The Colorado Revised Statutes, abbreviated C.R.S., are the official collection of every general and permanent law enacted by the Colorado General Assembly, organized into 44 Titles covering subjects from criminal offenses to commercial transactions. The Office of Legislative Legal Services edits and republishes the full set each year, and courts and state agencies treat it as the governing authority in civil and criminal proceedings statewide.1Colorado General Assembly. Colorado Revised Statutes You can read the entire code for free online.
How the Code Is Organized
The CRS uses a layered structure that moves from broad subject areas down to individual rules. At the top, the statutes divide into 44 Titles, each covering a major area of law. Title 18 contains the Colorado Criminal Code. Title 42 covers Vehicles and Traffic.2Justia. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 42 – Vehicles and Traffic Title 4 codifies the Uniform Commercial Code, one of several uniform laws Colorado has adopted so its rules line up with other states.
Within each Title, the law breaks down further into Articles, then Parts, and finally individual Sections. In Title 18, Article 3 is titled “Offenses Against the Person” and includes a Part for homicide, a Part for assaults, a Part for kidnapping, and additional Parts covering sexual offenses, human trafficking, and stalking.3Justia. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 18, Article 3 – Offenses Against the Person The Section is where you find the actual language of the law, spelling out prohibited conduct and penalties.
Colorado has also adopted several uniform laws drafted by national legal organizations. The UCC in Title 4 is the most prominent example, and the CRS also includes the Uniform Marriage Act in Title 14. These acts are read with the aim of keeping Colorado’s version consistent with the same act in other states.
How to Read a CRS Citation
A CRS citation is a shorthand address that points to one specific section of law. In a citation like C.R.S. 18-3-202, the first number identifies the Title, the second identifies the Article, and the third pinpoints the individual Section. That citation leads to the statute defining first-degree assault.4Justia. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 18-3-202 – Assault in the First Degree Once you recognize the pattern, you can decode any citation on a police report, court filing, or traffic ticket.
The numbering also signals subject matter. Sections beginning with 18-3 all deal with offenses against the person, while sections beginning with 18-4 cover offenses against property. You can often gauge the general area of a law from its citation before reading a word of the text.
Constitutional Citations Look Different
The Colorado Constitution uses a different format. Constitutional provisions are cited by Article, Section, and sometimes Clause, so a reference might read “Colo. Const. art. V, ยง 19.” If you see “Const.” in the citation, you are looking at the state’s foundational governing document rather than a statute passed by the legislature. The distinction matters because constitutional provisions override statutes when they conflict, and amending the constitution requires voter approval rather than a legislative vote.
Where to Read the Statutes
The Colorado General Assembly’s website provides free public access to the full text of the CRS, hosted online by LexisNexis, which serves as the state’s official printer.1Colorado General Assembly. Colorado Revised Statutes The digital interface follows the same Title-Article-Part-Section hierarchy, so you can browse the table of contents or search by keyword. Typing a term like “probate” or “trespass” will pull up every relevant section across all 44 Titles.
Physical copies are available at public law libraries around the state. Since 1997, the OLLS has published the official set each year in both softbound and CD-ROM editions.1Colorado General Assembly. Colorado Revised Statutes Whichever format you use, confirm you are looking at the current year, because sections are frequently amended or repealed during each legislative session.
Annotated Versus Unannotated
The version hosted by LexisNexis is the Colorado Revised Statutes Annotated. Beyond the raw text, it includes source notes tracing the legislative history of each section, editor’s notes explaining changes, cross references to related provisions, and annotations summarizing court decisions that have interpreted the statute.5Justia. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 2-5-102 – Inclusions The annotations are editorial material, not part of the law itself, but they save serious research time when you want to know how a statute has actually been applied.
The unannotated version contains only the statutory text, which is what most free third-party databases reproduce. If you simply need to read what a law says, unannotated text is enough. If you need to know whether a court has narrowed or expanded that language, use the annotated edition.
When a New Law Actually Takes Effect
Under the Colorado Constitution, a new law takes effect on the date the bill itself specifies. If the bill does not state a date, the law takes effect the moment the governor signs it. Most bills set a specific effective date, and many cluster around the same dates each year.
The safety clause changes the timing. Most bills include a clause declaring the legislation “necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety.” Bills with a safety clause take effect on their stated date. Bills without one are subject to the state’s referendum power: citizens have 90 days after the General Assembly adjourns to collect enough petition signatures to put the law to a public vote, and a bill without a safety clause cannot take effect until that 90-day window has closed, regardless of the effective date printed in the bill.6Colorado General Assembly. Safety Clauses and Act-Subject-to-Petition Clauses For the 2023 through 2026 cycle, a referendum petition requires 124,238 valid signatures.
Tracking Recent Changes
When the General Assembly passes a bill, it first appears in the Session Laws, the official record of every piece of legislation enacted during a session. Session Laws include statutes as well as budget bills, resolutions, and memorials that never get folded into the CRS. Only laws of a “general and permanent nature” are incorporated into the CRS itself.7Colorado General Assembly. Session Laws and Statutes
Between full CRS reprints, the state publishes the Red Book, which lists every change made by amendments, additions, and repeals during the most recent session. It is essentially a cross-reference that maps bill numbers to the CRS sections they changed. If you need to confirm whether a particular statute was recently amended or repealed, check the Red Book before the next full CRS update is released.8Colorado General Assembly. Red Book
Why the Text Alone May Not Answer Your Question
When a dispute turns on what a statute means, Colorado courts start with the plain language of the text. If the words are clear and unambiguous, courts apply them as written and look no further. Disagreements about what counts as “plain” fill volumes of case law.
When a statute is genuinely ambiguous, courts consider the legislative history, the objective the General Assembly was trying to accomplish, and how the provision fits within the broader statutory scheme. Colorado law directs that general provisions, terms, and expressions be “liberally construed” to carry out the legislature’s true intent.9Justia. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 2-4-212 – Construction of Statutes In extreme cases, if a literal reading would defeat the obvious purpose of the law, a court can disregard the word as surplusage or substitute a reading that carries out the legislative intent.
The practical takeaway for anyone reading a statute alone: the text in the CRS may not tell the whole story. A court may have already interpreted a key phrase in a way that narrows or expands its everyday meaning. Reaching for the annotated version’s case summaries, or asking an attorney about high-stakes questions, is the difference between knowing what the law says and knowing what it actually does.