2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 38 - PROPERTY - REAL AND PERSONAL (§§ 38-1-101 — 38-53-110) › REAL PROPERTY (§§ 38-30-101 — 38-46-104) › MORTGAGES AND TRUST DEEDS (§§ 38-37-100.5 — 38-40-106) › Article 37 - OFFICE OF PUBLIC TRUSTEE (§§ 38-37-100.5 — 38-37-113) › Section 38-37-104 - Duties of public trustees - fees, expenses, and salaries - reports - definition

(1)
The public trustees of each county of this state shall perform the functions and exercise the powers conferred upon them by statute. They are entitled to receive as fees for such services the following sums and no other fees or perquisites
(a)
For executing a release of a deed of trust, the sum of thirty dollars;
(b)
For performing a foreclosure under article 38 of this title 38, the following sums, which shall be cumulative:
(I)
For opening and administering a foreclosure under the powers conferred upon them by a deed of trust pursuant to section
38-38-101
where the original principal amount of the debt secured by such deed of trust does not exceed five hundred thousand dollars, a fee of three hundred dollars and, where such amount exceeds five hundred thousand dollars, a fee of one-sixteenth of one percent of such original principal amount or the outstanding principal balance, whichever is less, but in no case less than three hundred dollars;
(II)
For accepting the filing of a notice of intent to redeem pursuant to section
38-38-302
, the sum of one hundred dollars per notice;
(III)
For processing and executing a certificate of redemption pursuant to section
38-38-402
, the sum of sixty dollars;
(IV)
For executing a confirmation deed pursuant to section
38-38-501
, the sum of sixty dollars;
(V)
For processing withdrawals pursuant to section
38-38-109 (3)(a)
, the sum of seventy dollars;
(VI)
For processing an administrative withdrawal pursuant to section
38-38-109 (3)(b)
, the sum of one hundred dollars;
(VII)
For recommencing the foreclosure after reinstatement where a sale was held in violation of the automatic stay provisions of the federal bankruptcy code of 1978, title 11 of the United States Code, as amended, pursuant to section
38-38-109 (2)(c)(II)
, the sum of one hundred dollars;
(VIII)
For recommencing the foreclosure after bankruptcy where publication was not completed pursuant to section
38-38-109 (2)(b)(I)
, the sum of one hundred fifty dollars;
(IX)
For performing the actions described in section
38-38-101 (9)
, the sum of two hundred dollars;
(XI)
For processing a rescission of sale pursuant to section
38-38-113
, the sum of two hundred dollars;
(XII)
For rescheduling a sale after a rescission of sale pursuant to section
38-38-113 (4)
, the additional sum of one hundred dollars; and
(XIII)
For performing actions related to processing a sale if the holder of a certificate of purchase is not the holder of an evidence of debt, no more than three hundred dollars.
(c)
For performing any duty of the public trustee pursuant to section
38-30-171 (3)(b)
,
38-30-173 (3)(b)
, or
38-34-104
, the sum of fifty dollars or such greater amount as may be approved by a court of competent jurisdiction; and
(d)
For performing duties pursuant to section
38-35-126 (1)
, an additional annual fee of one hundred fifty dollars, payable in advance, for each taxable year, or portion thereof, during which an escrow account is established.
(1.5)
(a)
On or before December 31, 2026, and on or before December 31 of every even-numbered year thereafter, the director of research of the legislative council appointed pursuant to section 2-3-304 (1) shall adjust the amount of each fee set forth in subsection (1) of this section, to be effective on January 1, 2027, and on January 1 of every odd-numbered year thereafter, to reflect inflation from the preceding two years if cumulative inflation since the last adjustment, when applied to the current fee amounts, will result in an increase in the fee amounts. The director of research shall post the adjusted fees on the website of the general assembly.
(b)
Any adjustment made pursuant to subsection (1.5)(a) of this section must be rounded upward to the nearest whole dollar.
(c)
As used in this subsection (1.5), "inflation" means the annual percentage change in the United States department of labor bureau of labor statistics consumer price index for Denver-Aurora-Lakewood for all items paid by all urban consumers, or its applicable successor index.
