(1) (a) The commission may, by resolution that meets the requirements of subsection (2) of this section, authorize and issue revenue bonds in an amount not to exceed ten million dollars in the aggregate for expenses of the division. Such bonds may be issued only after approval by both houses of the general assembly acting either by bill or joint resolution and after approval by the governor in accordance with section 39 of article V of the state constitution. Such bonds shall be payable only from moneys allocated to the division for expenses of the division pursuant to section 33-1-112.
(b) All bonds issued by the commission shall provide that:
(I) No holder of any such bond may compel the state or any subdivision thereof to exercise its appropriation or taxing power; and
(II) The bond does not constitute a debt of the state and is payable only from the net revenues allocated to the division for expenses as designated in such bond.
(2) (a) Any resolution authorizing the issuance of bonds under the terms of this section shall state:
(I) The date of issuance of the bonds;
(II) A maturity date or dates during a period not to exceed thirty years from the date of issuance of the bonds;
(III) The interest rate or rates on, and the denomination or denominations of, the bonds; and
(IV) The medium of payment of the bonds and the place where the bonds will be paid.
(b) Any resolution authorizing the issuance of bonds under the terms of this section may:
(I) State that the bonds are to be issued in one or more series;
(II) State a rank or priority of the bonds; and
(III) Provide for redemption of the bonds prior to maturity, with or without premium.
(3) Any bonds issued pursuant to the terms of this section may be sold at public or private sale. If bonds are to be sold at a public sale, the commission shall advertise the sale in such manner as the commission deems appropriate. All bonds issued pursuant to the terms of this section shall be sold at a price not less than the par value thereof, together with all accrued interest to the date of delivery.
(4) Notwithstanding any provisions of law to the contrary, all bonds issued pursuant to this section are negotiable.
(5) (a) A resolution pertaining to issuance of bonds under this section may contain covenants as to:
(I) The purpose to which the proceeds of sale of the bonds may be applied and to the use and disposition thereof;
(II) Such matters as are customary in the issuance of revenue bonds including, without limitation, the issuance and lien position of other or additional bonds; and
(III) Books of account and the inspection and audit thereof.
(b) Any resolution made pursuant to the terms of this section shall be deemed a contract with the holders of the bonds, and the duties of the commission under such resolution shall be enforceable by any appropriate action in a court of competent jurisdiction.
(6) Bonds issued under this section and bearing the signatures of the commission in office on the date of the signing shall be deemed valid and binding obligations regardless of whether, prior to delivery and payment, any or all of the persons whose signatures appear thereon have ceased to be members of the commission.
(7) (a) Except as otherwise provided in the resolution authorizing the bonds, all bonds of the same issue under this section shall have a prior and paramount lien on the net revenues pledged therefor. The commission may provide for preferential security for any bonds, both principal and interest, to be issued under this section to the extent deemed feasible and desirable by such commission over any bonds that may be issued thereafter.
(b) Bonds of the same issue or series issued under this section shall be equally and ratably secured, without priority by reason of number, date, sale, execution, or delivery, by a lien on the net revenue pledged in accordance with the terms of the resolution authorizing the bonds.
Source: L. 2001: Entire section added, p. 202, � 2, effective July 1.
33-1-125. Colorado nongame conservation and wildlife restoration cash fund - creation - disbursement of money - wildlife rehabilitation grant program - authority and board created - process - report - definitions. (1) (a) There is hereby created in the state treasury the Colorado nongame conservation and wildlife restoration cash fund, referred to in this section as the fund. The fund consists of voluntary contributions made through part 7 of article 22 of title 39, less any appropriation to the department of revenue pursuant to section 39-22-703; any money credited pursuant to section 33-6-105 (1); and all interest derived from the deposit and investment of money in the fund and credited to the fund by the state treasurer. All unexpended and unencumbered money remaining in the fund at the end of any fiscal year must remain in the fund and must not revert back to the general fund or any other fund or be used for any purpose other than the purposes set forth in this section. The division shall expend money from the fund as specified in, and for the implementation of, this section.
(b) The moneys in the fund must be apportioned and used as follows:
(I) For up to the first two hundred fifty thousand dollars credited to the fund in any fiscal year:
(A) Ninety percent of the moneys credited to the fund in any fiscal year shall be used by the division in preserving, protecting, perpetuating, and enhancing nongame and endangered wildlife in the state, including the division's administrative expenses in connection therewith, and for the division's costs in providing staff support to the board created in subsection (3) of this section; and
(B) Ten percent of the moneys credited to the fund in any fiscal year shall be used for grants to wildlife rehabilitators in accordance with subsection (4) of this section.
