Colorado § 33-6-113 - Illegal sale of wildlife - penalties.

§ 33-6-113. Illegal sale of wildlife - penalties.

(1) (a) Except as otherwise provided in articles 1 to 6 of this title or by rule of the commission, it is unlawful for any person to knowingly sell or purchase, or knowingly offer for sale or purchase, wildlife or to solicit another person in the illegal hunting or taking of wildlife for the purposes of monetary or commercial gain or profit.

(b) For the purposes of this section, it is deemed to be a sale of wildlife if a person provides or offers or attempts to provide outfitting services, as defined in article 145 of title 12, without an active registration issued under article 145 of title 12.

(2) A person who violates this section:

(a) With respect to big game, animals listed as endangered species or threatened species pursuant to section 33-2-105 or the federal "Endangered Species Act of 1973", 16 U.S.C. sec. 1531 et seq., or eagles, commits a class 5 felony and shall be punished as provided in section 18-1.3-401. Upon the conviction, the commission may suspend any or all wildlife license privileges of the person for a minimum of one year to life.

(b) With respect to all other wildlife, commits a class 2 misdemeanor and is assessed twenty license suspension points.

Source: L. 84: Entire article R&RE, p. 873, § 1, effective January 1, 1985. L. 85: (2)(a) amended, p. 659, § 11, effective July 1. L. 94: (1) and (2)(a) amended, p. 1586, § 13, effective May 31. L. 2002: (2)(a) amended, p. 1544, § 294, effective October 1. L. 2008: (1) amended, p. 537, § 1, effective August 5. L. 2019: (1)(b) amended, (HB 19-1172), ch. 136, p. 1720, § 220, effective October 1. L. 2021: (2)(b) amended, (SB 21-271), ch. 462, p. 3259, § 553, effective March 1, 2022. L. 2025: (1)(b) amended, (SB 25-174), ch. 310, p. 1616, § 9, effective August 6; IP(2) and (2)(a) amended, (SB 25-168), ch. 355, p. 1915, § 4, effective July 1, 2026.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former §§ 33-6-125 and 33-6-126 as they existed prior to 1984.

Cross references: (1) For the legislative declaration contained in the 2002 act amending subsection (2)(a), see section 1 of chapter 318, Session Laws of Colorado 2002.

(2) For the legislative declaration in SB 25-168, see section 1 of chapter 355, Session Laws of Colorado 2025.

ANNOTATION

The parks and wildlife commission's discretion is unfettered when neither the statutes nor the rules provide it with any guidance regarding the appropriate period for which wildlife license privileges should be suspended for the unregistered provision of outfitting services, so the commission's suspension of the privileges for twenty years is vacated as being arbitrary and capricious. Farmer v. Colo. Parks & Wildlife Comm'n, 2016 COA 120, 382 P.3d 1263.