(2)
(a)
The salary of the public trustee in the different counties of the state shall be fixed at the following amounts, to wit: In counties of the second class, twenty-six thousand dollars per annum for full-time public trustees and, in counties of the third class, six thousand five hundred dollars per annum.
(b)
For public trustees whose terms begin on or after July 1, 1998, but prior to January 1, 2003, the salary of the public trustee in the different counties of the state shall be fixed at the following amounts, to wit: In counties of the second class, thirty-two thousand dollars per annum for full-time public trustees and, in counties of the third class, eight thousand dollars per annum; except that, in the city and county of Broomfield, such salary shall be as set forth in its annual budget.
(b.3)
(I)
For public trustees whose terms begin on or after January 1, 2003, except as otherwise provided in subparagraph (II), (III), or (IV) of this paragraph (b.3), the salary of the public trustee in the different counties of the state shall be fixed at the following amounts, to wit: In counties of the second class, forty-eight thousand five hundred dollars per annum, and in counties of the third class, twelve thousand five hundred dollars per annum.
(II)
For public trustees who are serving in office on or after March 13, 2008, the salary of the public trustee in the different counties of the state shall be fixed at the following amounts, to wit: In counties of the second class, fifty-six thousand five hundred dollars per annum; and in counties of the third class, twelve thousand five hundred dollars per annum.
(III)
For public trustees in counties of the second class who are serving in office on or after February 1, 2009, the salary shall be fixed at sixty-four thousand five hundred dollars per annum.
(IV)
For public trustees in counties of the second class who are serving in office on or after February 1, 2010, the salary shall be fixed at seventy-two thousand five hundred dollars per annum.
(V)
For public trustees in counties of the second class wherein the county treasurer serves as the public trustee, the salary shall be fixed at twelve thousand five hundred dollars per annum.
(b.5)
Repealed.
(c)
Such salaries shall be paid from the fees collected by the public trustee as provided in this section and not otherwise.
(3)
The public trustee of each county shall quarterly make and file with the board of county commissioners of the county a full and complete statement under oath of all transactions of the office of the public trustee and shall, upon the approval of said report, pay to the county treasurer all sums that the public trustee has received as fees in excess of the amount of salary then due to the public trustee and in excess of all necessary and reasonable expenses for staff wages and any benefits provided pursuant to county personnel policy and other expenses incidental to the conduct of the office of the public trustee for the quarter ending at the time of such report, which moneys shall, by the county treasurer, be placed to the credit of a fund to be known as the public trustee salary fund. The public trustee shall, before remitting such excess funds, retain such excess funds in a special reserve fund, which fund shall be maintained in a separate interest-bearing account as permitted under section
38-37-113
, until such special reserve fund, including accrued interest, reaches an amount equal to the public trustee's total operating expenses and authorized salary for the previous fiscal year, as filed pursuant to this subsection (3). If, in any particular quarter, the public trustee's operating expenses and authorized salary exceed the fees collected in the quarter, the public trustee may draw on the special reserve fund to cover the public trustee's operating expenses and authorized salary for that quarter. At such time as the special reserve fund has reached the permitted amount, excess funds shall be paid to the county treasurer to be placed in the public trustee salary fund. At the expiration of each year, the county treasurer shall, out of any moneys in the public trustee salary fund and not otherwise, pay to the public trustee such an amount, if any, as may be still due to the public trustee on account of the public trustee's salary for that year just expired, such payment to be made only upon the certificate of the board stating the amount of such salary still remaining due and unpaid, and the balance of said fund shall thereupon be transferred to the general fund of the county.
(4)
(Deleted by amendment, L. 2006, p. 1434, § 1; L. 2007, p. 1849, § 27, effective January 1, 2008.)
(5)
Repealed.
(6)
The public trustee of each county shall adopt a budget pursuant to the requirements of part 1 of article
1
of title
29
, C.R.S., and shall submit the budget to the board of county commissioners of the county in which he or she serves for review by the board.
(7)
The office of the public trustee is subject to annual audit pursuant to the "Colorado Local Government Audit Law", part 6 of article
1
of title
29
, C.R.S.
