2020 Colorado Revised Statutes
Title 2 - Legislative
Article 5. Colorado Revised Statutes
Section 2-5-118. Official statutes - publications by other persons or agencies.

(1) (a) The statutes prepared in accordance with sections 2-5-102 and 2-5-103 and printed and enacted as the law of the state in accordance with sections 2-5-105, 2-5-113, 2-5-117, and 2-5-126 shall be considered to be the official statutes of the state of Colorado. Such official statutes shall be the only publication of the statutes entitled to be considered as evidence in Colorado courts in accordance with section 13-25-101, C.R.S., and with applicable Colorado court rules. The courts of this state shall take judicial notice of such official statutes.

(b) To ensure public access to the statutes, the committee:

1. Shall authorize the printing of the official statutes in softbound sets in accordancewith section 2-5-105;

2. May authorize and work cooperatively with the person printing the official statutesin accordance with section 2-5-105 to reprint and distribute the statutes in alternative printed and electronic formats, including, but not limited to the following:

1. Compact discs;

2. Online public access through the world wide web;

3. Electronic applications for handheld electronic devices;

4. Electronic books or digital versions of books readable on personal computers, mobile handheld electronic devices, or special e-reader or tablet-style devices; and

5. Other electronic products or formats;

3. May, pursuant to subsection (2) of this section, provide the statutory database containing the official text of the statutes, with or without original ancillary publications prepared by the general assembly or its staff, for the additional publication, reprinting, and distribution of the statutes in print, electronic, or other digital format by another person, agency, or political subdivision, in accordance with subsections (2) to (5) of this section; and

4. Recognizes that other persons, agencies, or political subdivisions may, from time totime, also publish, reprint, or otherwise distribute the statutes in print, electronic, or other digital format without the use of the statutory database containing the official text of the statutes as prepared by the general assembly or its staff.

(c) Publication, reprinting, or distribution of any of the publications ancillary to the statutes of the state of Colorado, as prepared by the general assembly or its staff, other than pursuant to sections 2-5-101 to 2-5-116, may be made only as provided for in this section.

(2) (a) Any person, agency, or political subdivision desiring to publish, reprint, or distribute, whether by use of printed matter or by use of computer or other electronic means, the statutes of the state of Colorado using the statutory database prepared by the general assembly or its staff containing the official text of the statutes, shall submit to the committee or the committee's designee:

1. A statement specifying those portions of the statutes the person, agency, or politicalsubdivision seeks to publish;

2. A statement specifying whether the person, agency, or political subdivision is seeking to publish, reprint, or distribute any of the publications ancillary to the statutes as

prepared by the general assembly or its staff pursuant to subsection (2.5) of this section;

3. The costs and fees required by the committee as specified in paragraph (c) of thissubsection (2); and

4. Such other information as the committee reasonably requires.

2. Any person, agency, or political subdivision who wishes to publish, reprint, or distribute an officially sanctioned version of the statutes pursuant to this subsection (2) shall reproduce the statutes and ancillary publications, if any, accurately.

3. (I) In addition to any other requirement, the committee may require that any person,agency, or political subdivision seeking to publish, reprint, or distribute the statutes using the statutory database prepared by the general assembly or its staff containing the official text of the statutes pay a fee to the state and any direct costs of preparation of any material provided by the state. Such fee and costs shall be determined by the committee, and any fee shall be in an amount that the committee determines is necessary to pay for state property interests in the statutes, to pay for the use of any material copyrighted by the state, and to pay for expenses incurred by the committee to ensure the accuracy of the statutes.

(II) (Deleted by amendment, L. 92, p. 959, § 1, effective April 29, 1992.)

(2.5) (a) Any person, agency, or political subdivision desiring to publish, reprint, or distribute, whether by use of printed matter or by use of computer or other electronic means, any of the publications ancillary to the statutes of the state of Colorado shall make prior written application to the committee, in which the applicant:

1. Specifies what ancillary publications it seeks to publish;

2. States generally the purpose for the publication, reprinting, or distribution and thepersons or classes of persons to receive copies thereof;

3. Demonstrates to the satisfaction of the committee that such ancillary publicationswill be accurately reproduced; and

4. Agrees to pay the costs and fees required by the committee.

(b) If the committee finds from the application that such distribution meets the requirements of this subsection (2.5) and that it will not be detrimental to the interests of the citizens of the state, it may authorize distribution of such ancillary publications specified in the application. Upon satisfactory arrangements for the payment by such person, agency, or political subdivision of any costs and fees, the committee may provide copies of such ancillary publications in printed or electronic format.

(3) (a) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2011, (SB 11-261), ch. 205, p. 875, § 3, effective May 23, 2011.)

(b) The committee may enter into such contracts as it deems necessary to implement the provisions of this section. Any contracts entered into prior to May 23, 2011, are hereby validated.

4. The general assembly hereby finds and declares that this section and the other provisions of this article are enacted in furtherance of the general assembly's legislative duty to provide for the publication of the laws as required by section 8 of article XVIII of the state constitution and that any acts of the committee or its staff in implementing these provisions are legislative in character. The purpose of this section is to ensure that the official statutes are made available to the courts, state and local government agencies, and other users; that copies of the Colorado Revised Statutes, when published, reprinted, or distributed to interested citizens, accurately state the law in effect when those copies are prepared; and that unofficial publications, reprintings, or distributions of the statutes are not mistaken for the official statutes produced and enacted in accordance with this article. Any person, agency, or political subdivision that publishes, reprints, or otherwise distributes the statutes of the state of Colorado, with or without any ancillary publications to the statutes, shall reproduce them accurately.

5. (a) Any publication, reprinting, or distribution that is published in accordance with paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of this section using the statutory database containing the official text of the statutes may contain a notice, approved by the committee, that indicates that it is an officially sanctioned publication using the official text of the Colorado Revised Statutes. Except for the official statutes provided for in subsection (1) of this section, publications of the statutes shall not contain any notice or other indication that they are official statutes of this state.

(b) to (d) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2011, (SB 11-261), ch. 205, p. 875, § 3, effective May 23, 2011.)

(6) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section to the contrary, a person, agency, or political subdivision may publish, reprint, or distribute two hundred or fewer sections of the Colorado Revised Statutes, with or without the ancillary publications thereto, for educational purposes.

Source: L. 70: p. 369, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 135-6-18. L. 83: (1), IP(2), (2)(d), (3), and (4) amended and (2)(b) repealed, pp. 380, 382, §§ 11, 17, effective July 1. L. 90: Entire section amended, p. 335, § 2, effective March 20. L. 92: (2)(c) amended, p. 959, § 1, effective April 29. L. 94: (1)(a) amended, p. 1626, § 16, effective May 31. L. 96: (4) amended, p. 1348, § 7, effective June 1. L. 2003: (1)(b)(II), (1)(c), IP(2)(a), (2)(b), (2)(c)(I), (3)(a), (4), and (5) amended and (6) added, p. 830, § 1, effective August 6. L. 2011: Entire section amended, (SB 11-261), ch. 205, p. 875, § 3, effective May 23.