Colorado Code § 24-6-203

Reporting by incumbents and elected candidates - gifts, honoraria, and other benefits - prohibition on monetary gifts - penalty - definitions
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(1) (a) As used in this
section, the terms "appropriate officer" and "candidate" shall have the meanings ascribed to them
in section 1-45-103, C.R.S., of the "Fair Campaign Practices Act".
(b) (I) As used in this section, the term "public office" means any office voted for in this
state at any election. "Public office" includes, without limitation, the governor, lieutenant
governor, secretary of state, attorney general, and state treasurer; a member of the general
assembly or the state board of education; a regent of the university of Colorado; a judge on the
Colorado court of appeals or the Colorado supreme court; a district attorney; or an officer of a
county, municipality, city and county, school district, or any elective office within a special
district for which the annual compensation exceeds two thousand four hundred dollars.
(II) "Public office" does not include:
(A) The office of president or vice president of the United States;
(B) The office of senator or representative in the congress of the United States;
(C) Any office in a political party chosen pursuant to sections 1-3-103, 1-4-403, and 1-4-
701, C.R.S.; or
(D) Any political party office in an assembly or convention, including delegates thereto.
(E) Repealed.
(III) Repealed.
(c) As used in this section, "covered state office" means the governor, lieutenant
governor, secretary of state, attorney general, state treasurer, a member of the state board of
education, a regent of the university of Colorado, a member of the general assembly, or a district
attorney.
(2) Every incumbent in or candidate elected to public office who receives from any other
person any item described in subsection (3) of this section in connection with the incumbent's or
elected candidate's public service shall file with the appropriate officer, on or before January 15,
April 15, July 15, and October 15 of each year, a report covering the period since the last report.
The requirement of this subsection (2) pertaining to the report due January 15 shall extend to an
incumbent leaving public office between October 15 and January 15, who shall file with the
appropriate officer by January 15 a report that covers any items received during the period since
the last report. Such report shall be on forms prescribed by the secretary of state and shall
contain, at a minimum, the name of the person from whom the item was received and the amount
or value and the date of receipt. The secretary of state shall furnish such forms to municipal
clerks, to county clerk and recorders, and to incumbents and elected candidates for state offices
and district offices of districts greater than a county free of charge for use by incumbents and
elected candidates required to file such forms. If any incumbent in or candidate elected to public
office does not receive any such item, he or she shall not be required to file such report.
(3) The reports required by subsection (2) of this section shall include the following:
(a) In the case of a candidate elected to public office who is not an incumbent and has
not yet been sworn into such office and subject to the requirements of subsection (3.5) of this
section, any money, including but not limited to a loan, pledge, or advance of money or a
guarantee of a loan of money, or any forbearance or forgiveness of indebtedness from any
person, with a value greater than fifty-three dollars;
(b) In the case of a candidate elected to public office who is not an incumbent and has
not yet been sworn into such office and subject to the requirements of subsection (3.5) of this
section, any gift of any item of real or personal property, other than money, with a value greater
than fifty-three dollars;
(c) In the case of a candidate elected to public office who is not an incumbent and has
not yet been sworn into such office, any loan of any item of real or personal property, other than
money, if the value of the loan is greater than fifty-three dollars. For such purpose, the "value of
the loan" means the cost saved or avoided by the elected candidate by not borrowing, leasing, or
purchasing comparable property from a source available to the general public.
(d) Any payment for a speech, appearance, or publication;
(e) In the case of a candidate elected to public office who is not an incumbent and has
not yet been sworn into such office, tickets to sporting, recreational, educational, or cultural
events with a value greater than fifty-three dollars for any single event;
(f) Payment of or reimbursement for actual and necessary expenditures for travel and
lodging for attendance at a convention, fact-finding mission or trip, or other meeting that the
incumbent or elected candidate who has been sworn into public office is permitted to accept or
receive in accordance with the provisions of section 3 of article XXIX of the state constitution,
unless the payment of or reimbursement for such expenditures is made from public funds of a
state or local government in the case of an incumbent or elected candidate subject to the
provisions of said article or from the funds of any association of public officials or public entities
whose membership includes the incumbent's or elected candidate's office or the governmental
entity in which such office is held;
(g) Subject to the provisions of section 3 of article XXIX of the state constitution, any
gift of a meal to a fund-raising event of a political party;
(h) Payment of or reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses for travel and
lodging for attendance at a convention, fact-finding mission or trip, or other meeting that is from
an organization declared to be a joint governmental agency by section 2-3-311, C.R.S.
