Article V, Colorado Constitution

Colorado Constitution
Preamble
Articles
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Article V of the Colorado Constitution is entitled Legislative Department. It has 53 sections.

Section 1

Text of Section 1: General Assembly Initiative and Referendum. (1) The legislative power of the state shall be vested in the general assembly consisting of a senate and house of representatives, both to be elected by the people, but the people reserve to themselves the power to propose laws and amendments to the constitution and to enact or reject the same at the polls independent of the general assembly and also reserve power at their own option to approve or reject at the polls any act or item, section, or part of any act of the general assembly. (2) The first power hereby reserved by the people is the initiative, and signatures by registered electors in an amount equal to at least five percent of the total number of votes cast for all candidates for the office of secretary of state at the previous general election shall be required to propose any measure by petition, and every such petition shall include the full text of the measure so proposed. Initiative petitions for state legislation and amendments to the constitution, in such form as may be prescribed pursuant to law, shall be addressed to and filed with the secretary of state at least three months before the general election at which they are to be voted upon. (2.5) In order to make it more difficult to amend this constitution, a petition for an initiated constitutional amendment shall be signed by registered electors who reside in each state senate district in Colorado in an amount equal to at least two percent of the total registered electors in the senate district provided that the total number of signatures of registered electors on the petition shall at least equal the number of signatures required by subsection (2) of this section. For purposes of this subsection (2.5), the number and boundaries of the senate districts and the number of registered electors in the senate districts shall be those in effect at the time the form of the petition has been approved for circulation as provided by law. (3) The second power hereby reserved is the referendum, and it may be ordered, except as to laws necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, and appropriations for the support and maintenance of the departments of state and state institutions, against any act or item, section, or part of any act of the general assembly, either by a petition signed by registered electors in an amount equal to at least five percent of the total number of votes cast for all candidates for the office of the secretary of state at the previous general election or by the general assembly. Referendum petitions, in such form as may be prescribed pursuant to law, shall be addressed to and filed with the secretary of state not more than ninety days after the final adjournment of the session of the general assembly that passed the bill on which the referendum is demanded. The filing of a referendum petition against any item, section, or part of any act shall not delay the remainder of the act from becoming operative. (4) (a) The veto power of the governor shall not extend to measures initiated by or referred to the people. All elections on measures initiated by or referred to the people of the state shall be held at the biennial regular general election, and all such measures shall become the law or a part of the constitution, when approved by a majority of the votes cast thereon or, if applicable the number of votes required pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subsection (4), and not otherwise, and shall take effect from and after the date of the official declaration of the vote thereon by proclamation of the governor, but not later than thirty days after the vote has been canvassed. This section shall not be construed to deprive the general assembly of the power to enact any measure. (b) In order to make it more difficult to amend this constitution, an initiated constitutional amendment shall not become part of this constitution unless the amendment is approved by at least fifty-five percent of the votes cast thereon; except that this paragraph (b) shall not apply to an initiated constitutional amendment that is limited to repealing, in whole or in part, any provision of this constitution. (5) The original draft of the text of proposed initiated constitutional amendments and initiated laws shall be submitted to the legislative research and drafting offices of the general assembly for review and comment. No later than two weeks after submission of the original draft, unless withdrawn by the proponents, the legislative research and drafting offices of the general assembly shall render their comments to the proponents of the proposed measure at a meeting open to the public, which shall be held only after full and timely notice to the public. Such meeting shall be held prior to the fixing of a ballot title. Neither the general assembly nor its committees or agencies shall have any power to require the amendment, modification, or other alteration of the text of any such proposed measure or to establish deadlines for the submission of the original draft of the text of any proposed measure. (5.5) No measure shall be proposed by petition containing more than one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title; but if any subject shall be embraced in any measure which shall not be expressed in the title, such measure shall be void only as to so much thereof as shall not be so expressed. If a measure contains more than one subject, such that a ballot title cannot be fixed that clearly expresses a single subject, no title shall be set and the measure shall not be submitted to the people for adoption or rejection at the polls. In such circumstance, however, the measure may be revised and resubmitted for the fixing of a proper title without the necessity of review and comment on the revised measure in accordance with subsection (5) of this section, unless the revisions involve more than the elimination of provisions to achieve a single subject, or unless the official or officials responsible for the fixing of a title determine that the revisions are so substantial that such review and comment is in the public interest. The revision and resubmission of a measure in accordance with this subsection (5.5) shall not operate to alter or extend any filing deadline applicable to the measure. (6) The petition shall consist of sheets having such general form printed or written at the top thereof as shall be designated or prescribed by the secretary of state; such petition shall be signed by registered electors in their own proper persons only, to which shall be attached the residence address of such person and the date of signing the same. To each of such petitions, which may consist of one or more sheets, shall be attached an affidavit of some registered elector that each signature thereon is the signature of the person whose name it purports to be and 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. Such petition so verified shall be prima facie evidence that the signatures thereon are genuine and true and that the persons signing the same are registered electors. (7) The secretary of state shall submit all measures initiated by or referred to the people for adoption or rejection at the polls, in compliance with this section. In submitting the same and in all matters pertaining to the form of all petitions, the secretary of state and all other officers shall be guided by the general laws. (7.3) Before any election at which the voters of the entire state will vote on any initiated or referred constitutional amendment or legislation, the nonpartisan research staff of the general assembly shall cause to be published the text and title of every such measure. Such publication shall be made at least one time in at least one legal publication of general circulation in each county of the state and shall be made at least fifteen days prior to the final date of voter registration for the election. The form and manner of publication shall be as prescribed by law and shall ensure a reasonable opportunity for the voters statewide to become informed about the text and title of each measure. (7.5) (a) Before any election at which the voters of the entire state will vote on any initiated or referred constitutional amendment or legislation, the nonpartisan research staff of the general assembly shall prepare and make available to the public the following information in the form of a ballot information booklet: (I) The text and title of each measure to be voted on; (II) A fair and impartial analysis of each measure, which shall include a summary and the major arguments both for and against the measure, and which may include any other information that would assist understanding the purpose and effect of the measure. Any person may file written comments for consideration by the research staff during the preparation of such analysis. (b) At least thirty days before the election, the research staff shall cause the ballot information booklet to be distributed to active registered voters statewide. (c) If any measure to be voted on by the voters of the entire state includes matters arising under section 20 of article X of this constitution, the ballot information booklet shall include the information and the titled notice required by section 20 (3) (b) of article X, and the mailing of such information pursuant to section 20 (3) (b) of article X is not required. (d) The general assembly shall provide sufficient appropriations for the preparation and distribution of the ballot information booklet pursuant to this subsection (7.5) at no charge to recipients. (8) The style of all laws adopted by the people through the initiative shall be, "Be it Enacted by the People of the State of Colorado." (9) The initiative and referendum powers reserved to the people by this section are hereby further reserved to the registered electors of every city, town, and municipality as to all local, special, and municipal legislation of every character in or for their respective municipalities. The manner of exercising said powers shall be prescribed by general laws; except that cities, towns, and municipalities may provide for the manner of exercising the initiative and referendum powers as to their municipal legislation. Not more than ten percent of the registered electors may be required to order the referendum, nor more than fifteen per cent to propose any measure by the initiative in any city, town, or municipality. (10) This section of the constitution shall be in all respects self ­executing; except that the form of the initiative or referendum petition may be prescribed pursuant to law.

Amendments

• Colorado Amendment 2 (1910), which was approved on November 8, 1910.
• Colorado Amendment 1 (1980), which was approved on November 4, 1980.
• Colorado Referendum B (1994), which was approved on November 8, 1994.
• Colorado Amendment 71 (2016), which was approved on November 8, 2016.

Section 2

Text of Section 2: Election of Members Oath Vacancies. (1) A general election for members of the general assembly shall be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in each even­ numbered year, at such places in each county as now are or hereafter may be provided by law. (2) Each member of the general assembly, before he enters upon his official duties, shall take an oath or affirmation to support the constitution of the United States and of the state of Colorado and to faithfully perform the duties of his office according to the best of his ability. This oath or affirmation shall be administered in the chamber of the house to which the member has been elected. (3) Any vacancy occurring in either house by death, resignation, or otherwise shall be filled in the manner prescribed by law. The person appointed to fill the vacancy shall be a member of the same political party, if any, as the person whose termination of membership in the general assembly created the vacancy.

