Opinion ID: 2634706
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Origins of Municipal Court Jurisdiction

Text: Municipal court jurisdiction is grounded in our constitution. The Colorado Constitution specifically provides for municipal courts and authorizes town councils to define the limits of that jurisdiction within the province of local and municipal matters. The General Assembly has reinforced this authority by providing a statutory framework to guide municipal courts in the exercise of their jurisdiction. Thus, we find that a municipality's authority to create a municipal court and to define its jurisdiction is firmly rooted in our law. Initially, we note that we must consider the constitution as a whole and give effect to every part. [I]t is essential that we take the Constitution as it is, including every part thereof relating to the subject-matter under consideration, and construe the instrument as a whole, causing it, including the amendments thereto, to harmonize, giving to every word as far as possible its appropriate meaning and effect. Dixon v. People, 53 Colo. 527, 530, 127 P. 930, 932 (1912); see also People ex rel. Graves v. Dist. Court, 37 Colo. 443, 450, 86 P. 87, 89 (1906) (constitution must be construed as a whole); Reale v. Bd. of Real Estate Appraisers, 880 P.2d 1205, 1208 (Colo.1994) (each phrase in the constitution included for a purpose). Several provisions of our constitution relate to the power of home rule municipalities to determine the jurisdiction of their courts. When analyzed as a whole, these constitutional provisions clearly provide home rule cities the power to define the jurisdiction of their municipal courts. First, article XX, section 6, grants home rule cities the power to provide, regulate, conduct, and control. . . the creation of municipal courts: the definition and regulation of the jurisdiction, powers and duties thereof. This section authorizes home rule cities to establish municipal courts. Further, it allows the home rule city to define the jurisdiction of its municipal court within the realm of local and municipal matters. Specifically, article XX, section 6, states that municipalities shall have the power to create a municipal court and to define its jurisdiction. A home rule city or town shall have: powers necessary, requisite or proper for the government and administration of its local and municipal matters, including power to legislate upon, provide, regulate, conduct, and control . . . (c) The creation of municipal courts; the definition and regulation of the jurisdiction, powers and duties thereof, and the election or appointment of the officers thereof. . . . Colo. Const. Art. XX, § 6. In essence, this section gives municipalities all the powers of the General Assembly with regard to local and municipal matters. Two additional sections in the constitution support this grant of authority to the municipal court. Article VI, section 9, grants the district courts original jurisdiction over civil matters except as otherwise provided herein. Next, article VI, section 1, establishes general jurisdiction in the district courts, but notes that such a grant of jurisdiction shall not restrict or diminish the powers of home rule cities and towns granted under article XX, section 6 of this constitution to create municipal and police courts. Thus, taken together with the grant of authority in article XX, section 6, these provisions unmistakably grant home rule municipalities the power to define the jurisdiction of their courts. Statutory enactments clarify the constitutional grant of authority to municipal courts. [2] §§ 13-10-101-13-10-125, 5 C.R.S. (2003). Section 13-10-104 provides that [t]he municipal governing body of each city or town shall create a municipal court to hear and try all alleged violations of ordinance provisions of such city or town. The municipal governing body shall appoint a judge who, if the municipal court is a court of record, [3] must be admitted to and licensed in the practice of law in Colorado. §§ 13-10-105, 13-10-102(3). Appeals may be taken from a qualified municipal court of record to the district court pursuant to section 13-6-310. Section 13-6-310(1) directs the district court to review the record made in the municipal court. The district court may then affirm, reverse, remand, or modify the judgment, remand the case for a new trial, or direct that the case be tried de novo before the district court. § 13-6-310(2). Consistent with the constitutional grant of authority, this statutory structure provides a framework for the exercise of municipal jurisdiction. Both our constitution and our statutes authorize municipalities to exercise jurisdiction over local and municipal matters. Consequently, we hold that the Town of Frisco possesses the authority to define and exercise jurisdiction as long as it limits its jurisdiction to matters of local and municipal concern. We will examine the particulars of those limitations next.