Title 16, Criminal Proceedings

(1) It is the duty of a probation officer to investigate and report upon any case referred to him or her by the court for investigation. The probation officer shall furnish to each person released on probation under his or her supervision a written statement of the conditions of …

Any county court or juvenile court in this state may exercise the powers provided for and granted to district courts in this part 2, and the probation officers provided for in this part 2 shall also serve such courts in the same capacity as required by this part 2 for district co…

(1) Any two or more contiguous judicial districts may, by the election of the district judges or a majority of the judges of each district, combine in the formation of an interdistrict probation department; except that such formation shall be approved by the chief justice of the …

(1) (a) There is created in the state treasury the offender services fund to which must be credited one hundred percent of any cost of care payments or probation supervision fees paid to the state pursuant to section 18-1.3-204 (2)(a)(V) or 19-2.5-1120 and from which the general …

(1) Before July 1, 2023, the state court administrator shall develop a system of structured and individualized behavioral responses, including incentives and sanctions, to guide probation officers in determining how best to motivate positive behavior change and the appropriate re…

(1) As a general rule, imprisonment for the conviction of a felony by an adult offender shall be served by confinement in an appropriate facility as determined by the executive director of the department of corrections. In such cases, the court will sentence the offender to the c…

(1) (a) A defendant whose sentence was stayed pending appeal prior to July 1, 1972, but who was confined pending disposition of the appeal, is entitled to credit against the maximum and minimum terms of his sentence for the entire period of confinement served while the stay of ex…

(1) When any person is sentenced to any correctional facility, that person shall be deemed to be in the custody of the executive director of the department of corrections or his designee. (2) Any person sentenced pursuant to subsection (1) of this section shall initially be confi…

(1) The general assembly hereby finds and declares that the department of corrections needs to reduce the backlog of state prisoners in local jails and that such reduction may occur by means of contracting with local jails for jail space in an amount equal to the number of inmate…

The victim of any crime or a relative of the victim, if the victim has died, has the right to attend all sentencing proceedings resulting from a conviction of said crime under any laws of this state. Said person has the right to appear, personally or with counsel, at the sentenci…

For offenses charged on or after July 1, 2020, the death penalty is not a sentencing option for a defendant convicted of a class 1 felony in the state of Colorado. Nothing in this section commutes or alters the sentence of a defendant convicted of an offense charged prior to July…

Every person convicted of an offense under the statutes of this state has the right of appeal to review the proceedings resulting in conviction. The procedures to be followed in any such appeal shall be as provided by applicable rule of the supreme court of Colorado. Source: L. 7…

(1) The general assembly urges the Colorado supreme court to adopt an expedited process to review class 1 felony convictions where the death penalty has been imposed and any order by the district court granting or denying postconviction relief in such cases. It is the general ass…

(1) The prosecution may appeal any decision of a court in a criminal case upon any question of law. Any order of a court that either dismisses one or more counts of a charging document prior to trial or grants a new trial after the entry of a verdict or judgment shall constitute …

When a person has been convicted of an offense and a notice of appeal is filed, he shall be entitled to a stay of execution by compliance with the provisions and requirements of the applicable rules of the supreme court of Colorado. Source: L. 72: R&RE, p. 253, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: …

(1) The general assembly hereby declares that the purpose of this part 2 is to establish an expedited system of unitary review of class 1 felony cases in which a death sentence is imposed. (2) The general assembly finds that enactment of this part 2 will accomplish the following …

(1) Notwithstanding any state statute or rule of the Colorado supreme court to the contrary, this part 2 and the supreme court rules adopted pursuant to this part 2 establish the only procedure for challenging a sentence of death or the conviction that resulted in the sentence of…

As used in this part 2, unless the context otherwise requires: (1) "Direct appeal" means the appeal to the Colorado supreme court of any issues raised at the entry of a guilty plea, before trial, at trial, at the penalty phase hearing, or in a motion for new trial. (2) "Direct ap…

(1) The trial court, upon the imposition of a death sentence, shall set the time of execution pursuant to section 18-1.3-1205, C.R.S., and enter an order staying execution of the judgment and sentence until receipt of an order from the Colorado supreme court. The trial court shal…

(1) At the hearing held pursuant to section 16-12-204 (2), if the defendant chooses to pursue postconviction review, the trial court shall enter an order appointing new postconviction counsel for the defendant if the trial court finds that the defendant is indigent and either the…

(1) (a) In any case in which a defendant has been convicted of a class 1 felony and been sentenced to death, all motions for postconviction review and all postconviction review proceedings are governed by this part 2 and by the supreme court rules adopted to implement this part 2…

(1) (a) If the defendant waives his or her right to postconviction review as provided in section 16-12-204, but intends to proceed with direct appeal, trial counsel, direct appeal counsel, if appointed or retained, or the defendant, if proceeding on direct appeal without counsel,…

(1) No later than January 1, 1998, the Colorado supreme court shall adopt rules to establish procedures, including time limits, for the postconviction review and unitary appeal process created by this part 2. (2) The rules adopted by the Colorado supreme court pursuant to subsect…

(1) No further postconviction review is available to the defendant after the time specified by supreme court rule for filing a petition for postconviction review has expired. Any claim or petition filed thereafter shall be deemed waived and shall be dismissed summarily unless the…

If any provision of this part 2 or the application of this part 2 to any person or circumstance is held to be invalid or unconstitutional, such invalidity or unconstitutionality shall not affect other provisions or applications of this part 2 that can be given effect without the …

The short title of this part 3 is the "Colorado Forensic Science Integrity Act". Source: L. 2025: Entire part added, (HB 25-1275), ch. 352, p. 1891, § 1, effective June 2.