Amendments

• Colorado Amendment 6 (1974), which was approved on November 5, 1974.

Section 3

Text of Section 3: Terms of Senators and Representatives. (1) Senators shall be elected for the term of four years and representatives for the term of two years. (2) In order to broaden the opportunities for public service and to assure that the general assembly is representative of Colorado citizens, no senator shall serve more than two consecutive terms in the senate, and no representative shall serve more than four consecutive terms in the house of representatives. This limitation on the number of terms shall apply to terms of office beginning on or after January 1, 1991. Any person appointed or elected to fill a vacancy in the general assembly and who serves at least one­ half of a term of office shall be considered to have served a term in that office for purposes of this subsection (2). Terms are considered consecutive unless they are at least four years apart.

Amendments

• Colorado Amendment 6 (1974), which was approved on November 5, 1974.
• Colorado Amendment 3 (1990), which was approved on November 6, 1990.
• Colorado Term Limits Amendment, Issue 5 (1990)

Section 4

	Text of Section 4: Qualifications of Members. No person shall be a representative or senator who shall not have attained the age of twenty-five years, who shall not be a citizen of the United States, and who shall not for at least twelve months next preceding his election, have resided within the territory included in the limits of the district in which he shall be chosen.

Section 5

	Text of Section 5: Classification of Senators. The senate shall be divided so that one ­half of the senators, as nearly as practicable, may be chosen biennially.

Amendments

• Colorado Amendment 6 (1974), which was approved on November 5, 1974.

Section 6

	Text of Section 6: Salary and Expenses of Members. Each member of the general assembly shall receive such salary and expenses as are prescribed by law. No general assembly shall fix its own salary. Members of the general assembly shall receive the same mileage rate permitted for travel as other state employees.

Amendments

• Colorado Amendment 6 (1974), which was approved on November 5, 1974.

Section 7

Text of Section 7: General Assembly Shall Meet when Term of Members Committees. Section 7. General assembly ­ shall meet when ­ term of members ­ committees. The general assembly shall meet in regular session at 10 a.m. no later than the second Wednesday of January of each year. The general assembly shall meet at other times when convened in special session by the governor pursuant to section 9 of article IV of this constitution or by written request by two­thirds of the members of each house to the presiding officer of each house to consider only those subjects specified in such request. The term of service of the members of the general assembly shall begin on the convening of the first regular session of the general assembly next after their election. The committees of the general assembly, unless otherwise provided by the general assembly, shall expire on the convening of the first regular session after a general election. Regular sessions of the general assembly shall not exceed one hundred twenty calendar days.

Amendments

• Colorado Amendment 6 (1974), which was approved on November 5, 1974.
• Colorado Amendment 4 (1982), which was approved on November 2, 1982.
• Colorado Legislative Session Length Limitations Amendment, Referendum 3 (1988), which was approved on November 8, 1988.

Section 8

Text of Section 8: Members Precluded from Holding Office. No senator or representative shall, while serving as such, be appointed to any civil office under this state; and no member of congress, or other person holding any office (except of attorney­ at­ law, notary public, or in the militia) under the United States or this state, shall be a member of either house during his continuance in office.

Amendments

• Colorado Issue 9 (1974), which was approved on November 5, 1974.

Section 9

	Text of Section 9: Increase of Salary When Forbidden..

[Repealed November 5, 1974 ­by * Colorado Amendment 6 (1974).

Section 10

Text of Section 10: Each House to Choose its Officers. At the beginning of the first regular session after a general election, and at such other times as may be necessary, the senate shall elect one of its members president, and the house of representatives shall elect one of its members as speaker. The president and speaker shall serve as such until the election and installation of their respective successors. Each house shall choose its other officers and shall judge the election and qualification of its members.

Amendments

• Colorado Issue 9 (1974), which was approved on November 5, 1974.

Section 11

	Text of Section 11: Quorum. A majority of each house shall constitute a quorum, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and compel the attendance of absent members.

Section 12

Text of Section 12: Each House Makes and Enforces Rules. Each house shall have power to determine the rules of its proceedings and adopt rules providing punishment of its members or other persons for contempt or disorderly behavior in its presence; to enforce obedience to its process; to protect its members against violence, or offers of bribes or private solicitation, and, with the concurrence of two­thirds, to expel a member, but not a second time for the same cause, and shall have all other powers necessary for the legislature of a free state. A member expelled for corruption shall not thereafter be eligible to either house of the same general assembly, and punishment for contempt or disorderly behavior shall not bar a prosecution for the same offense.

Amendments

• Colorado Issue 9 (1974), which was approved on November 5, 1974.

Section 13

	Text of Section 13: Journal Ayes and Noes to Be Entered When. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings and publish the same, except such parts as require secrecy, and the ayes and noes on any question shall, at the desire of any two members, be entered on the journal.

Amendments

• Colorado Amendment 6 (1974), which was approved on November 5, 1974.

Section 14

	Text of Section 14: Open Sessions. The sessions of each house, and of the committees of the whole, shall be open, unless when the business is such as ought to be kept secret.

Section 15

	Text of Section 15: Adjournment for More Than Three Days. Neither house shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two houses shall be sitting.

Section 16

Text of Section 16: Privileges of Members. The members of the general assembly shall, in all cases except treason or felony, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the sessions of their respective houses, or any committees thereof, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either house, or any committees thereof, they shall not be questioned in any other place.

Amendments

• Colorado Amendment 6 (1974), which was approved on November 5, 1974.

Section 17

	Text of Section 17: No Law Passed but by Bill Amendments. No law shall be passed except by bill, and no bill shall be so altered or amended on its passage through either house as to change its original purpose.

Section 18

	Text of Section 18: Enacting Clause. The style of the laws of this state shall be: "Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado.

Section 19

	Text of Section 19: When Laws Take Effect Introduction of Bills. An act of the general assembly shall take effect on the date stated in the act, or, if no date is stated in the act, then on its passage. A bill may be introduced at any time during the session unless limited by action of the general assembly. No bill shall be introduced by title only.

Amendments

• Colorado Amendment 2 (1950), which was approved on November 7, 1950.

Section 20

Text of Section 20: Bills Referred to Committee Printed. No bill shall be considered or become a law unless referred to a committee, returned therefrom, and printed for the use of the members. Every measure referred to a committee of reference of either house shall be considered by the committee upon its merits, and no rule of either house shall deny the opportunity for consideration and vote by a committee of reference upon such a measure within appropriate deadlines. A motion that the committee report the measure favorably to the committee of the whole, with or without amendments, shall always be in order within appropriate deadlines. Each measure reported to the committee of the whole shall appear on the appropriate house calendar in the order in which it was reported out of the committee of reference and within appropriate deadlines.

Amendments

• Colorado Measure Referral, Initiative 8 (1988), which was approved on November 8, 1988.

Section 21

	Text of Section 21: Bill to Contain but One Subject Expressed in Title. No bill, except general appropriation bills, shall be passed containing more than one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title; but if any subject shall be embraced in any act which shall not be expressed in the title, such act shall be void only as to so much thereof as shall not be so expressed.

Section 22

Text of Section 22: Reading and Passage of Bills. Every bill shall be read by title when introduced, and at length on two different days in each house; provided, however, any reading at length may be dispensed with upon unanimous consent of the members present. All substantial amendments made thereto shall be printed for the use of the members before the final vote is taken on the bill, and no bill shall become a law except by a vote of the majority of all members elected to each house taken on two separate days in each house, nor unless upon its final passage the vote be taken by ayes and noes and the names of those voting be entered on the journal.

Amendments

• Colorado Amendment 2 (1950), which was approved on November 7, 1950.

Section 22a

Text of Section 22a: Caucus Positions Prohibited Penalties. (1) No member or members of the general assembly shall require or commit themselves or any other member or members, through a vote in a party caucus or any other similar procedure, to vote in favor of or against any bill, appointment, veto, or other measure or issue pending or proposed to be introduced in the general assembly. (2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, a member or members of the general assembly may vote in party caucus on matters directly relating to the selection of officers of a party caucus and the selection of the leadership of the general assembly.

Amendments

• Colorado Measure Referral, Initiative 8 (1988), which was approved on November 8, 1988.

