CO Code § 24-70-103 (2021)
2021 Colorado Code|Title 24 - Government - State|Article 70 - Publication of Legal Notices and Public Printing|Part 1 - Legal Notices - Publication|§ 24-70-103. Requisites of Legal Newspaper

  Any and every legal notice or advertisement shall be published only in a daily, a triweekly, a semiweekly, or a weekly newspaper of general circulation and printed or published in whole or in part in the county in which such notice or advertisement is required to be published, except as provided in this section. The newspaper, if published triweekly, semiweekly, or weekly, shall have been so published in such county, except as provided in this section, continuously and uninterruptedly during the period of at least fifty-two consecutive weeks next prior to the first issue thereof containing any such notice or advertisement; and the newspaper, if published daily, shall have been so published in such county, uninterruptedly and continuously, during the period of at least six months next prior to the first issue thereof containing any such notice or advertisement. In the case of a municipality having territory in two counties, each of which counties has one or more legal newspapers within the municipality, the publication by such municipality of its legal notices and advertisements in one of such newspapers shall be construed as valid publication under this part 1.    The mere change in the name of any newspaper or the removal of the principal business office or seat of publication of any newspaper from one place to another in the same county shall not break or affect the continuity in the publication of any such newspaper if the same is in fact continuously and uninterruptedly printed or published within such county. A newspaper shall not lose its rights as a legal publication if it fails to publish one or more of its issues by reason of a strike, transportation embargo or tie-up, or other casualty beyond the control of the publishers. Any legal notice which fails of publication for the required number of insertions by reason of a strike shall not be declared illegal if publication has been made in one issue of the publication.    If in any county in this state no newspaper has been published for the prescribed period at the time when any such notice or advertisement is required to be published or if there is no newspaper published therein, such notice or advertisement may be published in any newspaper published in whole or in part in an adjoining county and having a general circulation in whole or in part in said county having no newspaper published therein. If there is no newspaper in any adjoining county that has been published for the prescribed period at the time when any such notice or advertisement is required to be published, a required notice or advertisement may be published in a newspaper having general circulation within the county.    Notwithstanding any other provision of this part 1, if no newspaper is published within the territorial boundaries of a municipality that satisfies the requirements for a legal publication as specified in section 24-70-102, but a newspaper that provides local news and that would satisfy the requirements to be admitted to the United States mails with periodicals mailing privileges but for the absence of paid circulation is distributed within such territorial boundaries, the municipality may publish any legal notice or advertisement required by law in such newspaper.    When any legal notice is required by law to be published in any newspaper, the newspaper publishing the notice shall, at no additional cost to the person or entity placing the notice, place the notice on a statewide website established and maintained by an organization representing a majority of Colorado newspapers as a repository for the notices.     Source: L. 21: p. 570, § 3. C.L. § 5394. L. 35: p. 684, § 1. CSA: C. 130, § 3. CRS 53: § 109-1-3 . C.R.S. 1963: § 109-1-3 . L. 73: p. 1094, § 1. L. 2010: (4) added, (HB 10-1063), ch. 26, p. 101, § 1, effective March 18. L. 2012: (3) amended, (HB 12-1229), ch. 82, p. 272, § 2, effective August 8. L. 2014: (5) added, (HB 14-1086), ch. 20, p. 151, § 1, effective August 6.   ANNOTATION   Section is clear and unambiguous, and the courts must enforce it as written. Highland Chief, Inc. v. Wilkinson, 132Colo. 281, 288 P.2d 198 (1955).   A newspaper is not a "legal publication" where failure to publish is not excused. Where a newspaper does not publish "uninterruptedly and continuously" for a period of six months and the failure to publish one issue within such period is not excused by the provision enumerating the circumstances under which such failure is excused, such newspaper does not qualify as a "legal publication". Highland Chief, Inc. v. Wilkinson, 132Colo. 281, 288 P.2d 198 (1955).   Failure not excused where paper refuses to pay employees overtime. If the failure to publish a daily paper is due to a refusal to pay the employees overtime for work done on the previous day, it being a holiday, this falls in the class of a casualty which is within the control of the publisher and, under this section, its right as a "legal publication" is lost. By the failure to publish one of its issues, a newspaper falls short of the statutory requirement and the forfeiture is automatic. Highland Chief, Inc. v. Wilkinson, 132Colo. 281, 288 P.2d 198 (1955).   <b> Where publication is inadequate, deeds issued thereon are invalid. </b> Where the publisher's affidavit showing the publication of a delinquent tax list and notice of sale does not meet the requirements of <cite class="occo"><a href="gov.co.crs.title.24.html#t24-publicationoflegalnoticesandpublicprinting-ar70-s24-70-103" target="_self">§§ 24-70-103</a></cite> and <cite class="occo"><a href="gov.co.crs.title.24.html#t24-publicationoflegalnoticesandpublicprinting-ar70-s24-70-105" target="_self"> 24-70-105</a></cite>, deeds to the county issued thereon by the treasurer on his own volition without request from the county commissioners are void. Concord Corp. v. Huff, 144Colo. 72, 355 P.2d 73 (1960).