(1) The general assembly finds and declares that: (a) An effective criminal justice system requires that crime laboratory employees act with integrity and that crime laboratories have controls to prevent and detect knowing misconduct and violations of procedures and properly inve…

As used in this part 3, unless the context otherwise requires: (1) "Crime laboratory" means a forensic services provider in Colorado that assists law enforcement agencies or prosecutors by performing scientific laboratory testing or examination of physical evidence. "Crime labora…

(1) A crime laboratory employee who, in pursuance of their work or in the course of an investigation, witnesses or discovers wrongful action must report that wrongful action to their immediate supervisor at the crime laboratory or to the crime laboratory director within seven day…

(1) A crime laboratory director who, on or after July 1, 2025, receives a report of wrongful action pursuant to section 16-12-304 or receives other information about an act or omission by a crime laboratory employee that may constitute wrongful action shall forthwith investigate …

(1) A district attorney who receives a notice from a crime laboratory director pursuant to section 16-12-305 (3)(a) that an investigation of wrongful action was initiated shall notify the defendant in the case that is subject to the investigation as soon as practicable but no lat…

(1) When a district attorney receives a notice that a crime laboratory employee engaged in wrongful action and a criminal case identified in the notice involves a crime listed in section 24-4.1-302 (1), the district attorney shall notify each victim of the crime pursuant to secti…

(1) A defendant has the right to counsel to investigate, file, and litigate a post-conviction claim arising from wrongful action and appeals arising from the claim. The right to counsel for assistance with post-conviction claims pursuant to this part 3, including the right for an…

(1) (a) A defendant has a right to discovery, including post-conviction discovery, related to the wrongful action: (I) Upon receipt of a notice of reported wrongful action described in section 16-12-306; or (II) If a court orders discovery after the defendant files a pleading tha…

(1) Notwithstanding any other claim for post-conviction relief available pursuant to federal or state law, including relief available pursuant to the Colorado rules of criminal procedure, a defendant who was convicted of a criminal offense who receives a notice of reported wrongf…

(1) (a) Notwithstanding the limitation in section 16-5-402, a claim for post-conviction relief relying in whole or in part on facts related to wrongful action must be commenced within the applicable time period set forth in subsection (1)(b) of this section, which begins to run u…

(1) If the defendant's petition for post-conviction relief asserts facts that, if true, demonstrate that wrongful action was material to the defendant's case, the court shall decide the claim upon the merits after an evidentiary hearing. (2) Upon the request of a party, the court…

(1) The general assembly finds that: (a) (I) In the 2012 case of Miller v. Alabama, the United States supreme court held that imposing a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole on a juvenile is a cruel and unusual punishment prohibited by the eighth amendment to…

(1) A person may petition the sentencing court for a resentencing hearing if the person was: (a) A juvenile at the time of his or her offense; (b) Convicted as an adult of a class 1 felony following direct filing of an information or indictment in the district court pursuant to s…

(1) (a) Within six months after a person is committed pursuant to section 18-1.3-904, C.R.S., and at least once during each twelve months thereafter, the board shall review all reports, records, and information concerning said person, for the purpose of determining whether said p…

As used in this part 3, unless the context otherwise requires: (1) "Action to abate a public nuisance" means any action authorized by this part 3 to restrain, remove, terminate, prevent, abate, or perpetually enjoin a public nuisance. (2) "Building" means a structure which has th…

(1) It is the policy of the general assembly that every public nuisance shall be restrained, prevented, abated, and perpetually enjoined. It is the duty of the district attorney in each judicial district of this state to bring and maintain an action, pursuant to the provisions of…

(1) Every building or part of a building, including the ground upon which it is situate and all fixtures and contents thereof, every vehicle, and any real property is deemed a class 1 public nuisance when: (a) Used as a public or private place of prostitution or used as a place w…

(1) The following are deemed to be a class 2 public nuisance: (a) Any place where people congregate, which encourages a disturbance of the peace, or where the conduct of persons in or about that place is such as to annoy or disturb the peace of the occupants of or persons attendi…

(1) The following are a class 3 public nuisance: (a) The conducting or maintaining of any business, occupation, operation, or activity prohibited by a statute of this state; or (b) The continuous or repeated conducting or maintaining of any business, occupation, operation, activi…

If any person carries on or practices any profession or calling or operates any business required to be licensed by the laws of the state of Colorado without first procuring a license therefor, or carries on or practices such profession or calling or operates such business after …