Section 22b

	Text of Section 22b: Effect of Sections 20 and 22a. Any action taken in violation of section 20 or 22a of this constitution shall be null and void.

Amendments

• Colorado Measure Referral, Initiative 8 (1988), which was approved on November 8, 1988.

Section 23

	Text of Section 23: Vote on Amendments and Report of Committee. No amendment to any bill by one house shall be concurred in by the other nor shall the report of any committee of conference be adopted in either house except by a vote of a majority of the members elected thereto, taken by ayes and noes, and the names of those voting recorded upon the journal thereof.

Section 24

	Text of Section 24: Revival, Amendment or Extension of Laws. No law shall be revived, or amended, or the provisions thereof extended or conferred by reference to its title only, but so much thereof as is revived, amended, extended or conferred, shall be re­enacted and published at length.

Section 25

Text of Section 25: Special Legislation Prohibited. The general assembly shall not pass local or special laws in any of the following enumerated cases, that is to say; for granting divorces; laying out, opening, altering or working roads or highways; vacating roads, town plats, streets, alleys and public grounds; locating or changing county seats; regulating county or township affairs; regulating the practice in courts of justice; regulating the jurisdiction and duties of justices of the peace, police magistrates and constables; changing the rules of evidence in any trial or inquiry; providing for changes of venue in civil or criminal cases; declaring any person of age; for limitation of civil actions or giving effect to informal or invalid deeds; summoning or impaneling grand or petit juries; providing for the management of common schools; regulating the rate of interest on money; the opening or conducting of any election, or designating the place of voting; the sale or mortgage of real estate belonging to minors or others under disability; the protection of game or fish; chartering or licensing ferries or toll bridges; remitting fines, penalties or forfeitures; creating, increasing or decreasing fees, percentage or allowances of public officers; changing the law of descent; granting to any corporation, association or individual the right to lay down railroad tracks; granting to any corporation, association or individual any special or exclusive privilege, immunity or franchise whatever. In all other cases, where a general law can be made applicable no special law shall be enacted.

Section 25a

Text of Section 25a: Eight hour Employment. (1) The general assembly shall provide by law, and shall prescribe suitable penalties for the violation thereof, for a period of employment not to exceed eight (8) hours within any twenty­ four (24) hours (except in cases of emergency where life or property is in imminent danger) for persons employed in underground mines or other underground workings, blast furnaces, smelters; and any ore reduction works or other branch of industry or labor that the general assembly may consider injurious or dangerous to health, life or limb. (2) The provisions of subsection (1) of this section to the contrary notwithstanding, the general assembly may establish whatever exceptions it deems appropriate to the eight­hour workday.

Amendments

• Colorado Maximum Workday Amendment, Referendum 4 (1988) , which was approved on November 8, 1988.

Section 26

	Text of Section 26: Signing of Bills. The presiding officer of each house shall sign all bills and joint resolutions passed by the general assembly, and the fact of signing shall be entered on or appended to the journal thereof.

Amendments

• Colorado Amendment 6 (1974), which was approved on November 5, 1974.

Section 27

Text of Section 27: Officers and Employees Compensation. The general assembly shall prescribe by law or by joint resolution the number, duties, and compensation of the appointed officers and employees of each house and of the two houses, and no payment shall be made from the state treasury, or be in any way authorized to any person except to an officer or employee appointed and acting pursuant to law or joint resolution.

Amendments

• Colorado Amendment 6 (1974), which was approved on November 5, 1974.

Section 28

	Text of Section 28: Extra Compensation to Officers, Employees, or Contractors Forbidden. No bill shall be passed giving any extra compensation to any public officer or employee, agent, or contractor after services have been rendered or contract made nor providing for the payment of any claim made against the state without previous authority of law.

Amendments

• Colorado Amendment 6 (1974), which was approved on November 5, 1974.

Section 29

Text of Section 29: Contracts for Facilities and Supplies. All stationery, printing, paper, and fuel used in the legislative and other departments of government shall be furnished; and the printing and binding and distributing of the laws, journals, department reports, and other printing and binding; and the repairing and furnishing the halls and rooms used for the meeting of the general assembly and its committees, shall be performed under contract, to be given to the lowest responsible bidder, below such maximum price and under such regulations as may be prescribed by law. No member or officer of any department of the government shall be in any way interested in any such contract; and all such contracts shall be subject to the approval of the governor or his designee.

Amendments

• Colorado Amendment 6 (1974), which was approved on November 5, 1974.

Section 30

	Text of Section 30: Salary of Governor and Judges to Be Fixed by the Legislature Term Not to Be Extended or Salaries Increased or Decreased.

Repealed November 5, 1974 by Colorado Amendment 6 (1974).

Section 31

	Text of Section 31: Revenue Bills. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the house of representatives; but the senate may propose amendments, as in the case of other bills.

Section 32

	Text of Section 32: Appropriation Bills. The general appropriation bill shall embrace nothing but appropriations for the expense of the executive, legislative and judicial departments of the state, state institutions, interest on the public debt and for public schools. All other appropriations shall be made by separate bills, each embracing but one subject.

Amendments

• Colorado Amendment 2 (1950), which was approved on November 7, 1950.

Section 33

	Text of Section 33: Disbursement of Public Money. No moneys in the state treasury shall be disbursed therefrom by the treasurer except upon appropriations made by law, or otherwise authorized by law, and any amount disbursed shall be substantiated by vouchers signed and approved in the manner prescribed by law.

Amendments

• Colorado Amendment 6 (1974), which was approved on November 5, 1974.

Section 34

	Text of Section 34: Appropriations to Private Institutions Forbidden. No appropriation shall be made for charitable, industrial, educational or benevolent purposes to any person, corporation or community not under the absolute control of the state, nor to any denominational or sectarian institution or association.

Section 35

	Text of Section 35: Delegation of Power. The general assembly shall not delegate to any special commission, private corporation or association, any power to make, supervise or interfere with any municipal improvement, money, property or effects, whether held in trust or otherwise, or to levy taxes or perform any municipal function whatever.

Section 36

	Text of Section 36: Laws on Investment of Trust Funds. The general assembly shall, from time to time, enact laws prescribing types or classes of investments for the investment of funds held by executors, administrators, guardians, conservators and other trustees, whose power of investment is not set out in the instrument creating the trust.

Amendments

• Colorado Amendment 2 (1950), which was approved on November 7, 1950.

Section 37

	Text of Section 37: Change of Venue.

Repealed November 5, 1974 ­by Colorado Amendment 6 (1974).

Section 38

Text of Section 38: No Liability Exchanged or Released. No obligation or liability of any person, association, or corporation, held or owned by the state, or any municipal corporation therein, shall ever be exchanged, transferred, remitted, released, or postponed or in any way diminished by the general assembly, nor shall such liability or obligation be extinguished except by payment thereof into the proper treasury. This section shall not prohibit the write­ off or release of uncollectible accounts as provided by general law.

Amendments

• Colorado Amendment 6 (1974), which was approved on November 5, 1974.

Section 39

Text of Section 39: Orders and Resolutions Presented to Governor. Every order, resolution or vote to which the concurrence of both houses may be necessary, except on the question of adjournment, or relating solely to the transaction of business of the two houses, shall be presented to the governor, and before it shall take effect, be approved by him, or being disapproved, shall be re­passed by two­thirds of both houses, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in case of a bill.

Section 40

Text of Section 40: Bribery and Influence in General Assembly. If any person elected to either house of the general assembly shall offer or promise to give his vote or influence in favor of or against any measure or proposition pending or proposed to be introduced in the general assembly in consideration or upon condition that any other person elected to the same general assembly will give or will promise or assent to give his vote or influence in favor of or against any other measure or proposition pending or proposed to be introduced in such general assembly, the person making such offer or promise, shall be deemed guilty of solicitation of bribery. If any member of the general assembly shall give his vote or influence for or against any measure or proposition pending in such general assembly, or offer, promise or assent so to do, upon condition that any other member will give or will promise or assent to give his vote or influence in favor of or against any other measure or proposition pending or proposed to be introduced in such general assembly, or in consideration that any other member hath given his vote or influence for or against any other measure or proposition in such general assembly, he shall be deemed guilty of bribery; and any member of the general assembly, or person elected thereto, who shall be guilty of either of such offenses shall be expelled, and shall not be thereafter eligible to the same general assembly; and, on conviction thereof in the civil courts, shall be liable to such further penalty as may be prescribed by law.

