2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 31 - GOVERNMENT - MUNICIPAL (§§ 31-1-101 — 31-35-712) › CORPORATE CLASS - ORGANIZATION AND TERRITORY (§§ 31-1-101 — 31-4-507) › Article 4 - ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND OFFICERS (§§ 31-4-101 — 31-4-507) › Part 5 - OFFICERS' RECALL (§§ 31-4-501 — 31-4-507) › Section 31-4-503 - Petition in sections - signing - affidavit - review - tampering with petition

(1)
A recall petition may be circulated and signed in sections, but each section must contain a full and accurate copy of the title and text of the petition.
(2)
(a)
Signatures for a recall petition need not all be on one sheet of paper. All recall petitions must be filed in the office of the municipal clerk within sixty days from the date on which the municipal clerk approves the petition as to form.
(b)
A recall petition must be signed only by registered electors using their own signatures, after which each such elector shall print or, if the elector is unable to do so, shall cause to be printed the elector's legal name; the residence address of such person, including the street and number, if any, the municipality, and the county; and the date of signing the petition.
(c)
To each such petition or section thereof shall be attached an affidavit of the person who circulated the petition stating the affiant's address, that the affiant is eighteen years of age or older, that the affiant circulated the said petition, that the affiant made no misrepresentation of the purpose of such petition to any signer of the petition, that each signature on the petition was affixed in the affiant's presence, that each signature on the petition is the signature of the person whose name it purports to be, that to the best of the knowledge and belief of the affiant each of the persons signing said petition was at the time of signing a registered elector, and that the affiant neither has paid nor shall pay and that the affiant believes that no other person has so paid or shall pay, directly or indirectly, any money or other thing of value to any signer for the purpose of inducing or causing such signer to sign such petition.
(d)
Any disassembly of an entire petition renders the petition invalid and of no force and effect. Any disassembly of a petition section renders that petition section invalid and of no force and effect.
(3)
(a)
The municipal clerk shall issue a written initial determination that a recall petition is sufficient or not sufficient by the close of business on the fifth business day after the petition is filed or, if that day is not a regular business day, on the first regular business day thereafter, unless a protest has been filed prior to that day. The clerk shall forthwith mail a copy of the written initial determination to the officer sought to be recalled and to the committee. The clerk shall initially deem a petition sufficient if the clerk determines that the petition was timely filed, has attached to it the required affidavits, and was signed by the requisite number of registered electors of the municipality within sixty days following the date upon which the clerk approved the form of the petition. The clerk shall not remove the signature of an elector from a petition after the petition is filed. If a petition is initially determined by the clerk to be not sufficient, the clerk shall identify those portions of the petition that are not sufficient and the reasons for the insufficiency. The clerk's written initial determination is final if no protest is filed as provided in subsection (3)(b) of this section.
(b)
A protest in writing under oath may be filed in the office of the municipal clerk by a registered elector of the municipality within fifteen days after the petition is filed setting forth specifically the grounds of the protest. Grounds for protest may include, but are not limited to, the failure of any portion of a petition, circulator affidavit, or petition circulator to meet the requirements of this section. The municipal clerk shall mail a copy of a protest to the officer named in the petition, to the committee named in the petition as representing the signers of the petition, and to the county clerk and recorder, together with a notice fixing a time for hearing the protest that is not less than five nor more than ten days after the notice is mailed. Every hearing must be before the municipal clerk with whom a protest is filed, who shall serve as hearing officer unless some other person is designated by the governing body as the hearing officer, and the testimony in every hearing must be under oath. The hearing officer has the power to issue subpoenas and compel the attendance of witnesses. A hearing is summary and not subject to delay and shall be concluded within thirty days after a petition is filed. No later than five days after the conclusion of a hearing, the hearing officer shall issue a written determination of whether the petition is sufficient or not sufficient. If the hearing officer determines that a petition is not sufficient, the hearing officer shall identify in the written determination those portions of the petition that are not sufficient and the reasons for the insufficiency. The result of a hearing must be forthwith certified to the committee and the officer sought to be recalled.
