring me may put money back in your business. And I will give you the best work you have ever gotten from a new hire, because I have too much to lose to give you anything less.

Colorado's Connecting Colorado workforce centers coordinate WOTC certification for employers statewide.

Where to Get Help in Colorado

The Colorado Workforce Development Council and Connecting Colorado workforce centers operate statewide providing job search assistance, resume help, training referrals, and WOTC coordination. Find your nearest workforce center through Connecting Colorado at connectingcolorado.com.

Second Chance Center operates in Aurora and Denver, founded by Hassan Latif who spent more than seventeen years incarcerated. Second Chance Center provides free transformational services including employment support, career pathways, mentoring, and case management. Their Never Going Back program focuses on the cognitive and behavioral work that sustains real change. Aurora location: 224 Potomac Street, Aurora, 303-537-5838. Denver location: 1391 Delaware Street.

The Center for Employment Opportunities operates in Colorado and provides transitional jobs, job placement, and employer connections specifically for returning citizens. CEO is one of the most rigorously evaluated reentry employment organizations in the country.

Goodwill of Colorado's ReHire Colorado program is a statewide transitional employment initiative providing paid on-the-job training and career development for people with employment barriers, administered in collaboration with the Colorado Department of Human Services.

Colorado DOC Employment and Training Navigators work specifically with parolees on job readiness, soft skills, and funding for job training through workforce centers and technical schools. Contact your parole officer or the Division of Adult Parole at 303-763-2423.

Community Works in Denver (6000 East Evans Avenue, 720-354-6640) provides job readiness training, life skills classes, professional clothing, and ongoing support after employment.

Remerg.com is Colorado's free reentry resource hub with more than 1,400 organizations searchable by topic or zip code. It is one of the most practical self-service tools available to returning citizens in the state.

The Federal Bonding Program, available through Colorado workforce centers, provides free fidelity bonding to employers who hire returning citizens. Ask your workforce center counselor to connect a prospective employer with this program.