Colorado § 33-6-104 - Imposition of penalty - procedures.

§ 33-6-104. Imposition of penalty - procedures.

(1) A person is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of one hundred dollars, a surcharge as described in section 24-33.5-415.6, and an assessment of five license suspension points for a violation of any of the following for which there is not an associated statutory penalty listed:

(a) A provision of articles 1 to 6 of this title 33; or

(b) A rule of the commission promulgated pursuant to one or more of the articles specified in subsection (1)(a) of this section.

(2) (a) (I) At the time that a person is charged with violating any misdemeanor or civil infraction provision of articles 1 to 6 of this title 33 or a rule of the commission, the officer shall issue a summons and complaint to the alleged offender or, in the case of a violation for which a fine of a fixed amount is prescribed, may give the alleged offender an opportunity to voluntarily pay the fine and surcharge in the form of a penalty assessment.

(II) An officer shall not issue a penalty assessment for violations for which minimum and maximum fines have been established. The penalty assessment notice given to the alleged offender must:

(A) Contain the information required for a summons and complaint;

(B) Be in the form of a summons and complaint; and

(C) Specify in dollars the amount of the penalty to be assessed for the alleged offense and the amount of the surcharges to be collected pursuant to sections 24-4.2-104 (1) and 24-33.5-415.6.

(b) If the alleged offender accepts the penalty assessment notice and pays the fine and the surcharges entered on the fine to the division within twenty days of issuance of the notice, the alleged offender's acceptance and payment constitutes an acknowledgment of guilt of the violation set forth in the penalty assessment notice.

(c) (I) An officer may take any person who accepts a penalty assessment notice but who does not furnish satisfactory evidence of identity or who the officer has reasonable and probable grounds to believe will disregard a written promise to pay the specified fine and surcharges to the nearest known post office facility to require that the person remit the amount of the specified fine and surcharges to the division immediately by mail in United States currency or other legal tender or by money order or by personal check.

(II) Refusal or inability to remit the specified fine and surcharges by mail when required constitutes a refusal to accept a penalty assessment notice. The officer shall advise the person arrested of the license suspension points to be assessed in accordance with section 33-6-106.

(III) Checks tendered by the violator to and accepted by the division and for which payment is received by the division are deemed sufficient receipt. If the fine and surcharges are not paid, then the officer who issued the penalty assessment notice shall docket the summons and complaint with a court of competent jurisdiction for appearance by the person to answer the charges contained in the summons and complaint at the time and place specified in the summons and complaint.

(3) (a) Service of a copy of a summons and complaint or penalty assessment notice issued pursuant to subsection (2) of this section must be provided at least ten days before the date set for a hearing on the matter by:

(I) Providing personal service of the copy directly to the alleged offender;

(II) Leaving the copy at the alleged offender's last-known place of residence with an individual who is eighteen years of age or older and who resides at the residence; or

(III) Mailing the copy to the alleged offender's last-known place of residence by certified mail, return receipt requested. Service by certified mail is complete upon return of the receipt signed by the alleged offender.

(b) An individual who provides personal service pursuant to subsection (3)(a)(I) of this section must be a disinterested party who is eighteen years of age or older.

Source: L. 84: Entire article R&RE, p. 866, § 1, effective January 1, 1985. L. 85: (2) amended, p. 796, § 4, effective May 3. L. 2009: Entire section amended, (SB 09-241), ch. 295, p. 1580, § 9, effective July 1. L. 2019: (1) amended, (HB 19-1026), ch. 423, p. 3693, § 3, effective July 1. L. 2020: Entire section amended, (HB 20-1087), ch. 49, p. 168, § 4, effective March 20. L. 2022: (2)(a)(I) amended, (HB 22-1229), ch. 68, p. 347, § 33, effective March 1.

Editor's note: (1) This section is similar to former § 33-6-127 as it existed prior to 1984.

(2) Section 47 of chapter 68 (HB 22-1229), Session Laws of Colorado 2022, provides that the act amending subsection (2)(a)(I) applies to offenses committed on or after March 1, 2022.

(3) Section 47 of chapter 68 (HB 22-1229), Session Laws of Colorado 2022, provides that the act amending subsection (2)(a)(I) is effective March 1, 2022, but the governor did not approve the act until April 7, 2022.

Cross references: For the short title ("Respect the Great Outdoors Act") and the legislative declaration in HB 19-1026, see sections 1 and 2 of chapter 423, Session Laws of Colorado 2019.

ANNOTATION

Applied in People v. Boyd, 642 P.2d 1 (Colo. 1982).