(c)
If a recall petition is determined not sufficient in the clerk's written initial determination or the hearing officer's written determination, the petition may be withdrawn by a majority of the committee and, within fifteen days after a determination that the petition is not sufficient, may be amended by the addition of any required information relating to the signers of the petition or the attachment of proper circulator affidavits and refiled as an original petition; except that any petition amended and refiled as provided in this subsection (3)(c) may not again be withdrawn and refiled. The municipal clerk shall issue a written initial determination that a refiled petition is sufficient or not sufficient within four business days after the petition is filed. The clerk's written initial determination as to a refiled petition will become final if no protest is filed as provided in this subsection (3)(c). Any protest concerning a refiled petition shall be filed within five business days of the date on which the petition was refiled, and any hearing shall be conducted as provided in subsection (3)(b) of this section.
(d)
A municipal hearing officer's finding as to the sufficiency of any petition may be reviewed by the district court for the county in which the municipality or portion of the municipality is located upon application of either the officer sought to be recalled or the officer's representative or a majority of the committee, and the review shall be had and determined forthwith. The clerk's written determination is not subject to review unless a protest is filed and determined by a hearing officer in accordance with this section. The sufficiency or the determination of the sufficiency of the petition referred to in this section shall not be held or construed to refer to the grounds assigned in such petition for the recall of the incumbent sought to be recalled from the office by the petition.
(4)
When a recall petition is determined sufficient and any review pursuant to subsection (3)(d) of this section is concluded, the municipal clerk shall submit the petition, together with a certificate of its sufficiency, to the governing body of the municipality at the first meeting of the governing body following expiration of the period within which a protest may be filed, at the first meeting of the governing body following the determination of a hearing officer that a petition is sufficient, or at the first meeting of the governing body following the conclusion of any review pursuant to subsection (3)(d) of this section, whichever is later. The governing body shall thereupon order and fix a date for the recall election to be held not less than thirty days nor more than ninety days from the date of submission of the petition to the governing body by the municipal clerk and determine whether voting in the recall election is to take place at the polling place or by mail ballot; but, if a regular election is to be held within one hundred eighty days after the date of submission of said petition, the recall election shall be held as a part of the regular election.
(4.5)
A recall election pursuant to this part 5 may only be conducted as part of a coordinated election if the content of the recall election ballot is finally determined by the date for certification of the ballot content for the coordinated election to the county clerk pursuant to section
1-5-203 (3)
, C.R.S.
(5)
Any person who willfully destroys, defaces, mutilates, or suppresses any recall petition or who willfully neglects to file or delays the delivery of the recall petition or who conceals or removes any recall petition from the possession of the person authorized by law to have the custody thereof, or who aids, counsels, procures, or assists any person in doing any of said acts commits a class 2 misdemeanor.
Amended by 2023 Ch. 87,§ 7, eff. 8/7/2023.
Amended by 2021 Ch. 462, § 511, eff. 3/1/2022.
Amended by 2021 Ch. 282, § 77, eff. 6/21/2021.
L. 75: Entire title R&RE, p. 1037, § 1, effective July 1. L. 85: (2) amended, p. 1349, § 22, effective April 30. L. 88: (5) added, p. 295, § 10, effective May 29. L. 91: (1) to (4) amended, p. 749, § 20, effective April 4. L. 2000: (2)(c), (3)(b), and (4) amended and (4.5) added, p. 793, § 9, effective August 2. L. 2004: (4) amended, p. 1523, § 3, effective May 28. L. 2021: (4) amended, (SB 21-250), ch. 1671, p. 1671, § 77, effective June 21; (5) amended, (SB 21-271), ch. 3251, p. 3251, § 511, effective 3/1/2022.
(1) This section is similar to former § 31-5-203 as it existed prior to 1975.
(2) Section 85 of chapter 282 (SB 21-250), Session Laws of Colorado 2021, provides that the act changing this section applies to elections conducted on or after June 21, 2021.
(3) Section 803(2) of chapter 462 (SB 21-271), Session Laws of Colorado 2021, provides that the act changing this section applies to offenses committed on or after March 1, 2022.
2023 Ch. 87, was passed without a safety clause. See Colo. Const. art. V, § 1(3).
2021 Ch. 462, was passed without a safety clause. See Colo. Const. art. V, § 1(3).