2021 Colorado Code
Title 13 - Courts and Court Procedure
Article 33 - Fees of Jurors and Witnesses
§ 13-33-102. Fees of Witnesses

1. (Deleted by amendment, L. 2010, (HB 10-1291), ch. 325, p. 1505, § 1, effective July 1, 2010.)
2. (Deleted by amendment, L. 2010, (HB 10-1291), ch. 325, p. 1505, § 1, effective July 1, 2010.)
3. (Deleted by amendment, L. 2010, (HB 10-1291), ch. 325, p. 1505, § 1, effective July 1, 2010.)
4. Witnesses in courts of record called to testify only to an opinion founded on special study or experience in any branch of science or to make scientific or professional examinations and state the result thereof shall receive compensation, to be fixed by the court, with reference to the value of the time employed and the degree of learning or skill required.
5. Witness fees for attending criminal trials in any court of record, except a municipal court or the county court of the city and county of Denver, shall be paid as costs as provided in section 16-18-101, C.R.S.
6. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (4) and (5) of this section, the witness fee specified in this section shall not be paid to any witness who at the time of testifying is in the legal custody of any state or federal agency or any local law enforcement agency and whose transportation to court is provided at government expense.

History. Source: L. 1891: P. 215, § 11. R.S. 08: § 2542. C.L. § 7906. L. 33: P. 900, § 1. CSA: C. 66, § 46. CRS 53: § 56-6-2. C.R.S. 1963: § 56-6-2. L. 64: P. 386, § 19. L. 71: P. 320, § 5. L. 88: (2) amended, p. 1124, § 3, effective April 4. L. 91: (1) amended, p. 358, § 17, effective April 9. L. 98: (6) added, p. 947, § 3, effective May 27. L. 2010: (1), (2), (3), (4), and (6) amended,(HB 10-1291), ch. 325, p. 1505, § 1, effective July 1. History. Source: L. 1891: P. 215, § 11. R.S. 08: § 2542. C.L. § 7906. L. 33: P. 900, § 1. CSA: C. 66, § 46. CRS 53: § 56-6-2. C.R.S. 1963: § 56-6-2. L. 64: P. 386, § 19. L. 71: P. 320, § 5. L. 88: (2) amended, p. 1124, § 3, effective April 4. L. 91: (1) amended, p. 358, § 17, effective April 9. L. 98: (6) added, p. 947, § 3, effective May 27. L. 2010: (1), (2), (3), (4), and (6) amended,(HB 10-1291), ch. 325, p. 1505, § 1, effective July 1.

For classification of counties fixing fees, see § 30-1-101 .

Law reviews. For article, “Expert Witnesses”, see 24 Rocky Mt. L. Rev. 418 (1952).

Application by defendant for procurement of witnesses should be made at earliest opportunity. Osborn v. People, 83 Colo. 4 , 262 P. 892 (1927).

Expenses of obtaining testimony of witnesses for indigent defendant must be paid by state. People v. McCabe, 37 Colo. App. 181, 546 P.2d 1289 (1975).

State is liable for advancement of costs. Since the state will ultimately pay the costs of securing out-of-state witnesses for the defendant, there is no legal justification for holding that it is not liable for advancement of such costs as mileage and witness fees. People v. McCabe, 37 Colo. App. 181, 546 P.2d 1289 (1975).

This section allows experts extra compensation, and a landowner should be repaid all the necessary expenses incurred in fixing the value of his land, including the preparatory work, time and expenses of experts who testify for him, provided that the sum allowed must be reasonable and that it is within the sound discretion of the trial court as to the exact amount. Rullo v. Pub. Serv. Co., 163 Colo. 99 , 428 P.2d 708 (1967).

Subsection (4) authorizes the court, in fixing an expert's fee, to consider time spent by the expert in preparation for trial as well as time spent in court. Yeager Garden Acres, Inc. v. Summit Constr. Co., 32 Colo. App. 242, 513 P.2d 458 (1973).

Subsection (4) permits additional compensation for expert witnesses, but no such exception exists for lay witnesses. Catlin v. Tormey Bewley Corp., 219 P.3d 407 (Colo. App. 2009).

In amounts deemed proper by the court. Under this section courts may allow witness fees to experts, testifying as such, in an amount which they may deem proper. Denver Joint Stock Land Bank v. Bd. of County Comm'rs, 105 Colo. 366 , 98 P.2d 283 (1940); Am. Water Dev., Inc. v. City of Alamosa, 874 P.2d 352 (Colo. 1994).

