Colorado Code § 18-6-803.5

Crime of violation of a protection order - penalty - peace officers' duties - definitions
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(1) A person commits the crime of violation of a protection order if, after the
person has been personally served with a protection order that identifies the person as a
restrained person or otherwise has acquired from the court or law enforcement personnel actual
knowledge of the contents of a protection order that identifies the person as a restrained person,
the person:
(a) Contacts, harasses, injures, intimidates, molests, threatens, or touches the protected
person or protected property, including an animal, identified in the protection order or enters or
remains on premises or comes within a specified distance of the protected person, protected
property, including an animal, or premises or violates any other provision of the protection order
to protect the protected person from imminent danger to life or health, and such conduct is
prohibited by the protection order;
(b) Except as permitted pursuant to section 18-13-126 (1)(b), hires, employs, or
otherwise contracts with another person to locate or assist in the location of the protected person;
or
(c) Violates a civil protection order issued pursuant to section 13-14-105.5 or a
mandatory protection order issued pursuant to section 18-1-1001 (9) by:
(I) Possessing or attempting to purchase or receive a firearm or ammunition while the
protection order is in effect; or
(II) Failing to timely file a signed affidavit or written statement with the court as
described in section 13-14-105.5 (9), 18-1-1001 (9)(i), or 18-6-801 (8)(i).
(1.5) As used in this section:
(a) "Protected person" means the person or persons identified in the protection order as
the person or persons for whose benefit the protection order was issued. "Protected person" does
not include the defendant.
(a.5) (I) "Protection order" means any order that prohibits the restrained person from
contacting, harassing, injuring, intimidating, molesting, threatening, or touching any protected
person or protected animal, or from entering or remaining on premises, or from coming within a
specified distance of a protected person or protected animal or premises or any other provision to
protect the protected person or protected animal from imminent danger to life or health, that is
issued by a court of this state or a municipal court, and that is issued pursuant to:
(A) Article 14 of title 13, section 18-1-1001, section 19-2.5-607, section 19-4-111, or
rule 365 of the Colorado rules of county court civil procedure;
(B) Sections 14-4-101 to 14-4-105, C.R.S., section 14-10-107, C.R.S., section 14-10-
108, C.R.S., or section 19-3-316, C.R.S., as those sections existed prior to July 1, 2004;
(C) An order issued as part of the proceedings concerning a criminal municipal
ordinance violation; or
(D) Any other order of a court that prohibits a person from contacting, harassing,
injuring, intimidating, molesting, threatening, or touching any person, or from entering or
remaining on premises, or from coming within a specified distance of a protected person or
premises.
(II) For purposes of this section only, "protection order" includes any order that amends,
modifies, supplements, or supersedes the initial protection order. "Protection order" also includes
any restraining order entered prior to July 1, 2003, and any foreign protection order as defined in
section 13-14-110, C.R.S.
(b) "Registry" means the computerized information system created in section 18-6-803.7
or the national crime information center created pursuant to 28 U.S.C. sec. 534.
(c) "Restrained person" means the person identified in the order as the person prohibited
from doing the specified act or acts.
(d) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2003, p. 1003, § 6, effective July 1, 2003.)
(2) (a) Violation of a protection order is a class 2 misdemeanor; except that, if the
restrained person has previously been convicted of violating this section or a former version of
this section or an analogous municipal ordinance, or if the protection order is issued pursuant to
section 18-1-1001, or the basis for issuing the protection order included an allegation of stalking
or the parties were in an intimate relationship, the violation is a class 1 misdemeanor.
(a.5) Repealed.
(b) (Deleted by amendment, L. 95, p. 567, § 3, effective July 1, 1995.)
(c) Nothing in this section shall preclude the ability of a municipality to enact concurrent
ordinances. Any sentence imposed for a violation of this section shall run consecutively and not
concurrently with any sentence imposed for any crime which gave rise to the issuing of the
protection order.
(3) (a) Whenever a protection order is issued, the protected person shall be provided
with a copy of such order. A peace officer shall use every reasonable means to enforce a
protection order.
