Colorado § 18-4-509 - Defacing a cave - definitions.

§ 18-4-509. Defacing a cave - definitions.

(1) (a) and (b) Repealed.

(c) (I) Any person who, with regard to a cave that is public property or the property of another, knowingly performs any of the following acts without the consent of the owner commits the crime of defacing property:

(A) Breaking or damaging any lock, fastening, door, or structure designed to enclose or protect any such cave;

(B) Defacing, damaging, or breaking from any part of such cave any cave resource; or

(C) Removing from such cave any cave resource.

(II) For purposes of this section:

(A) "Cave" means any naturally occurring void, cavity, recess, lava tube, or system of interconnected passages that occurs beneath the surface of the earth or within a cliff or ledge, including any cave resource therein, but not including any mine, tunnel, aqueduct, or other artificial excavation, and that is large enough to permit an individual to enter, regardless of whether the entrance is naturally formed or has been artificially created or enlarged. "Cave" includes any natural pit, sinkhole, or other feature that is an extension of the entrance.

(B) "Cave resource" includes any material or substance occurring naturally in caves, such as animal life, plant life, paleontological deposits, sediments, minerals, speleogens, and speleothems.

(B.5) "Juvenile" has the same meaning as set forth in section 19-2.5-102.

(C) "Speleogen" means relief features on the walls, ceiling, or floor of any cave that are part of the surrounding rock, including, but not limited to, anastomoses, scallops, meander niches, petromorphs, and rock pendants in solution caves and similar features unique to volcanic caves.

(D) "Speleothem" means any natural mineral formation or deposit occurring in a cave, including, but not limited to, any stalactite, stalagmite, helictite, cave flower, flowstone, concretion, drapery, rimstone, or formation of clay or mud.

(2) (a) (I) Defacing a cave is a class 2 misdemeanor.

(II) In sentencing a person who violates this section, the court has discretion to impose alternatives in sentencing as described in part 1 of article 1.3 of this title 18, including but not limited to restorative justice practices, as defined in section 18-1-901 (3)(o.5), or in the case of a juvenile offender, to impose restorative justice, as defined in section 19-2.5-102.

(III) Repealed.

(IV) Fifty percent of the fines collected pursuant to this subsection (2)(a) shall be credited to the highway users tax fund, created in section 43-4-201, and allocated and expended as specified in section 43-4-205 (5.5)(a), and fifty percent of the fines collected pursuant to this subsection (2)(a) shall be credited to the juvenile diversion cash fund created in section 19-2.5-403; except that the fines collected pursuant to subsection (1)(c) of this section shall be credited to the Colorado travel and tourism promotion fund created in section 24-49.7-106.

(b) Any person convicted of defacing property pursuant to paragraph (b) or (c) of subsection (1) of this section shall be ordered by the court to personally make repairs to any property damaged, or properties similarly damaged, if possible. If the property cannot be repaired, the court shall order a person convicted of defacing property to replace or compensate the owner for the damaged property but may, in the case of a violation of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section, limit such compensation to two thousand five hundred dollars.

(c) Repealed.

Source: L. 71: R&RE, p. 431, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 40-4-509. L. 89: (2) R&RE, p. 875, § 10, effective June 5. L. 93: (2) amended, p. 1732, § 20, effective July 1. L. 94: (2) amended, p. 1463, § 2, effective July 1. L. 97: (2) amended, p. 1536, § 2, effective July 1. L. 2003: Entire section amended, p. 1903, § 1, effective July 1. L. 2004: (1)(c) added and (2) amended, pp. 69, 70, §§ 1, 2, effective August 4. L. 2005: (2)(a) amended, p. 140, § 3, effective April 5. L. 2009: (2)(c) repealed, (HB 09-1266), ch. 347, p. 1814, § 2, effective August 5. L. 2011: (1)(c)(II)(B.5) added and (2)(a) amended, (SB 11-256), ch. 254, pp. 1101, 1099, §§ 3, 1, effective August 10. L. 2021: (1)(c)(II)(B.5), (2)(a)(II), and (2)(a)(IV) amended, (SB 21-059), ch. 136, p. 721, § 48, effective October 1; (2)(a)(I) amended, (SB 21-271), ch. 462, p. 3179, § 216, effective March 1, 2022; (1)(a)(II), (1)(b)(II), and (2)(a)(III)(B) added by revision, (SB 21-271), ch. 462, pp. 3179, 3331, §§ 216, 803.

Editor's note: Subsections (1)(a)(II), (1)(b)(II), and (2)(a)(III)(B) provided for the repeal of subsections (1)(a), (1)(b), and (2)(a)(III), respectively, effective March 1, 2022. (See L. 2021, pp. 3179, 3331.)

ANNOTATION

Evidence held insufficient for conspiracy to destroy property. Bates v. People, 179 Colo. 81, 498 P.2d 1136 (1972) (decided under former § 40-18-1, C.R.S. 1963).

A violation of a local ordinance that does not necessarily violate subsection (1)(b) does not qualify as a countable misdemeanor or a petty offense under the federal sentencing guidelines. United States v. Abeyta, 877 F.3d 935 (10th Cir. 2017).

Applied in People v. Shearer, 650 P.2d 1293 (Colo. App. 1982).