Colorado § 19-2.5-104 - Venue.

§ 19-2.5-104. Venue.

(1) (a) Proceedings in cases brought pursuant to this article 2.5 must be commenced in the county in which the alleged violation of the law, ordinance, or court order took place; except that the court may order a change of venue based upon written findings that a change of venue is necessary to ensure that the juvenile receives a fair trial, in which case venue must be transferred to an appropriate jurisdiction prior to the findings of fact. When the court in which the petition was filed is in a county other than where the juvenile resides, such court may transfer venue to the court of the county of the juvenile's residence for the purposes of supervision after sentencing and entry of any order for payment of restitution. A transfer of venue may not be rejected for any reason except where venue would be improper.

(b) For purposes of determining proper venue, a juvenile who is placed in the legal custody of a county department of human or social services is deemed for the entire period of placement to reside in the county in which the juvenile's legal custodian is located, even if the juvenile is physically residing in a residential facility located in another county. If a juvenile is placed in the legal custody of a county department of human or social services, the court shall not transfer venue during the period of placement to any county other than the county in which the juvenile's legal custodian is located.

(2) In determining proper venue, section 18-1-202 applies.

(3) A court transferring venue pursuant to this section shall transmit all documents and legal social records, or certified copies of such documents, to the receiving court. The receiving court shall then proceed with the case as if the petition had been originally filed or the adjudication had been originally made in such court.

(4) Upon transfer of venue, the receiving court shall set a date not more than thirty-five days following the date upon which the change of venue is ordered for the juvenile and the juvenile's parent or guardian to appear.

Source: L. 2021: Entire article added with relocations, (SB 21-059), ch. 136, p. 565, § 2, effective October 1.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 19-2-105 as it existed prior to 2021.

ANNOTATION

Annotator's note. The following annotations include cases decided under former provisions similar to this section.

No authority for transfer to certain counties. There is no statutory authority for transfer of a juvenile case to a county which is neither the county where the offense occurred nor the county of the accused juvenile's residence. People v. Dist. Court, 191 Colo. 28, 549 P.2d 1317 (1976).

Motion for change of venue untimely in delinquency hearing where merits already adjudicated. A change of venue is properly a pretrial motion to have the merits of the action adjudicated in the correct forum and county. Accordingly, such a motion is untimely in a juvenile delinquency hearing if the merits have already been adjudicated in their entirety, which occurs with the determination that the allegations in the original petition are true and the finding that the child is a juvenile delinquent. People in Interest of Maddox v. Dist. Court, 198 Colo. 208, 597 P.2d 573 (1979).