Section 41

	Text of Section 41: Offering, Giving, Promising Money or Other Consideration.

Repealed November 5, 1974 by Colorado Amendment 6 (1974).

Section 42

	Text of Section 42: Corrupt Solicitation of Members and Officers.

Repealed November 5, 1974 by Colorado Amendment 6 (1974).

Section 43

	Text of Section 43: Member Interested Shall Not Vote. A member who has a personal or private interest in any measure or bill proposed or pending before the general assembly, shall disclose the fact to the house of which he is a member, and shall not vote thereon.

Amendments

• Colorado Amendment 6 (1974), which was approved on November 5, 1974.

Section 44

Text of Section 44: Representatives in congress - congressional districts - commission created. (1) declaration of the people. the people of the state of colorado find and declare that: (a) The practice of political gerrymandering, whereby congressional districts are purposefully drawn to favor one political party or incumbent politician over another, must end; (b) the public's interest in prohibiting political gerrymandering is best achieved by creating a new and independent commission that is politically balanced, provides representation to voters not affiliated with either of the state's two largest parties, and utilizes nonpartisan legislative staff to draw maps; (c) the redistricting commission should set district lines by ensuring constitutionally guaranteed voting rights, including the protection of minority group voting, as well as fair and effective representation of constituents using politically neutral criteria; (d) competitive elections for members of the united states house of representatives provide voters with a meaningful choice among candidates, promote a healthy democracy, help ensure that constituents receive fair and effective representation, and contribute to the political well-being of key communities of interest and political subdivisions; (e) for years certain political interests opposed competitive districts in colorado because they are primarily concerned about maintaining their own political power at the expense of fair and effective representation; and (f) citizens want and deserve an inclusive and meaningful congressional redistricting process that provides the public with the ability to be heard as redistricting maps are drawn, to be able to watch the witnesses who deliver testimony and the redistricting commission's deliberations, and to have their written comments considered before any proposed map is voted upon by the commission as the final map. (2) Congressional districts - commission created. There is hereby created the independent congressional redistricting commission. The commission shall divide the state into as many congressional districts as there are representatives in congress apportioned to this state by the congress of the united states for the election of one representative to congress from each district. when a new apportionment, is made by congress, the commission shall divide the state into congressional districts accordingly. (3) Definitions. As used in this section and in sections through 44.6 of this Article V, unless the context otherwise requires: (a) "Commission" means the independent congressional redistricting commission created in subsection (2) of this section. (b) (i) "Community of interest" means any group in colorado that shares one or more substantial interests that may be the subject of federal legislative action, is composed of a reasonably proximate population, and thus should be considered for inclusion within a single district for purposes of ensuring its fair and effective representation. (ii) Such interests include but are not limited to matters reflecting: (a) shared public policy concerns of urban, rural, agricultural, industrial, or trade areas; and (b) shared public policy concerns such as education, employment, environment, public health, transportation, water needs and supplies, and issues of demonstrable regional significance. (iii) Groups that may comprise a community of interest include racial, ethnic, and language minority groups, subject to compliance with subsections (this article v, which subsections protect against the denial or abridgement of the right to vote due to a person's race or language minority group. (iv) "Community of interest" does not include relationships with political parties, incumbents, or political candidates. (c) "Race" or "racial" means a category of race or ethnic origin documented in the federal decennial census. (d) "Redistricting year" means the year following the year in which the federal decennial census is taken. (e) "Staff" or "nonpartisan staff" means the staff of the general assembly's legislative council and office of legislative legal services, or their successor offices, who are assigned to assist the commission by the directors of those offices in accordance with section (4) Adjustment of dates. If any date prescribed in sections 44.1 through 44.5 of this article V falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, then the date is extended to the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday.

Amendments

• Colorado Amendment 6 (1974), which was approved on November 5, 1974.
• Amended with the approval of Colorado Amendment Y, Independent Commission for Congressional Redistricting Amendment (2018) on November 6, 2018.