(3.5) (a) Each incumbent in or candidate elected to covered state office is prohibited
from knowingly receiving or accepting from any other person, in connection with the public
service of the incumbent or elected candidate:
(I) A gift of any money, including but not limited to a loan, pledge, or advance of
money, a guarantee of a loan of money, or any monetary payment given, directly or indirectly,
for the purpose of defraying any expenses related to the official duties undertaken by the
incumbent or elected candidate; or
(II) An in-kind gift.
(b) Nothing in paragraph (a) of this subsection (3.5) shall be construed to prohibit an
incumbent or elected candidate from receiving a salary or other compensation paid to the
incumbent or elected candidate in connection with the performance of his or her official duties,
including, without limitation, payment for a speech, appearance, or publication or payment of or
reimbursement for actual and necessary expenditures for travel and lodging to the extent the
incumbent or elected candidate who has been sworn into covered state office is permitted to
accept or receive such items in accordance with the provisions of section 3 of article XXIX of
the state constitution.
(c) For purposes of this subsection (3.5), an "in-kind gift" means any gift of equipment,
goods, supplies, property, services, or anything else, the value of which exceeds fifty dollars in
the aggregate in any one calendar year, given, directly or indirectly, to an incumbent in or
candidate elected to covered state office for the purpose of defraying any expenses related to the
official duties undertaken by the incumbent or elected candidate.
(3.7) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, no incumbent in or candidate
elected to covered state office shall accept a gift of any money from any person who is a
professional or volunteer lobbyist or from a corporation or labor organization.
(4) The reports required by subsection (2) of this section need not include the following:
(a) A contribution or contribution in kind that has already been reported pursuant to
section 1-45-108, C.R.S.;
(b) Any unsolicited item of trivial value as described in section 3 (3)(b) of article XXIX
of the state constitution;
(c) An unsolicited token or award of appreciation as described in section 3 (3)(c) of
article XXIX of the state constitution;
(d) Payment of or reimbursement for actual and necessary expenditures for travel and
lodging for attendance at a convention, fact-finding mission or trip, or other meeting that the
incumbent or elected candidate is permitted to accept or receive in accordance with the
provisions of section 3 of article XXIX of the state constitution, if the payment of or
reimbursement for such expenditures is made from public funds of a state or local government in
the case of an incumbent or elected candidate subject to the provisions of said article or from the
funds of any association of public officials or public entities whose membership includes the
incumbent's or elected candidate's office or the governmental entity in which such office is held;
(e) Payment of salary from employment, including other government employment, in
addition to that earned from being a member of the general assembly or by reason of service in
other public office;
(f) Except as otherwise described in this subsection (4), any other gift or thing of value
an incumbent or elected candidate who has been sworn into public office is permitted to solicit,
accept, or receive in accordance with the provisions of section 3 of article XXIX of the state
constitution.
(5) Any person who provides an incumbent or elected candidate with any item required
to be reported by the incumbent or elected candidate pursuant to this section shall, at the time the
item is provided, furnish the recipient with a written statement of the dollar value of the item.
(6) Nothing contained in this section shall relieve any person from the disclosure
requirements of part 3 of article 6 of this title, relating to the regulation of lobbyists.
(7) Any person who willfully files a false or incomplete report pursuant to this section,
who willfully fails to file a report required by this section, who willfully fails to provide the
statement of value required by subsection (5) of this section, or who violates any provision of
subsection (3.5) of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
punished by a fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more than one thousand dollars.
(8) The amount of the gift limit specified in subsection (3) of this section, set at fifty-
three dollars as of August 8, 2012, shall be identical to the amount of the gift limit under section
3 of article XXIX of the state constitution, and shall be adjusted for inflation contemporaneously
with any adjustment of the constitutional gift limit pursuant to section 3 (6) of article XXIX.

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