Colorado § 40-6-101 - Proceedings - delegation of duties - rules.

§ 40-6-101. Proceedings - delegation of duties - rules.

(1) The commission shall conduct its proceedings in such manner as will best conduce the proper dispatch of business and the ends of justice. All of the provisions of article 4 of title 24, C.R.S., shall apply to the work, business, proceedings, and functions of the commission, or any individual commissioner or administrative law judge; but where there is a specific statutory provision in this title applying to the commission, such specific statutory provision shall control as to the commission. For this purpose, any administrative law judge, as provided in this title, shall be deemed to be a hearing commissioner as that term is used in said article 4 of title 24, C.R.S. The commission may from time to time make or amend such general rules or orders as may be requisite for the order and regulation of proceedings before it, or before any individual commissioner or administrative law judge, including forms of notices and the service thereof. Any party to the proceeding may appear before the commission or any individual commissioner or administrative law judge and be heard. Every vote and official act of the commission, any individual commissioner, or an administrative law judge shall be entered of record and such record shall be made public upon the request of any party interested. All hearings before the commission, any individual commissioner, or an administrative law judge shall be public.

(2) (a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2)(b) of this section, the commission may by order direct that any of its work, business, or functions under any provision of law, except functions vested solely in the commission under this title 40, be assigned or referred to an individual commissioner or to an administrative law judge to be designated by order for action. The commission may by order at any time amend, modify, supplement, or rescind any such assignment or reference. When an individual commissioner or an administrative law judge is unable to act upon any matter assigned or referred because of absence or other cause, the chair of the commission may designate another commissioner or administrative law judge, as the case may be, to serve temporarily until the commission otherwise orders.

(b) Every case submitted to the commission for adjudication must be heard in the first instance by an administrative law judge unless, by rule, minute order, or written decision, the commission assigns the case to the commission en banc or to an individual commissioner for hearing.

(3) An individual commissioner or an administrative law judge has authority to hear and determine, order, certify, report, or otherwise act as to any work, business, or functions assigned or referred to such officer under the provisions of this title and, with respect thereto, has all the jurisdiction and powers conferred by law upon the commission and is subject to the same duties and obligations. The seal of the commission shall be the seal of an individual commissioner or administrative law judge. Except as otherwise provided in this title, any order, decision, or requirement of an individual commissioner or an administrative law judge with respect to any matter assigned or referred to such officer under subsection (2) of this section has the same force and effect and may be made and evidenced in the same manner as if made or taken by the commission.

(4) All hearings and investigations before the commission, any individual commissioner, or any administrative law judge shall be governed by this title and by rules of practice and procedure adopted by the commission; and, in the conduct thereof, neither the commission, nor any individual commissioner, nor any administrative law judge shall be bound by the technical rules of evidence. No informality in any proceeding or in the manner of taking testimony before the commission, any commissioner, or any administrative law judge shall invalidate any order, decision, rule, or regulation made, approved, or confirmed by the commission.

(5) Notwithstanding subsections (2) to (4) of this section, the commission may promulgate rules to authorize the delegation of its routine administrative transportation matters to commission staff. If the commission promulgates rules pursuant to this subsection (5), the commission shall define in rule the meaning of the term "routine administrative transportation matter".

Source: L. 13: p. 489, § 38. C.L. § 2947. CSA: C. 137, § 38. L. 45: p. 527, § 4. CRS 53: § 115-6-1. C.R.S. 1963: § 115-6-1. L. 69: p. 939, § 33. L. 89: Entire section amended, p. 1526, § 9, effective April 12. L. 93: (2) amended, p. 2063, § 16, effective July 1. L. 2003: (3) amended, p. 1705, § 18, effective May 14. L. 2019: (2) amended and (5) added, (SB 19-236), ch. 359, p. 3311, § 15, effective May 30. L. 2026: (2) amended, (HB 26-1326), ch. 210, p. 1217, § 9, effective August 12.

Editor's note: Section 50(2) of chapter 210 (HB 26-1326), Session Laws of Colorado 2026, provides that the act changing this section applies to conduct occurring on or after August 12, 2026.

Cross references: For conduct that may constitute the practice of law, see article 93 of title 13.

ANNOTATION

Law reviews. For article, "Trying to Get the P.U.C. to Let You Run a Truck", see 7 Dicta 4 (1930). For note, "The Right to Cross-Examine Adverse Witnesses as a Part of Due Process in Hearings Before Colorado Agencies", see 31 Dicta 383 (1954). For comment on the Colorado Administrative Procedure Act and its construction, see 51 Den. L. J. 275 (1974).

Broad powers under color of state law. The Colorado general assembly has bestowed broad powers upon the public utilities commission (PUC). Public utilities, even though privately financed and owned, operating pursuant to the regulation of the commission, are granted existence by virtue of state law, and thereafter carry on business under color of state law. Denver Welfare Rights Org. v. Pub. Utils. Comm'n, 190 Colo. 329, 547 P.2d 239 (1976).

Presumption of regularity of commissioner's action. There is express authority throughout the statute governing procedures before the PUC for hearings to be conducted before the full commission, or before any one commissioner or any examiner of the commission. The presumption of reading and considering is merely one facet of the general presumption of regularity, which supports the official acts of public officers and, in the absence of clear evidence to the contrary, courts presume that they have properly discharged their official duties. Pub. Utils. Comm'n v. District Court, 163 Colo. 462, 431 P.2d 773 (1967).

The assignment of separate numbers by the PUC to its decisions dealing with different phases of the same proceeding does not create two separate proceedings. Pub. Utils. Comm'n v. Poudre Valley Rural Elec. Ass'n, 173 Colo. 364, 480 P.2d 106 (1970).

Laymen may represent others in hearings before PUC. Denver Bar Ass'n v. Pub. Utils. Comm'n, 154 Colo. 273, 391 P.2d 467 (1964).

Where provisions of public utilities law and State Administrative Procedure Act (APA) conflict, the former governs. Home Builders Ass'n v. Pub. Utils. Comm'n, 720 P.2d 552 (Colo. 1986).

Although the decision of the PUC appeared as a classification of a single utility's services, it in effect established the standards and policies applicable to telecommunications services of all public utilities. The proceeding which resulted in the ruling was therefore a rule-making proceeding, subject to the APA requirements for rule-making proceedings. Colo. Office of Consumer Counsel v. Mtn. States Tel. & Tel., Co., 816 P.2d 278 (Colo. 1991).

Applied in Mtn. States Tel. & Tel. Co. v. Pub. Utils. Comm'n, 195 Colo. 130, 576 P.2d 544 (1978).