Section 44.1

Text of Section 44.1: Commission composition and appointment - vacancies. (1) After each federal decennial census of the United States, the members of the commission shall be appointed and convened as prescribed in this section. (2) The commission consists of twelve members who have the following qualifications: (a) commissioners must be registered electors who voted in both of the previous two general elections in colorado; (b) commissioners must either have been unaffiliated with any political party or have been affiliated with the same political party for a consecutive period of no less than five years at the time of the application; and (c) No person may be appointed to or serve on the commission if he or she: (i) is or has been a candidate for federal elective office within the last five years preceding the date on which applications for appointment to the commission are due under subsection (4) of this section; (ii) is or has been, within the last three years preceding the date on which applications for appointment to the commission are due under subsection (4) of this section, compensated by a member of, or a campaign committee advocating the election of a candidate to, the united states house of representatives or the united states senate; (iii) is or has been, within the last three years preceding the date on which applications for appointment to the commission are due under subsection (4) of this section, an elected public official at the federal, state, county, or municipal level in Colorado; (iv) is or has been, within the last three years preceding the date on which applications for appointment to the commission are due under subsection (4) of this section, an elected political party official above the precinct level in Colorado or an employee of a political party; (v) is a member of the commission responsible for dividing the state into senatorial and representative districts of the general assembly; or (vi) is or has been a professional lobbyist registered to lobby with the state of Colorado, with any municipality in Colorado, or at the federal level within the last three years preceding the date on which applications for appointment to the commission are due under subsection (4) of this section. (3) (a) By August year, nonpartisan staff shall, after holding one or more public hearings, prepare an application form that will allow appointing authorities to evaluate a person's experience and qualifications and make such application available on the general assembly's website or comparable means of communicating with the public. (b) The application form must clearly state the legal obligations and expectations of potential appointees. Information required of applicants must include, but is not necessarily limited to, professional background, party affiliation, a description of past political activity, a list of all political and civic organizations to which the applicant has belonged within the previous five years, and whether the applicant meets the qualifications stated in subsection (2) of this section. In addition, the application form must require the applicant to explain why they want to serve on the commission and afford the applicant an opportunity to make a statement about how they will promote consensus among commissioners if appointed to the commission. Applicants may also choose to include up to four letters of recommendation with their application. (4) By November 10 of the year prior to the redistricting year, any person who seeks to serve on the commission must submit a completed application to nonpartisan staff. All applications are public records and must be posted promptly after receipt on the general assembly's website or comparable means of communicating with the public. (5) (a) No later than January 5 of the redistricting year, the chief justice of the Colorado supreme court shall designate a panel to review the applications. The panel must consist of the three justices or judges who most recently retired from the colorado supreme court or the Colorado court of appeals, appointed sequentially starting with the most recent justice or judge to retire who has been affiliated with the same political party or unaffiliated with any political party for the two years prior to appointment; except that no appointee, within two years prior to appointment, shall have been affiliated with the same political party as a justice or judge already appointed to the panel. If any of the three justices or judges who most recently retired from the Colorado Supreme Court or the Colorado court of appeals is unable or unwilling to serve on the panel or has been affiliated within two years prior to appointment with a political party already represented on the panel, then the chief justice shall appoint the next justice or judge who most recently retired from the Colorado Supreme Court or the Colorado court of appeals and who has not been affiliated within two years prior to appointment with the same political party as any justice or judge already appointed to the panel. If, after considering all justices and judges who have retired from the Colorado supreme court and the Colorado court of appeals, fewer than three eligible participants for the panel have been identified who are able and willing to serve, the chief justice shall appoint the most recently retired district court judge who has not been affiliated within two years prior to appointment with the same political party as any previous appointee to the panel and who accepts such appointment. No justice or judge shall serve both on this panel and the panel assisting in the process of choosing members of the commission responsible for dividing the state into state senate and state house of representatives districts. (b) All decisions of the panel regarding the selection of applicants pursuant to this section require the affirmative approval of all three members of the panel. (c) The general assembly shall prescribe by law the compensation of members of the panel. Nonpartisan staff shall assist the panel in carrying out its duties. (6) After applications are submitted, nonpartisan staff, with the cooperation and assistance of the secretary of state, shall make an objective and factual finding based on, to the extent possible, publicly available information, including information contained in the application and information contained within the records maintained by the secretary of state, whether each applicant meets the qualifications specified in subsection (redistricting year, nonpartisan staff shall make its findings publicly available and notify the applicants of the staff's finding. If the staff finds that an applicant is not eligible, then the staff shall include the reasons in its finding. (7) By January 18 of the redistricting year, the panel, in a public meeting, shall randomly select by lot from all of the applicants who were found to meet the qualifications specified in subsection (2) of this section the names of three hundred applicants who are affiliated with the state's largest political party, three hundred applicants who are affiliated with the state's second largest political party, and four hundred fifty applicants who are not affiliated with any political party, or such lesser number as there are total applicants who meet the qualifications specified in subsection (2) of this section for each of those groups. (8) (a) In one or more public hearings conducted on or before February applications of the applicants selected in accordance with subsection (7) of this section, the panel shall identify fifty applicants who are affiliated with the state's largest political party, fifty applicants who are affiliated with the state's second largest political party, and fifty applicants who are unaffiliated with any political party and who best demonstrate: (i) experience in organizing, representing, advocating for, adjudicating the interests of, or actively participating in groups, organizations, or associations in Colorado; and (ii) relevant analytical skills, the ability to be impartial, and the ability to promote consensus on the commission. (b) No later than February 1 of the redistricting year, from the applicants identified in subsection (8)(a) of this section, the panel shall choose by lot six applicants to serve on the commission as follows: (i) two commissioners who are not affiliated with any political party; (ii) two commissioners who are affiliated with the state's largest political party; and (iii) two commissioners who are affiliated with the state's second largest political party. (c) In the process of choosing applicants by lot for appointment to the commission, no applicant whose name is chosen may be appointed if he or she is registered to vote in a congressional district that is already represented on the commission; except that, when all then-existing congressional districts in Colorado are represented on the commission, a congressional district may be represented by a second commissioner. No congressional district may be represented by more than two commissioners. Any persons whose names are chosen but duplicate a congressional district's representation on the commission and are not appointed to the commission shall be eligible for appointment pursuant to subsections (9) and (10 of this section. (9) (a) By February 16 of the redistricting year, the majority leader of the state senate, the minority leader of the state senate, the majority leader of the state house of representatives, and the minority leader of the state house of representatives shall each select a pool of ten applicants who are affiliated with one of the state's two largest political parties from all applications submitted to nonpartisan staff and notify the panel of their selections. (b) As determined by the legislative leaders in selecting their respective pools, the applicants selected for each pool must meet the qualifications set forth in subsection (2) of this section and demonstrate the qualities listed in subsection (8)(a) of this section. (c) For each congressional district not represented by a commissioner appointed pursuant to subsections (8)(b) and (8)(c) of this section, each pool must consist of at least one applicant who is registered to vote in that congressional district. (d) If there is an insufficient number of available applicants that meet the requirements of subsection (9)(b) of this section to select any complete pool, then the pool must consist of only those applicants who meet those requirements. (10) By March 1 of the redistricting year, the panel of judges shall select, in such order as the panel determines, one commissioner from each legislative leader's pool of applicants and two commissioners from those applicants who are not affiliated with any political party and whose names were randomly selected by lot pursuant to subsection (7) of this section. The panel of judges must ensure that the commission includes four commissioners who are not affiliated with any political party, four commissioners who are affiliated with the state's largest political party, and four commissioners who are affiliated with the state's second largest political party. The panel of judges may interview applicants before making the appointments. In selecting applicants, the panel shall, in addition to considering applicants' other qualifications: (a) to the extent possible, ensure that the commission reflects colorado's racial, ethnic, gender, and geographic diversity; (b) ensure that at least one commissioner is registered to vote in each congressional district but no more than two commissioners are registered to vote in any single congressional district; (c) ensure that at least one commissioner resides west of the continental divide; and (d) ensure that all commissioners meet the qualifications set forth in subsection (2) of this section and demonstrate the qualities listed in subsection (8)(a) of this section. (11) (a) A commissioner's position on the commission will be deemed vacant if he or she, having been appointed as a registered elector who is not affiliated with a political party, affiliates with a political party before the supreme court has approved a plan pursuant to section 44.5 of this Article V. A commissioner's position on the commission will also be deemed vacant if he or she, having been affiliated with one of the state's two largest political parties at the time of appointment, affiliates with a different political party or becomes unaffiliated with any political party before the supreme court has approved a plan pursuant to section 44.5 of this Article V. (b) Any vacancy on the commission, including one that occurs due to death, resignation, removal, failure to meet the qualifications of appointment, refusal or inability to accept an appointment, or otherwise, must be filled as soon as possible by the designated appointing authority from the designated pool of eligible applicants for that commissioner's position and in the same manner as the originally chosen commissioner; except that no commissioner chosen to fill a vacancy will be bypassed for appointment if all congressional districts are already represented on the commission. (12) For purposes of this section, the state's two largest political parties shall be determined by the number of registered electors affiliated with each political party in the state according to voter registration data published by the secretary of state for the earliest day in January of the redistricting year for which such data is published.

Amendments

• Added with the approval of Colorado Amendment Y, Independent Commission for Congressional Redistricting Amendment (2018) on November 6, 2018.