(II) For any moneys over the initial two hundred fifty thousand dollars credited to the fund in any fiscal year:
(A) Seventy-five percent of those additional moneys shall be used by the division in preserving, protecting, perpetuating, and enhancing nongame and endangered wildlife in the state, including the division's administrative expenses in connection therewith, and for the division's costs in providing staff support to the board created in subsection (3) of this section; and
(B) Twenty-five percent of those additional moneys shall be used for grants to wildlife rehabilitators in accordance with subsection (4) of this section.
(2) There is hereby created the Colorado nongame conservation and wildlife restoration cash fund authority, referred to in this section as the authority. The authority is not an agency of state government and is not subject to administrative direction by any state agency except as provided in this section.
(3) (a) (I) The powers of the authority are vested in a board of directors, referred to in this section as the board. The board consists of the following seven members, each of whom is appointed by the director pursuant to an application process:
(A) Two representatives from private-sector Colorado wildlife rehabilitation organizations;
(B) One representative of the Colorado federation of animal welfare agencies or its successor organization;
(C) One employee of the division;
(D) One wildlife biologist employed by a state institution of higher education or by a nonstate entity;
(E) One member of a recognized wildlife conservation organization with local and national affiliates whose mission focuses on conservation and restoration of natural ecosystems and on habitat protection for biodiversity, and whose membership enjoys significantly nonconsumptive uses of wildlife; and
(F) One member of the general public with an interest in nonconsumptive uses of wildlife or wildlife rehabilitation.
(II) The director shall establish a process through which applications for appointments to the board are developed, received, and evaluated.
(b) (I) Appointments to the board are for three-year terms. Each member serves at the pleasure of the director and continues in office until the member's successor is appointed and qualified. The director shall make the initial appointments to the board no later than September 1, 2017.
(II) Repealed.
(c) On the expiration of the term of a member of the board, the director shall either reappoint that member or appoint that member's successor for a term of three years; except that, in the case of a vacancy, the director's appointee serves for the remainder of the unexpired term. A person shall not serve more than six years on the board.
(d) Members of the board serve without compensation for any service provided to the authority. Members do not receive any reimbursement from the board for any expenses incurred fulfilling their responsibilities pursuant to this section.
(e) (I) Except as provided in subsection (3)(e)(II) of this section, the authority, created pursuant to subsection (2) of this section, shall not be funded by or through any state agency.
(II) The division shall provide staff support to the board for the purposes of implementing this section.
(III) The board shall develop, adopt, and implement guidelines and practices for its own operation and for receiving and evaluating applications for grant moneys from the fund in accordance with subsection (4) of this section, including practices to detect and avoid board member conflicts of interest; the timing of the application submissions and grant disbursement, which timing must take into account the unique seasonal demands presented by wildlife rehabilitation efforts; and criteria to score or otherwise assess grant applications. Nothing in this section authorizes the board to promulgate rules to implement this section.
(4) (a) (I) The division shall expend moneys from the fund, pursuant to recommendations made by the board, for the purpose of making grants to wildlife rehabilitators in order to facilitate wildlife rehabilitation in Colorado.
(II) As used in this section:
(A) Wildlife rehabilitation means the process of providing aid to injured, orphaned, displaced, or distressed wildlife animals in such a way that they may survive when released to their native habitats. The term includes activities such as providing direct medical and other care to wildlife, arranging suitable release sites, anticipating and helping to prevent problems with wildlife, operational or capital expenses, and humanely resolving human-wildlife conflicts.
(B) Wildlife rehabilitator means a person licensed as a wildlife rehabilitator by the division.
(b) Nothing in this section requires a wildlife rehabilitator to provide matching funds or to be a registered nonprofit organization pursuant to section 501 (c)(3) of the internal revenue code as a condition to applying for or receiving grant moneys.
(c) Grants are awarded from the fund in accordance with a grant approval process developed by the board. A member of the board shall not vote on any grant application in which the member is interested.
(d) Grants awarded from the fund must be in amounts from one thousand dollars to thirty thousand dollars; except that, for any fiscal year in which an amount less than five thousand dollars is transferred to the fund for the purposes of the grant program pursuant to subsection (1)(b)(II)(B) of this section, the board shall endeavor to award grants in amounts that maximize wildlife rehabilitation efforts to the greatest extent possible.
(e) Grant moneys awarded under this subsection (4) may be used by wildlife rehabilitators for the rehabilitation of both game and nongame wildlife species; except that grant moneys shall not be used to rehabilitate exotic wildlife.
(f) Wildlife rehabilitators must execute a contract with the division in order to receive any grant moneys awarded. Such contracts must require, at a minimum, that rehabilitation projects funded in whole or in part through grant moneys will be performed or managed by the grantee.
(g) Grantees shall submit annual reports, in accordance with a schedule developed by the board, to the division describing how grant moneys they received have been expended. The division shall make the grant recipients and amounts and the annual reports available on its official website.
