Colorado § 13-73-101 - Petition for impaneling - determination by chief judge.

§ 13-73-101. Petition for impaneling - determination by chief judge.

(1) The general assembly finds that the state grand jury exists because of the need to investigate and prosecute crime without regard to county or judicial district boundaries in cases involving organized crime, criminal activity in more than one judicial district, or unusual difficulties in the investigation or adjudication of a matter or cases in which the attorney general has authority to prosecute. The state grand jury is intended, therefore, to be a law enforcement tool with statewide jurisdiction.

(2) When the attorney general deems it to be in the public interest to convene a grand jury that has jurisdiction extending beyond the boundaries of any single county, the attorney general may petition the chief judge of any district court for an order in accordance with the provisions of this article 73. Said chief judge may, for good cause shown, order the impaneling of a state grand jury that shall have statewide jurisdiction. In making a determination as to the need for impaneling a state grand jury, the judge shall require a showing that the matter cannot be effectively handled by a county grand jury or judicial district grand jury.

Source: L. 71: p. 880, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 78-8-1. L. 96: Entire section amended, p. 738, § 12, effective July 1. L. 97: (1) amended, p. 1552, § 4, effective July 1. L. 2025: (2) amended, (SB 25-275), ch. 377, p. 2042, § 63, effective August 6.

ANNOTATION

Denial of petition to impanel is not abuse of discretion. Ross v. Ogburn, 646 P.2d 390 (Colo. 1982).

Grand jury may return indictment based on facts inquired into. A properly impaneled grand jury may return an indictment based on facts discovered by it during investigation of matters it is authorized to inquire into when the facts supporting the indictment show the commission of offenses beyond its authorization. People v. Hower, 626 P.2d 734 (Colo. App. 1981).

The statutory powers granted to the attorney general under § 24-31-101 are not enlarged by this article. People ex rel. Tooley v. District Court, 190 Colo. 486, 549 P.2d 774 (1976).

Neither by express provision nor by implication did the general assembly grant the attorney general the right to prosecute all indictments returned by a state grand jury. People ex rel. Tooley v. District Court, 190 Colo. 486, 549 P.2d 774 (1976).

This section expressly gives the attorney general the power to petition the chief judge of a district court for the impanelment of a state grand jury, and no executive order by the governor is required. People v. Valdez, 928 P.2d 1387 (Colo. App. 1996).

Impaneling of statewide grand jury was proper where district court chief judge found that attorney general had made a showing of good cause, matter could not be effectively handled by county grand jury, and it was in the public interest to convene statewide grand jury. People v. Cerrone, 867 P.2d 143 (Colo. App. 1993), aff'd on other grounds, 900 P.2d 45 (Colo. 1995).

Applied in In re P.R. v. District Court, 637 P.2d 346 (Colo. 1981).