Section 44.2

Text of Section 44.2: Commission organization - procedures - transparency - voting requirements. (1) Initial organization, officers, procedures, rules, and transparency. (a) The governor shall convene the commission no later than March redistricting year and appoint a temporary chairperson from the commission's members. upon convening, the commission shall elect a chair and a vice-chair, who are not members of the same political party, and other such officers as it determines. (b) The director of research of the legislative council and the director of the office of legislative legal services, or the directors of successor nonpartisan offices of the general assembly, shall appoint nonpartisan staff from their respective offices as needed to assist the commission and the panel of judges as described in section 44.1 of this Article V. Nonpartisan staff shall acquire and prepare all necessary resources, including computer hardware, software, and demographic, geographic, and political databases, as far in advance as necessary to enable the commission to begin its work immediately upon convening. (c) The commission may retain legal counsel in all actions and proceedings in connection with the performance of its powers, duties, and functions, including representation of the commission before any court. (d) The general assembly shall appropriate sufficient funds for the payment of the expenses of the commission, the compensation and expenses of nonpartisan staff, and the compensation and expenses of the panel of judges as described in section 44.1 of this Article V. Members of the commission shall be reimbursed for their reasonable and necessary expenses and may also receive such per diem allowance as may be established by the general assembly. subject to available appropriations, hardware and software necessary for the development of plans may, at the request of any commissioner, be provided to the commissioner. The commission and its staff must have access to statistical information compiled by the state and its political subdivisions as necessary for its duties. state agencies and political subdivisions shall comply with requests from the commission and its staff for such statistical information. (e) The commission shall adopt rules to govern its administration and operation. the commission must provide at least seventy-two hours of advance public notice of all proposed rules prior to consideration for adoption; except that proposed rules may be amended during commission deliberations without such advance notice of specific, related amendments. neither the commission's procedural rules nor its mapping decisions are subject to the "state administrative procedure act", Article 4 of title 24, C.R.S., or any successor statute. Rules must include but need not be limited to the following: (i) the hearing process and review of maps submitted for its consideration; (ii) maintenance of a record of the commission's activities and proceedings, including a record of written and oral testimony received, and of the commission's directions to nonpartisan staff on proposed changes to any plan and the commission's rationale for such changes; (iii) the process for removing commissioners for participating in communications prohibited under this section; (iv) the process for recommending changes to plans submitted to the commission by nonpartisan staff; and (v) the adoption of a statewide meeting and hearing schedule, including the necessary elements of electronic attendance at a commission hearing. (2) Voting requirements. A simple majority of the appointed commissioners may approve rules and procedural decisions.the election of the commission's chair and vice-chair requires the affirmative vote of at least eight commissioners, including the affirmative vote of at least one commissioner who is unaffiliated with any political party. Removal of any commissioner as provided in this section requires the affirmative vote of at least eight commissioners, including the affirmative vote of at least two commissioners who are unaffiliated with any political party. Adoption of the final plan for submission to the supreme court and the adoption of a revised plan after a plan is returned to the commission from the supreme court requires the affirmative vote of at least eight commissioners, including the affirmative vote of at least two commissioners who are unaffiliated with any political party. The commission shall not vote upon a final plan until at least seventy-two hours after it has been proposed to the commission in a public meeting or at least seventy-two hours after it has been amended by the commission in a public meeting, whichever occurs later; except that commissioners may unanimously waive the seventy-two hour requirement. (3) Public involvement - hearing process. (a) All Colorado residents, including individual commissioners, may present proposed redistricting maps or written comments, or both, for the commission's consideration. (b) The commission must, to the maximum extent practicable, provide opportunities for Colorado residents to present testimony at hearings held throughout the state. The commission shall not approve a redistricting map until at least three hearings have been held in each congressional district, including at least one hearing that is held in a location west of the continental divide and at least one hearing that is held in a location east of the continental divide and either south of El Paso County's southern boundary or east of Arapahoe County's eastern boundary. No gathering of commissioners can be considered a hearing for this purpose unless it is attended, in person or electronically, by at least ten commissioners. The commission shall establish by rule the necessary elements of electronic attendance at a commission hearing. (c) The commission shall maintain a website or comparable means of communicating with the public through which any colorado resident may submit proposed maps or written comments, or both, without attending a hearing of the commission. (d) The commission shall publish all written comments pertaining to redistricting on its website or comparable means of communicating with the public as well as the name of the colorado resident submitting such comments. If the commission or nonpartisan staff have a substantial basis to believe that the person submitting such comments has not truthfully or accurately identified himself or herself, the commission need not consider and need not publish such comments but must notify the commenter in writing of this fact. The commission may withhold comments, in whole or in part, from the website or comparable means of communicating with the public that do not relate to redistricting maps, policies, or communities of interest. (e) The commission shall provide simultaneous access to the regional hearings by broadcasting them via its website or comparable means of communicating with the public and maintain an archive of such hearings for online public review. (4) Ethical obligations - transparency - lobbyist reporting. (a) Commissioners are guardians of the public trust and are subject to antibribery and abuse of public office requirements as provided in parts 3 and 4 of Article 8 of title 18, c.r.s., as amended, or any successor statute. (b) To ensure transparency in the redistricting process: (i) (a) The commission and the commissioners are subject to open meetings requirements as provided in part 4 of Article 6 of title 24, c.r.s., as amended, or any successor statute. (b) Except as provided in subsection (4)(b)(i)(d) of this section, a commissioner shall not communicate with nonpartisan staff on the mapping of congressional districts unless the communication is during a public meeting or hearing of the commission. (c) Except for public input and comment, nonpartisan staff shall not have any communications about the content or development of any plan outside of public hearings with anyone except other staff members. Nonpartisan staff shall report to the commission any attempt by anyone to exert influence over the staff's role in the drafting of plans. (d) One or more nonpartisan staff may be designated to communicate with commissioners regarding administrative matters, the definition and scope of which shall be determined by the commission. (e) Any commissioner who participates in a communication prohibited in this section must be removed from the commission, and such vacancy must be filled within seven days. (ii) The commission, each commissioner, and nonpartisan staff are subject to open records requirements as provided in part 1 of Article 72 of title 24, C.R.S., as amended, or any successor statute; except that maps in draft form and not submitted to the commission are not public records subject to disclosure. Work product and communications among nonpartisan staff are subject to disclosure once a plan is submitted to the supreme court. (iii) Persons who contract for or receive compensation for advocating to the commission, to one or more commissioners, or to the nonpartisan staff for the adoption or rejection of any map, amendment to a map, mapping approach, or manner of compliance with any of the mapping criteria specified in section 44.3 of this Article V are lobbyists who must disclose to the secretary of state any compensation contracted for, compensation received, and the person or entity contracting or paying for their lobbying services. Such disclosure must be made no later than seventy-two hours after the earlier of each instance of such lobbying or any payment of such compensation. The secretary of state shall publish on the secretary of state's website or comparable means of communicating with the public the names of such lobbyists as well as the compensation received and the persons or entities for whom they work within twenty-four hours of receiving such information. The secretary of state shall adopt rules to facilitate the complete and prompt reporting required by this subsection (complaint process to address any lobbyist's failure to report a full and accurate disclosure, which complaint must be heard by an administrative law judge, whose decision may be appealed to the court of appeals.

Amendments

• Added with the approval of Colorado Amendment Y, Independent Commission for Congressional Redistricting Amendment (2018) on November 6, 2018.

Section 44.3

Text of Section 44.3: Criteria for determinations of congressional districts - definition. (1) In adopting a congressional redistricting plan, the commission shall: (a) make a good-faith effort to achieve precise mathematical population equality between districts, justifying each variance, no matter how small, as required by the constitution of the united states. districts must be composed of contiguous geographic areas; (b) comply with the federal "voting rights act of 52 u.s.c. sec. 50301, as amended. (2) (a) as much as is reasonably possible, the commission's plan must preserve whole communities of interest and whole political subdivisions, such as counties, cities, and towns. (b) districts must be as compact as is reasonably possible. (3) (a) thereafter, the commission shall, to the extent possible, maximize the number of politically competitive districts. (b) In its hearings in various locations in the state, the commission shall solicit evidence relevant to competitiveness of elections in Colorado and shall assess such evidence in evaluating proposed maps. (c) When the commission approves a plan, or when nonpartisan staff submits a plan in the absence of the commission's approval of a plan as provided in section 44.4 of this Article V, the nonpartisan staff shall, within seventy-two hours of such action, make publicly available, and include in the commission's record, a report to demonstrate how the plan reflects the evidence presented to, and the findings concerning, the extent to which competitiveness in district elections is fostered consistent with the other criteria set forth in this section. (d) For purposes of this subsection (3), "competitive" means having a reasonable potential for the party affiliation of the district's representative to change at least once between federal decennial censuses. Competitiveness may be measured by factors such as a proposed district's past election results, a proposed district's political party registration data, and evidence-based analyses of proposed districts. (4) No map may be approved by the commission or given effect by the supreme court if: (a) it has been drawn for the purpose of protecting one or more incumbent members, or one or more declared candidates, of the united states house of representatives or any political party; or (b) it has been drawn for the purpose of or results in the denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen to vote on account of that person's race or membership in a language minority group, including diluting the impact of that racial or language minority group's electoral influence.

Amendments

• Added with the approval of Colorado Amendment Y, Independent Commission for Congressional Redistricting Amendment (2018) on November 6, 2018.

Section 44.4

Text of Section 44.4: Preparation, amendment, and approval of plans - public hearings and participation. (1) The commission shall begin by considering a plan, created by nonpartisan staff alone, to be known as the "preliminary plan". The preliminary plan must be presented and published no earlier than thirty days and no later than forty-five days after the commission has convened or the necessary census data are available, whichever is later. Within the first twenty days after the commission has convened, any member of the public and any member of the commission may submit written comments to nonpartisan staff on the creation of the preliminary plan and on communities of interest that require representation in one or more specific areas of the state. Nonpartisan staff shall consider such comments in creating the preliminary plan and such comments must be part of the record of the commission's activities and proceedings.at the first public hearing at which the preliminary plan is presented, nonpartisan staff shall explain how the plan was created, how the plan addresses the categories of public comments received, and how the plan complies with the criteria prescribed in section 44.3 of this Article V. (2) By July 7 of the redistricting year, the commission shall complete public hearings on the preliminary plan in several places throughout the state in accordance with section 44.2 of this Article V. (3) Subsequent to hearings on the preliminary plan, nonpartisan staff shall prepare, publish online, and present to the commission no fewer than three plans, except as provided in subsection (5) of this section. These plans will be known as the "staff plans" and must be named and numbered sequentially for purposes of subsection (6) of this section. Staff plans must be prepared, published online, and presented in accordance with a timetable established by the commission; except that each staff plan must be presented to the commission no fewer than ten days after the presentation of any previous staff plan and no fewer than twenty-four hours after it has been published online. If the commission fails to establish a timetable for the presentation of staff plans within ten days after the completion of hearings on the preliminary plan, nonpartisan staff shall establish such timetable. Nonpartisan staff shall keep each plan confidential until it is published online or by a comparable means of communicating with the public using generally available technologies. The commission may provide direction, if approved by at least eight commissioners including at least one commissioner unaffiliated with any political party, for the development of staff plans through the adoption of standards, guidelines, or methodologies to which nonpartisan staff shall adhere, including standards, guidelines, or methodologies to be used to evaluate a plan's competitiveness, consistent with section 44.3 (3)(d) of this Article V. In preparing all staff plans, nonpartisan staff shall also consider public testimony and public comments received by the commission that are consistent with the criteria specified in section 44.3 of this Article V. (4) Any commissioner or group of commissioners may request nonpartisan staff to prepare additional plans or amendments to plans. Any such request must be made in a public hearing of the commission but does not require commission approval. Plans or amendments developed in response to such requests are separate from staff plans for purposes of subsection (6) of this section. (5) (a) The commission may adopt a final plan at any time after presentation of the first staff plan, in which case nonpartisan staff does not need to prepare or present additional staff plans. (b) No later than September 1 of the redistricting year, the commission shall adopt a final plan, which must then be submitted to the supreme court for its review and determination in accordance with section (c) The commission may adjust the deadlines specified in this section if conditions outside of the commission's control require such an adjustment to ensure adopting a final plan as required by this subsection (5). (d) The commission may grant nonpartisan staff the authority to make technical de minimis adjustments to the adopted plan prior to its submission to the supreme court. (6) If for any reason the commission does not adopt a final plan by the date specified in subsection (5) of this section, then nonpartisan staff shall submit the unamended third staff plan to the supreme court.