(b) A peace officer shall arrest, or, if an arrest would be impractical under the
circumstances, seek a warrant for the arrest of a restrained person when the peace officer has
information amounting to probable cause that:
(I) The restrained person has violated or attempted to violate any provision of a
protection order; and
(II) The restrained person has been properly served with a copy of the protection order or
the restrained person has received actual notice of the existence and substance of such order.
(c) In making the probable cause determination described in paragraph (b) of this
subsection (3), a peace officer shall assume that the information received from the registry is
accurate. A peace officer shall enforce a valid protection order whether or not there is a record of
the protection order in the registry.
(d) The arrest and detention of a restrained person is governed by applicable
constitutional and applicable state rules of criminal procedure. The arrested person shall be
removed from the scene of the arrest and shall be taken to the peace officer's station for booking,
whereupon the arrested person may be held or released in accordance with the adopted bonding
schedules for the jurisdiction in which the arrest is made, or the arrested person may be taken to
the jail in the county where the protection order was issued. The law enforcement agency or any
other locally designated agency shall make all reasonable efforts to contact the protected party
upon the arrest of the restrained person. The prosecuting attorney shall present any available
arrest affidavits and the criminal history of the restrained person to the court at the time of the
first appearance of the restrained person before the court.
(e) The arresting agency arresting the restrained person shall forward to the issuing court
a copy of such agency's report, a list of witnesses to the violation, and, if applicable, a list of any
charges filed or requested against the restrained person. The agency shall give a copy of the
agency's report, witness list, and charging list to the protected party. The agency shall delete the
address and telephone number of a witness from the list sent to the court upon request of such
witness, and such address and telephone number shall not thereafter be made available to any
person, except law enforcement officials and the prosecuting agency, without order of the court.
(4) If a restrained person is on bond in connection with a violation or attempted violation
of a protection order in this or any other state and is subsequently arrested for violating or
attempting to violate a protection order, the arresting agency shall notify the prosecuting attorney
who shall file a motion with the court which issued the prior bond for the revocation of the bond
and for the issuance of a warrant for the arrest of the restrained person if such court is satisfied
that probable cause exists to believe that a violation of the protection order issued by the court
has occurred.
(5) A peace officer arresting a person for violating a protection order or otherwise
enforcing a protection order shall not be held criminally or civilly liable for such arrest or
enforcement unless the peace officer acts in bad faith and with malice or does not act in
compliance with rules adopted by the Colorado supreme court.
(6) (a) A peace officer is authorized to use every reasonable means to protect the alleged
victim or the alleged victim's children to prevent further violence. Such peace officer may
transport, or obtain transportation for, the alleged victim to shelter. Upon the request of the
protected person, the peace officer may also transport the minor child of the protected person,
who is not an emancipated minor, to the same shelter if such shelter is willing to accept the
child, whether or not there is a custody order or an order allocating parental responsibilities with
respect to such child or an order for the care and control of the child and whether or not the other
parent objects. A peace officer who transports a minor child over the objection of the other
parent shall not be held liable for any damages that may result from interference with the
custody, parental responsibilities, care, and control of or access to a minor child in complying
with this subsection (6).
(b) For purposes of this subsection (6), "shelter" means a battered women's shelter, a
friend's or family member's home, or such other safe haven as may be designated by the
protected person and which is within a reasonable distance from the location at which the peace
officer found the victim.
(7) The protection order shall contain in capital letters and bold print a notice informing
the protected person that such protected person may either initiate contempt proceedings against
the restrained person if the order is issued in a civil action or request the prosecuting attorney to
initiate contempt proceedings if the order is issued in a criminal action.
(8) A protection order issued in the state of Colorado shall contain a statement that:
(a) The order or injunction shall be accorded full faith and credit and be enforced in
every civil or criminal court of the United States, another state, an Indian tribe, or a United
States territory pursuant to 18 U.S.C. sec. 2265;
(b) The issuing court had jurisdiction over the parties and subject matter; and
(c) The defendant was given reasonable notice and opportunity to be heard.
(9) A criminal action charged pursuant to this section may be tried either in the county
where the offense is committed or in the county in which the court that issued the protection
order is located, if such court is within this state.

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