(5) The board is subject to the Colorado Open Records Act, part 2 of article 72 of title 24, and to the open meetings provisions of the Colorado Sunshine Act of 1972 contained in part 4 of article 6 of title 24. For purposes of the Colorado Open Records Act, part 2 of article 72 of title 24, the records of the board and the authority are public records.
Source: L. 2017: Entire section added, (HB 17-1250), ch. 362, p. 1895, � 2, effective August 9. L. 2019: (1)(a) amended, (HB 19-1026), ch. 423, p. 3702, � 39, effective July 1. L. 2020: (3)(b)(I) amended, (SB 20-136), ch. 70, p. 300, � 58, effective September 14.
Editor's note: Subsection (3)(b)(II)(B) provided for the repeal of subsection (3)(b)(II), effective September 1, 2019. (See L. 2017, p. 1895.)
Cross references: (1) For the short title (Respect the Great Outdoors Act) and the legislative declaration in HB 19-1026, see sections 1 and 2 of chapter 423, Session Laws of Colorado 2019.
(2) For the legislative declaration in SB 20-136, see section 1 of chapter 70, Session Laws of Colorado 2020.
33-1-126. Prohibiting certain animals in a traveling animal act - short title - definitions. (1) The short title of this section is the Traveling Animal Protection Act.
(2) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:
(a) Cause a performance means to allow for the participation of an animal in a performance, to be responsible for a performance, to financially benefit as an owner or operator from a performance, to financially benefit as a person who owns or controls a property used for a performance, or to use any means of communication for the purpose of promoting a performance on behalf of the owner or operator of a performance or the venue for a performance.
(b) Environmental education program means an animal exhibition that:
(I) Is designed by a professional to impart knowledge or information for educational or conservation purposes about one or more animals' natural behavior, habitat, life cycle, or similar pedagogical information;
(II) Is conducted by an individual qualified to impart such information; and
(III) Does not include any performance of behavior by an animal that does not naturally occur for that animal in the wild state, except for industry-standard husbandry practices for veterinary purposes.
(c) Performance means any animal act, circus, ride, carnival, parade, race, performance, or similar undertaking in which animals are:
(I) Required to perform tricks, give rides, or participate as accompaniments for the entertainment, amusement, or benefit of an audience; or
(II) Used primarily for photographic purposes.
(d) Rodeo means a competition involving livestock, as defined in section 35-80-102 (9); alternative livestock, as defined in section 35-41.5-102 (1); or both.
(e) Traveling animal act means any performance of an animal where the animal is transported to, from, or between locations for the purpose of the performance.
(3) Except as provided in subsection (4) of this section, a person shall not cause a performance of the following animals, including hybrids of the following animals, whether wild-borne or captive-bred, in a traveling animal act:
(a) Cetartiodactyla other than bison, cattle, deer, elk, goats, reindeer, swine, and sheep;
(b) Felidae other than domestic cats;
(c) Wild canidae other than domestic dogs;
(d) Marsupialia;
(e) Nonhuman primates;
(f) Perissodactyla other than horses, donkeys, and mules;
(g) Pinnipedia;
(h) Proboscidea;
(i) Ratites;
(j) Spheniscidae; and
(k) Ursidae.
(4) This section does not prohibit the use of an animal specified in subsection (3) of this section:
(a) In an exhibition at a:
(I) Wildlife sanctuary; or
(II) Nonmobile, permanent institution, facility, zoo, or aquarium accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums or the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries, or any successor organizations;
(b) If the animal is livestock, as defined in section 35-80-102 (9), or alternative livestock, as defined in section 35-41.5-102 (1);
(c) As part of an environmental education program if:
(I) The animal is not used more than six months in a calendar year; and
(II) The animal is not kept in a vehicle for more than twelve hours per day, when the vehicle is used to transport or house the animal while traveling to, from, or between locations for performance purposes;
(d) By a university, college, laboratory, or other research facility properly licensed or registered under the federal Animal Welfare Act of 1970, 7 U.S.C. sec. 2131 et seq., as amended, for the purpose of conducting research;
(e) For the sole purpose of a film, as defined in section 24-48.5-114 (1), or a television production, if the use in the film or television production does not involve a live animal exhibition or performance conducted before an audience or interaction with an audience, the public, clients, or customers; or
(f) At a rodeo or county fair.
(5) A person who violates this section is guilty of an unclassified misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than two hundred fifty dollars and not more than one thousand dollars per violation.
(6) This section does not prohibit working dog trials, livestock or horse shows, or any other exhibition involving livestock.
Source: L. 2021: Entire section added, (SB 21-135), ch. 137, p. 774, � 1, effective September 7; (5) amended, (SB 21-271), ch. 462, p. 3331, � 801, effective March 1, 2022.