Amendments

• Added with the approval of Colorado Amendment Y, Independent Commission for Congressional Redistricting Amendment (2018) on November 6, 2018.

Section 44.5

Text of Section 44.5: Supreme court review. (1) The supreme court shall review the submitted plan and determine whether the plan complies with the criteria listed in section 44. The court's review and determination shall take precedence over other matters before the court. The supreme court shall adopt rules for such proceedings and for the production and presentation of supportive evidence for such plan. Any legal arguments concerning such plan must be submitted to the supreme court pursuant to the schedule established by the court. (2) The supreme court shall approve the plan submitted unless it finds that the commission or nonpartisan staff, in the case of a staff plan submitted in the absence of a commission-approved plan, abused its discretion in applying or failing to apply the criteria listed in section 44.3 of this Article V, in light of the record before the commission. The supreme court may consider any maps submitted to the commission in assessing whether the commission or nonpartisan staff, in the case of a staff plan submitted in the absence of a commission-approved plan, abused its discretion. (3) If the supreme court determines that the submitted plan constitutes an abuse of discretion in applying or failing to apply the criteria listed in section 44.3 of this Article V, in light of the record before the commission, the supreme court shall return the plan to the commission with the court's reasons for disapproval. (4) (a) By November 1 of the redistricting year, the supreme court shall approve the plan submitted or return the plan to the commission. (b) If the court returns the plan to the commission, the commission shall have twelve days to hold a commission hearing that includes public testimony and to return an adopted plan that resolves the court's reasons for disapproval. (c) If the commission fails to adopt and return a plan to the court within twelve days, nonpartisan staff shall have an additional three days to prepare a plan that resolves the court's reasons for disapproval and return it to the court for approval. (d) The supreme court shall review the revised plan in accordance with subsections (1), (2), and (3) of this section. (5) The supreme court shall approve a plan for the redrawing of congressional districts no later than December 15 of the redistricting year. The court shall order that such plan be filed with the secretary of state no later than such date.

Amendments

• Added with the approval of Colorado Amendment Y, Independent Commission for Congressional Redistricting Amendment (2018) on November 6, 2018.

Section 44.6

Text of Section 44.6: Severability. If any provision of sections 44.1 through 44.5 of this Article V is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unconstitutional, or if any application of these sections is found by such a court to be unconstitutional, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the remaining provisions of these sections that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application. the provisions of sections 44.1 through 44.5 of this Article V are deemed and declared severable.

Amendments

• Added with the approval of Colorado Amendment Y, Independent Commission for Congressional Redistricting Amendment (2018) on November 6, 2018.

Section 45

	Text of Section 45: General Assembly. The general assembly shall consist of not more than thirty ­five members of the senate and of not more than sixty­ five members of the house of representatives, one to be elected from each senatorial and each representative district, respectively.

Amendments

• Colorado Issue 4 (1966), which was approved on November 8, 1966.

Section 46

Text of Section 46: senatorial and representative districts - commission created. (1) Declaration of the people. The people of the state of Colorado find and declare that: (a) the practice of political gerrymandering, whereby legislative districts are purposefully drawn to favor one political party or incumbent politician over another, must end; (b) the public's interest in prohibiting political gerrymandering is best achieved by creating a new and independent commission that is politically balanced, provides representation to voters not affiliated with either of the state's two largest parties, and utilizes nonpartisan legislative staff to draw maps; (c) the redistricting commission should set district lines by ensuring constitutionally guaranteed voting rights, including the protection of minority group voting, as well as fair and effective representation of constituents using politically neutral criteria; (d) competitive elections for members of the general assembly provide voters with a meaningful choice among candidates, promote a healthy democracy, help ensure that constituents receive fair and effective representation, and contribute to the political well-being of key communities of interest and political subdivisions; (e) for years certain political interests opposed competitive districts in Colorado because they are primarily concerned about maintaining their own political power at the expense of fair and effective representation; and (f) citizens want and deserve an inclusive and meaningful legislative redistricting process that provides the public with the ability to be heard as redistricting maps are drawn, to be able to watch the witnesses who deliver testimony and the redistricting commission's deliberations, and to have their written comments considered before any proposed map is voted upon by the commission as the final map. (2) Legislative districts - commission created. There is hereby created the independent legislative redistricting commission. The commission shall divide the state into as many senatorial and representative districts as there are members of the senate and house of representatives respectively. After each federal decennial census, the senatorial districts and representative districts shall be established, revised, or altered, and the member of the senate and the house of representatives apportioned among them, by the independent legislative redistricting commission. (3) Definitions. As used in this section and in sections 47 through 48.4 of this Article V, unless the context otherwise requires: (a) "Commission" means the independent legislative redistricting commission created in subsection (2) of this section. (b) (I) "Community of interest" means any group in Colorado that shares one or more substantial interests that may be the subject of state legislative action, is composed of a reasonably proximate population, and thus should be considered for inclusion within a single district for purposes of ensuring its fair and effective representation. (II) Such interests include but are not limited to matters reflecting: (A) shared public policy concerns of urban, rural, agricultural, industrial, or trade areas; and (B) shared public policy concerns such as education, employment, environment, public health, transportation, water needs and supplies, and issues of demonstrable regional significance. (III) Groups that may comprise a community of interest include racial, ethnic, and language minority groups, subject to compliance with subsections (1)(b) and (4)(b) of section 48.1 of this article v, which subsections protect against the denial or abridgement of the right to vote due to a person's race or language minority group. (IV) "Community of interest" does not include relationships with political parties, incumbents, or political candidates. (c) "Race" or "Racial" means a category of race or ethnic origin documented in the federal decennial census. (d) "Redistricting year" means the year following the year in which the federal decennial census is taken. (e) "Staff" or "Nonpartisan staff" means the staff of the general assembly's legislative council and office of legislative legal services, or their successor offices, who are assigned to assist the commission by the directors of those offices in accordance with section 48 of this Article V. (4) Adjustment of dates. If any date prescribed in sections 47 through 48.3 of this Article V falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, then the date is extended to the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday.

Amendments

• Colorado Amendment 6 (1974), which was approved on November 5, 1974.
• Amended with the approval of Colorado Amendment Z, Independent Commission for State Legislative Redistricting Amendment (2018) on November 6, 2018.