(8)
Each public trustee who is appointed by the governor shall be subject to the state "Procurement Code", articles
101
to
112
of title
24
, C.R.S., for any purchase of twenty thousand dollars or more and for any multiple year purchase agreement; except that, if the procurement rules established for the county in which the public trustee serves require an open and competitive bidding process, the public trustee may apply the county procurement rules.
Amended by 2024 Ch. 466,§ 1, eff. 7/1/2024, app. to fees that public trustees are entitled to receive pursuant to section 38-37-104 (1), C.R.S., on or after 7/1/2024.
Amended by 2021 Ch. 423, § 38, eff. 7/2/2021.
Amended by 2019 Ch. 338, § 2, eff. 8/2/2019.
Amended by 2015 Ch. 113, § 1, eff. 9/1/2015.
Amended by 2013 Ch. 23, § 3, eff. 8/7/2013.
L. 90: Entire article R&RE, p. 1649, § 1, effective October 1. L. 91: (1)(i) amended, p. 1921, § 49, effective June 1. L. 92: (1)(h) amended, p. 2095, § 7, effective July 1; (1)(h) and (1)(i) amended and (1)(j) added, p. 2101, § 2, effective July 1. L. 93: (1)(g) amended, p. 865, § 42, effective 7/1/1994. L. 96: (1)(g) amended, p. 1330, § 53, effective June 1. L. 98: (1) and (2) amended, p. 347, § 1, effective April 17; (1)(g) amended, p. 628, § 41, effective July 1. L. 2001: (1)(a), (1)(b), (1)(c), (1)(d), (1)(e), and (2)(b) amended and (2)(b.3) and (2)(b.5) added, p. 1066, § 1, effective September 1; (2)(b) amended, p. 268, § 12, effective November 15. L. 2005: (1)(b) amended, p. 397, § 2, effective August 8. L. 2006: (1), (3), and (4) amended, p. 1434, § 1, effective 1/1/2008. L. 2007: (1)(b)(VII) and (1)(b)(VIII) amended and (1)(b)(XI) and (1)(b)(XII) added, p. 1831, § 4, effective 1/1/2008. L. 2008: (2)(b.3) amended, p. 45, § 1, effective March 13. L. 2009: (5) added, (SB 09 -140), ch. 229, p. 229, § 2, effective September 1. L. 2012: (6), (7), and (8) added, (HB 12-1329), ch. 763, p. 763, § 1, effective August 8. L. 2013: (2)(a), (2)(b), (2)(b.3)(I), and (2)(b.3)(II) amended, (HB 13 -1051), ch. 55, p. 55, § 3, effective August 7. L. 2015: IP(1) and (1)(b)(X) amended, (HB 15 -1142), ch. 337, p. 337, § 1, effective September 1. L. 2019: (2)(b.3)(V) added and (2)(b.5) and (5) amended, (HB 19-1295), ch. 3101, p. 3101, § 2, effective August 2. L. 2021: (7) amended, (SB 21-266), ch. 2806, p. 2806, § 38, effective July 2.
(1) This section is similar to former § 38-37-105, as it existed prior to 1990.
(2) Amendments to subsection (1)(h) by Senate Bill 92-43 and Senate Bill 92-149 were harmonized. Amendments to subsection (1)(g) by Senate Bill 98-45 and Senate Bill 98-102 were harmonized. Amendments to subsection (2)(b) by House Bill 01-1358 and Senate Bill 01-102 were harmonized.
(3) The effective date for amendments made to subsections (1), (3), and (4) by chapter 305, L. 2006, was changed from July 1, 2007, to January 1, 2008, by section 27 of chapter 404, L. 2007.
(4) Subsection (2)(b.5)(II) provided for the repeal of subsection (2)(b.5), effective July 1, 2020. (See L. 2019, p. 3101.)
(5) Subsection (5)(b) provided for the repeal of subsection (5), effective July 1, 2020. (See L. 2019, p. 3101.)
For compensation and fees of county officers, see § 15 of art. XIV, Colo. Const.