2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 31 - GOVERNMENT - MUNICIPAL (§§ 31-1-101 — 31-35-712) › POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF CITIES AND TOWNS (§§ 31-15-101 — 31-35-712) › Article 15 - EXERCISE OF MUNICIPAL POWERS (§§ 31-15-101 — 31-15-1101) › Part 4 - POLICE REGULATIONS (§§ 31-15-401 — 31-15-407) › Section 31-15-401 - General police powers

(1)
In relation to the general police power, the governing bodies of municipalities have the following powers:
(a)
To regulate the police of the municipality, including employing certified peace officers to enforce all laws of the state of Colorado notwithstanding section
16-2.5-201
, and pass and enforce all necessary police ordinances;
(b)
To do all acts and make all regulations which may be necessary or expedient for the promotion of health or the suppression of disease;
(c)
To declare what is a nuisance and abate the same and to impose fines upon parties who may create or continue nuisances or suffer nuisances to exist; except that a municipal ordinance may impose liability on the owner of real property for a nuisance committed on the property by a tenant in lawful possession of the property only if the municipality notifies the property owner and tenant of the nuisance before a fine or other liability is imposed;
(d)
(I)
To provide for and compel the removal of weeds, brush, and rubbish of all kinds from lots and tracts of land within such municipalities and from the alleys behind and from the sidewalk areas in front of such property at such time, upon such notice, and in such manner as such municipalities prescribe by ordinance, and to assess the whole cost thereof, including five percent for inspection and other incidental costs in connection therewith, upon the lots and tracts of land from which the weeds, brush, and rubbish are removed. The assessment shall be a lien against each lot or tract of land until paid and shall have priority over all other liens except general taxes and prior special assessments.
(II)
If an assessment is not paid within a reasonable time specified by ordinance and a municipality complies with the recording and certification requirements specified in subsection (1)(d)(III) of this section, the amount of the unpaid assessment may be certified to the county treasurer who shall collect the assessment, together with a ten percent penalty for cost of collection, in the same manner as other taxes are collected. The laws of this state for assessment and collection of general taxes, including the laws for the sale and redemption of property for taxes, apply to the collection of such assessments.
(III)
A county treasurer shall accept for collection pursuant to subsection (1)(d)(II) of this section and section
31-20-105
a lien levied pursuant to subsection (1)(d)(I) of this section if:
(A)
Within four months of abating a nuisance pursuant to subsection (1)(d)(I) of this section, a municipality files for recording a notice of lien with the county clerk and recorder of the county in which the real property is located; and
(B)
Within one year of filing the notice of lien for recording specified by subsection (1)(d)(III)(A) of this section, a municipality certifies the amount of the unpaid assessment for which the lien was levied to the county treasurer of the county in which the real property is located.
(e)
To prevent and suppress riots, routs, affrays, noises, disturbances, and disorderly assemblies in any public or private place;
(f)
To prevent fighting, quarreling, dog fights, cock fights, and all disorderly conduct;
(g)
To suppress bawdy and disorderly houses and houses of ill fame or assignation within the limits of the municipality or within three miles beyond, except where the boundaries of two municipalities adjoin the outer boundaries of the municipality; to suppress gaming and gambling houses, lotteries, and fraudulent devices and practices for the purpose of gaining or obtaining money or property; and to regulate the promotion or wholesale promotion of obscene material and obscene performances, as defined in part 1 of article
7
of title
18
, C.R.S.;
(h)
To restrain and punish loiterers, mendicants, and prostitutes;
(i)
To prohibit and punish for cruelty to animals;
(j)
To establish and erect jails, correction centers, and reform schools for the reformation and confinement of loiterers and disorderly persons and persons convicted of violating any municipal ordinance, to make rules and regulations for the government of the same, and to appoint necessary officers and assistants therefor;
(k)
To use the county jail for the confinement or punishment of offenders, subject to such conditions as are imposed by law, and with the consent of the board of county commissioners;
(l)
To authorize the acceptance of a bail bond when any person has been arrested for the violation of any ordinance and a continuance or postponement of trial is granted. When such bond is accepted, it shall have the same validity and effect as bail bonds provided for under the criminal statutes of this state.
(m)
(I)
To regulate and to prohibit the running at large and keeping of animals, including fowl, within the municipality and to otherwise provide for the regulation and control of such animals including, but not limited to, licensing, impoundment, and disposition of impounded animals.