The award of expert witness fees, and the amount thereof, is within the sound discretion of the court. Crawford v. French, 633 P.2d 524 (Colo. App. 1981).

Allowances may include. The allowances included travel, ordinary witness fees, food and lodging expenses, and preparation of an inventory by consultants, plus $100 per day as additional fees for each expert for every day of attendance at the trial, whether or not they testified. There is evidence in the record that $100 per day was a reasonable amount of compensation for services of the kind furnished in the eminent domain hearing. Leadville Water Co. v. Parkville Water Dist., 164 Colo. 362 , 436 P.2d 659 (1967).

Allowances awarded may include travel, ordinary witness fees, food, and lodging expenses. Am. Water Dev., Inc. v. City of Alamosa, 874 P.2d 352 (Colo. 1994).

Witness's lost wages not a recoverable cost. A witness's lost wages are not necessarily incurred by reason of the litigation and for the proper preparation for trial so as to be an awardable cost. Catlin v. Tormey Bewley Corp., 219 P.3d 407 (Colo. App. 2009).

Amount of fee is circumscribed by rule of reason. While this section allows expert witness fees, the property owner in an eminent domain hearing will not be fully indemnified for any unusual compensation which he might choose to pay his expert witnesses. The awarding of expert witness fees is limited, being circumscribed by a rule of reason, viz., sound judicial discretion. Leadville Water Co. v. Parkville Water Dist., 164 Colo. 362 , 436 P.2d 659 (1967); Denver Urban Renewal Auth. v. Hayutin, 40 Colo. App. 559, 583 P.2d 296 (1978).

In absence of stipulation, court must decide if witness is an expert. In the absence of a stipulation between the litigants as to whether a witness is an expert, the length of time and the value of time spent in attendance at trial, and the judicial determination of what is a reasonable fee to be awarded an expert witness in a given case, are all evidentiary questions. Slavsky v. Callaham, 162 Colo. 208 , 425 P.2d 686 (1967).

Party must push motion for expert witness fees in trial court. The portion of plaintiffs' motion requesting expert witness fees was never called up for hearing or ruled upon by the trial court, although there was ample time for plaintiffs to have duly presented to the trial court their original motion to fix and award expert witness fees prior to the issuance of a writ of error and if disappointed in the trial court's ruling, they could have assigned cross-error on that question, as they had done successfully in their request for statutory interest. Failure to do so is dispositive. Slavsky v. Callaham, 162 Colo. 208 , 425 P.2d 686 (1967).

This section does not require that the amounts actually paid to the expert be assessed as costs; assessment is addressed to the sound discretion of the trial court. Lamont v. Riverside Irrigation Dist., 179 Colo. 134 , 498 P.2d 1150 (1972).

Award of costs for expert who did not testify. The winning party is entitled to an award of costs for its expert, even though the expert did not testify. Great W. Sugar Co. v. N. Natural Gas Co., 661 P.2d 684 (Colo. App. 1982).

If the expert was not listed on trial data certificate as scheduled to testify, such costs are not allowed. Schultz v. Linden-Alimak, Inc., 734 P.2d 146 (Colo. App. 1986).

This section controls costs which may be taxed in eminent domain proceedings. Denver Urban Renewal Auth. v. Hayutin, 40 Colo. App. 559, 583 P.2d 296 (1978); State Dept. of Hwys. v. Anvil Point Props., 722 P.2d 1024 (Colo. App. 1986).

But this section does not specifically provide for assessment of costs generated by a cost hearing. State Dept. of Hwys. v. Anvil Point Props., 722 P.2d 1024 (Colo. App. 1986).

In fixing an expert's fees, the court is authorized to consider the time spent by the expert in preparation for trial in addition to time spent in court. Am. Water Dev., Inc. v. City of Alamosa, 874 P.2d 352 (Colo. 1994).

Fees for an expert's assistant should not be allowed because they are not authorized by statute. Perkins v. Flatiron Structures Co., 849 P.2d 832 (Colo. App. 1992); W. Fire Truck, Inc. v. Emergency One, Inc., 134 P.3d 570 (Colo. App. 2006).

Fees for pretrial preparation to render an opinion not admitted into evidence are not recoverable. Perkins v. Flatiron Structures Co., 849 P.2d 832 (Colo. App. 1992).

Applied in Spensieri v. Farmers Alliance Mut. Ins., 804 P.2d 268 (Colo. App. 1990).