The

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, regulatory, local, and case law. The '' Colorado Revised Statutes'' form the general statutory law.

Sources

The

Constitution of Colorado The Constitution of the State of Colorado is the foundation of the laws and government of the U.S. state of Colorado. The current, and only, Colorado State Constitution was drafted on March 14, 1876; approved by Colorado voters on July 1, 1876; ...

is the foremost source of state law. Legislation is enacted by the

Colorado General Assembly The Colorado General Assembly is the state legislature of the State of Colorado. It is a bicameral legislature that was created by the 1876 state constitution. Its statutes are codified in the ''Colorado Revised Statutes'' (C.R.S.). The se ...

, published in the '' Session Laws of Colorado'', and codified in the '' Colorado Revised Statutes''. State agencies promulgate regulations in the '' Colorado Register'', which are in turn codified in the ''

Code of Colorado Regulations In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ...

''. Colorado's legal system is based on common law, which is interpreted by case law through the decisions of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals, which are published in the ''Colorado Reporter'' and ''

Pacific Reporter The ''Pacific Reporter'', ''Pacific Reporter Second'', and ''Pacific Reporter Third'' () are United States regional case law reporters. It is part of the National Reporter System created by John B. West for West Publishing Company, which is now par ...

''. Counties and municipalities may also promulgate local ordinances. In addition, there are also several sources of persuasive authority, which are not binding authority but are useful to lawyers and judges insofar as they help to clarify the current state of the law.

Constitution

The foremost source of state law is the

, which like other state constitutions derives its power and legitimacy from the

sovereignty of the people Popular sovereignty is the principle that the authority of a state and its government are created and sustained by the consent of its people, who are the source of all political power. Popular sovereignty, being a principle, does not imply any p ...

. The Colorado Constitution in turn is subordinate only to the

Constitution of the United States The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the nati ...

, which is the supreme law of the land.

Legislation

Pursuant to the state constitution, the

has enacted various laws. The bills and concurrent resolutions passed by a particular General Assembly session, together with those resolutions and memorials designated for printing by the House of Representatives and the Senate, are contained in the '' Session Laws of Colorado''. These in turn have been codified in the '' Colorado Revised Statutes'' (C.R.S.).

Regulations

Pursuant to certain broadly worded statutes, state agencies have promulgated an enormous body of regulations, published in the '' Colorado Register'' and codified in the ''

'' (CCR), which carry the force of law to the extent they do not conflict with any statutes or the state or federal Constitutions.

Case law

Colorado's legal system is based on a political party

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omniprese ...

. Like all U.S. states except

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...

, Colorado has a

reception statute A reception statute is a statutory law adopted as a former British colony becomes independent by which the new nation adopts, or receives, the English common law before its independence to the extent not explicitly rejected by the legislative body ...

providing for the "reception" of

English law English law is the common law legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly criminal law and civil law, each branch having its own courts and procedures. Principal elements of English law Although the common law has, historically, b ...

. All statutes, regulations, and ordinances are subject to

judicial review Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incomp ...

. Pursuant to common law tradition, the courts of Colorado have developed a large body of

case law Case law, also used interchangeably with common law, is law that is based on precedents, that is the judicial decisions from previous cases, rather than law based on constitutions, statutes, or regulations. Case law uses the detailed facts of ...

through the decisions of the

Colorado Supreme Court The Colorado Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Colorado. Located in Denver, the Court consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. Powers and duties Appellate jurisdiction Discretionary appeals The Court ...

and the

Colorado Court of Appeals The Colorado Court of Appeals (Colo. App.) is the intermediate-level appellate court for the state of Colorado. It was initially established by statute in 1891 and was reestablished in its current form in 1970 by the Colorado General Assembly ...

. There is no official

reporter A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

. The ''Colorado Reporter'' (a Colorado-specific version of the ''

'') is an unofficial reporter for appellate decisions from 1883. Decisions of the Colorado Supreme Court were published in the official ''

Colorado Reports Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of th ...

'' from 1864 to 1980, and decisions of the Court of Appeals were published in the official ''

Colorado Court of Appeals Reports Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of th ...

'' from 1891 to 1980.

Local ordinances

Denver Revised Municipal Code title page

Colorado is divided into 64 counties, as well as some 271 active incorporated municipalities, including 196 towns, 73 cities, and two consolidated city and county governments.

Colorado counties The U.S. State of Colorado is divided into 64 counties. Two of these counties, the City and County of Broomfield and the City and County of Denver, have consolidated city and county governments. Denver serves as the state capital. Counties a ...

have the authority to adopt and enforce ordinances and resolutions regarding health, safety, and welfare issues "as otherwise prescribed by law" which are not in conflict with any state statute, as well as the power to adopt ordinances for control or licensing of those matters of purely local concern in a number of policy areas. All such ordinances of a general or permanent nature and those imposing any fine, penalty, or forfeiture must be published.

Colorado municipalities The U.S. State of Colorado has 272 active incorporated municipalities, comprising 197 towns, 73 cities, and two consolidated city and county governments. At the 2020 United States Census, 4,299,942 of the 5,773,714 Colorado residents (74.47%) l ...

have the power to adopt ordinances which are necessary and proper to provide for the safety, preserve the health, promote the prosperity, and improve the morals, order, comfort, and convenience of the municipality and its inhabitants and which are not in conflict with any laws, and have the power to enforce them with fines of up to $2,650.00, imprisonment for up to one year or both. All such ordinances of a general or permanent nature and those imposing any fine, penalty, or forfeiture must be published in a local newspaper, or three local public places otherwise.C.R.S. § 31-16-105

References

* *

External links

Colorado Revised Statutes
from

LexisNexis LexisNexis is a part of the RELX corporation that sells data analytics products and various databases that are accessed through online portals, including portals for computer-assisted legal research (CALR), newspaper search, and consumer info ...

Colorado Revised Statutes
from the

Colorado Office of Legislative Legal Services Legislative staffers in Colorado are employees of the state tasked with supporting the function of the Colorado General Assembly and the members who comprise that body. With very few exceptions, these personnel are non-partisan public servants. Co ...

Colorado Revised Statutes
from Public.Resource.Org
Code of Colorado Regulations
from the Colorado Secretary of State
Session Laws of Colorado
from the Office of Legislative Legal Services
Colorado Session Laws Digital Collection
from the

University of Colorado Law School The University of Colorado Law School is one of the professional graduate schools within the University of Colorado System. It is a public law school, with more than 500 students attending and working toward a Juris Doctor or Master of Studies in ...

Colorado Register
from the Colorado Secretary of State
Supreme Court and Court of Appeals opinions
from the

Colorado Bar Association The Colorado State Bar Association (CBA), founded in 1897, is a voluntary bar association for the state of Colorado. There are 26 local bars within the organization. The CBA works for the common interests of attorneys and judges and is a non-pro ...

Supreme Court opinions
from the Colorado State Court Administrator
Court of Appeals opinions
from the Colorado State Court Administrator
Denver Revised Municipal Code
from Municode
Local ordinance codes
from Public.Resource.Org * Case law: {{Laws of the United States by U.S. state