(II)
In case any municipality neglects or refuses to pass an ordinance in conformity with this paragraph (m), anyone impounding an animal running at large within the limits of said municipality shall notify the state board of stock inspection commissioners, and said animal shall be disposed of by said board as provided in article
44
of title
35
, C.R.S.
(n)
To regulate and license pawnbrokers as provided in section
29-11.9-102
;
(o)
To enact and enforce ordinances prohibiting gambling and the use of any gambling device, as the terms are defined in section
18-10-102
, in a park, on a public way, or on a street; except that in enacting and enforcing the ordinances, a municipality, notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, may also prohibit social gambling in or on parks, public ways, or streets. Nothing in this subsection (1)(o) shall be construed as prohibiting pari-mutuel betting or wagering under article
32
of title
44
.
(p)
(I)
To adopt reasonable regulations for the operation of establishments open to the public in which persons appear in a state of nudity for the purpose of entertaining the patrons of such establishment; except that such regulations shall not be tantamount to a complete prohibition of such operation. Such regulations may include the following:
(A)
Minimum age requirements for admittance to such establishments;
(B)
Limitations on the hours during which such establishments may be open for business; and
(C)
Restrictions on the location of such establishments with regard to schools, churches, and residential areas.
(II)
The governing body of the municipality may enact ordinances which provide that any establishment which engages in repeated or continuing violations of regulations adopted by the governing body shall constitute a public nuisance. In addition to the power provided for in paragraph (c) of this subsection (1) the governing body of the municipality may bring an action for an injunction against the operation of such establishment in a manner which violates such regulations.
(III)
Nothing in the regulations adopted by the governing body of the municipality pursuant to this paragraph (p) shall be construed to apply to the presentation, showing, or performance of any play, drama, ballet, or motion picture in any theater, concert hall, museum of fine arts, school, institution of higher education, or other similar establishment as a form of expression of opinion or communication of ideas or information, as differentiated from the promotion or exploitation of nudity for the purpose of advancing the economic welfare of a commercial or business enterprise.
(q)
(I)
To control and limit fires, including but not limited to the prohibition, banning, restriction, or other regulation of fires and the designation of places where fires are permitted, restricted, or prohibited.
(II)
Nothing in this paragraph (q) shall be construed to preempt or supercede state, tribal, or federal law concerning the control, limitation, or other regulation of fires described in this paragraph (q).
Amended by 2023 Ch. 55, § 1, eff. 8/7/2023.
Amended by 2018 Ch. 26, § 19, eff. 10/1/2018.
Amended by 2017 Ch. 246, § 8, eff. 8/9/2017.
Amended by 2017 Ch. 105, § 3, eff. 4/4/2017.
L. 75: Entire title R&RE, p. 1108, § 1, effective July 1. L. 76: (1)(g) amended, p. 559, § 3, effective July 1. L. 77: (1)(g) amended, p. 985, § 2, effective July 1. L. 82: (1)(g) amended, p. 627, § 34, effective April 2. L. 84: (1)(o) added, p. 838, § 1, effective April 2; (1)(n) added, p. 443, § 3, effective July 1. L. 85: (1)(p) added, p. 1060, § 2, effective May 10. L. 86: (1)(g) amended, p. 784, § 7, effective April 21. L. 2002, 3rd Ex. Sess.: (1)(q) added, p. 38, § 4, effective July 17. L. 2005: (1)(c) amended, p. 550, § 1, effective 1/1/2006. L. 2017: (1)(a) amended, (SB 17-066), ch. 105, p. 386, § 3, effective April 4; (1)(n) amended, (SB 17-228), ch. 246, p. 1042, § 8, effective August 9. L. 2018: (1)(o) amended, (HB 18-1024), ch. 26, p. 324, § 19, effective October 1.
The provisions of this section are similar to provisions of several former sections as they existed prior to 1975.
2023 Ch. 55, was passed without a safety clause. See Colo. Const. art. V, § 1(3).
For requirement that a municipality be made a party in any proceeding involving the validity of an ordinance or franchise and that the attorney general be served with a copy in any proceeding involving the constitutionality of an ordinance or franchise, see § 13-51-115 and C.R.C.P. 57(j); for the authority of counties to adopt regulations pursuant to their police powers, see § 30-15-401 ; for the penalty for livestock grazing on roads and in municipalities, see § 35-46-105 .