Section 47

Text of Section 47: Commission composition and appointment - vacancies. (1) after each federal decennial census of the united states, the members of the commission shall be appointed and convened as prescribed in this section. (2) the commission consists of twelve members who have the following qualifications: (a) commissioners must be registered electors who voted in both of the previous two general elections in Colorado; (b) commissioners must either have been unaffiliated with any political party or have been affiliated with the same political party for a consecutive period of no less than five years at the time of the application; and (c) no person may be appointed to or serve on the commission if he or she: (I) is or has been a candidate for the general assembly within the last five years preceding the date on which applications for appointment to the commission are due under subsection (4) of this section; (II) is or has been, within the last three years preceding the date on which applications for appointment to the commission are due under subsection (4) of this section, compensated by a member of, or a campaign committee advocating the election of a candidate to, the general assembly; (III) is or has been, within the last three years preceding the date on which applications for appointment to the commission are due under subsection (4) of this section, an elected public official at the federal, state, county, or municipal level in Colorado; (IV) is or has been, within the last three years preceding the date on which applications for appointment to the commission are due under subsection (4) of this section, an elected political party official above the precinct level in Colorado or an employee of a political party; (V) is a member of the commission responsible for dividing the state into congressional districts; or (VI) is or has been a professional lobbyist registered to lobby with the state of Colorado, with any municipality in Colorado, or at the federal level within the last three years preceding the date on which applications for appointment to the commission are due under subsection (4) of this section. (3) (a) By August 10 of the year prior to the redistricting year, nonpartisan staff shall, after holding one or more public hearings, prepare an application form that will allow appointing authorities to evaluate a person's experience and qualifications and make such application available on the general assembly's website or comparable means of communicating with the public. (b) The application form must clearly state the legal obligations and expectations of potential appointees. Information required of applicants must include, but is not necessarily limited to, professional background, party affiliation, a description of past political activity, a list of all political and civic organizations to which the applicant has belonged within the previous five years, and whether the section. In addition, the application form must require the applicant to explain why they want to serve on the commission and afford the applicant an opportunity to make a statement about how they will promote consensus among commissioners if appointed to the commission. applicants may also choose to include up to four letters of recommendation with their application. (4) By November 10 of the year prior to the redistricting year, any person who seeks to serve on the commission must submit a completed application to nonpartisan staff. All applications are public records and must be posted promptly after receipt on the general assembly's website or comparable means of communicating with the public. (5) (a) No later than January 5 of the redistricting year, the chief justice of the Colorado supreme court shall designate a panel to review the applications. The panel must consist of the three justices or judges who most recently retired from the Colorado supreme court or the Colorado court of appeals, appointed sequentially starting with the most recent justice or judge to retire who has been affiliated with the same political party or unaffiliated with any political party for the two years prior to appointment; except that no appointee, within two years prior to appointment, shall have been affiliated with the same political party as a justice or judge already appointed to the panel. If any of the three justices or judges who most recently retired from the Colorado supreme court or the Colorado court of appeals is unable or unwilling to serve on the panel or has been affiliated within two years prior to appointment with a political party already represented on the panel, then the chief justice shall appoint the next justice or judge who most recently retired from the Colorado supreme court or the Colorado court of appeals and who has not been affiliated within two years prior to appointment with the same political party as any justice or judge already appointed to the panel. if, after considering all justices and judges who have retired from the Colorado supreme court and the Colorado court of appeals, fewer than three eligible participants for the panel have been identified who are able and willing to serve, the chief justice shall appoint the most recently retired district court judge who has not been affiliated within two years prior to appointment with the same political party as any previous appointee to the panel and who accepts such appointment. no justice or judge shall serve both on this panel and the panel assisting in the process of choosing members of the commission responsible for dividing the state into congressional districts. (b) All decisions of the panel regarding the selection of applicants pursuant to this section require the affirmative approval of all three members of the panel. (c) The general assembly shall prescribe by law the compensation of members of the panel. Nonpartisan staff shall assist the panel in carrying out its duties. (6) After applications are submitted, nonpartisan staff, with the cooperation and assistance of the secretary of state, shall make an objective and factual finding based on, to the extent possible, publicly available information, including information contained in the application and information contained within the records maintained by the secretary of state, whether each applicant meets the qualifications specified in subsection (2) of this section. No later than January 11 of the redistricting year, nonpartisan staff shall make its findings publicly available, and notify the applicants of the staff's finding. If the staff finds that an applicant is not eligible, then the staff shall include the reasons in its finding. (7) By January 25 of the redistricting year, the panel, in a public meeting, shall randomly select by lot from all of the applicants who were found to meet the qualifications specified in subsection (2) of this section the names of three hundred applicants who are affiliated with the state's largest political party, three hundred applicants who are affiliated with the state's second largest political party, and four hundred fifty applicants who are not affiliated with any political party, or such lesser number as there are total applicants who meet the qualifications specified in subsection (2) of this section for each of those groups. (8) (a) In one or more public hearings conducted on or before February 15 of the redistricting year, after reviewing the applications of the applicants selected in accordance with subsection (7) of this section, the panel shall identify fifty applicants who are affiliated with the state's largest political party, fifty applicants who are identified with the state's second largest political party, and fifty applicants who are unaffiliated with any political party and who best demonstrate: (I) experience in organizing, representing, advocating for, adjudicating the interests of, or actively participating in groups, organizations, or associations in Colorado; and (II) relevant analytical skills, the ability to be impartial, and the ability to promote consensus on the commission. (b) No later than February 1 from the applicants identified in subsection (8)(a) of this section, the panel shall choose by lot six applicants to serve on the commission as follows: (I) two commissioners who are not affiliated with any political party; (II) two commissioners who are affiliated with the state's largest political party; and (III) two commissioners who are affiliated with the state's second largest political party. (c) In the process of choosing applicants by lot for appointment to the commission, no applicant whose name is chosen may be appointed if he or she is registered to vote in a congressional district that is already represented on the commission; except that, when all then-existing congressional districts in Colorado are represented on the commission, a congressional district may be represented by a second commissioner. No congressional district may be represented by more than two commissioners. Any persons whose names are chosen but duplicate a congressional district's representation on the commission and are not appointed to the commission shall be eligible for appointment pursuant to subsections (9) and (10) of this section. (9) (a) by February 16 of the redistricting year, the majority leader of the state senate, the minority leader of the state senate, the majority leader of the state house of representatives, and the minority leader of the state house of representatives shall each select a pool of ten applicants who are affiliated with one of the state's two largest political parties from all applications submitted to nonpartisan staff and notify the panel of their selections. (b) as determined by the legislative leaders in selecting their respective pools, the applicants selected for each pool must meet the qualifications set forth in subsection (2) of this section and demonstrate the qualities listed in subsection (8)(a) of this section. (c) for each congressional district not represented by a commissioner appointed pursuant to subsections (8)(b) and (8)(c) of this section, each pool must consist of at least one applicant who is registered to vote in that congressional district. (d) If there is an insufficient number of available applicants that meet the requirements of subsection (9)(b) of this section to select any complete pool, then the pool must consist of only those applicants who meet those requirements. (10) By March 16 of the redistricting year, the panel of judges shall select, in such order as the panel determines, one commissioner from each legislative leader's pool of applicants and two commissioners from those applicants who are not affiliated with any political party and whose names were randomly selected by lot pursuant to subsection (7) of this section. The panel of judges must ensure that the commission includes four commissioners who are not affiliated with any political party, four commissioners who are affiliated with the state's largest political party, and four commissioners who are affiliated with the state's second largest political party. The panel of judges may interview applicants before making the appointments. in selecting applicants, the panel shall, in addition to considering applicants' other qualifications: (a) to the extent possible, ensure that the commission reflects Colorado's racial, ethnic, gender, and geographic diversity; (b) ensure that at least one commissioner is registered to vote in each congressional district but no more than two commissioners are registered to vote in any single congressional district; (c) ensure that at least one commissioner resides west of the continental divide; and (d) ensure that all commissioners meet the qualifications set forth in subsection (2) of this section and demonstrate the qualities listed in subsection (8)(a) of this section. (11) (a) a commissioner's position on the commission will be deemed vacant if he or she, having been appointed as a registered elector who is not affiliated with a political party, affiliates with a political party before the supreme court has approved a plan pursuant to section 48.3 of this article V. A commissioner's position on the commission will also be deemed vacant if he or she, having been affiliated with one of the state's two largest political parties at the time of appointment, affiliates with a different political party or becomes unaffiliated with any political party before the supreme court has approved a plan pursuant to section 48.3 of this article V. (b) Any vacancy on the commission, including one that occurs due to death, resignation, removal, failure to meet the qualifications of appointment, refusal or inability to accept an appointment, or otherwise, must be filled as soon as possible by the designated appointing authority from the designated pool of eligible applicants for that commissioner's position and in the same manner as the originally chosen commissioner; except that no commissioner chosen to fill a vacancy will be bypassed for appointment if all congressional districts are already represented on the commission. (12) For purposes of this section, the state's two largest political parties shall be determined by the number of registered electors affiliated with each political party in the state according to voter registration data published by the secretary of state for the earliest day in January of the redistricting year for which such data is published.

Amendments

• Colorado Amendment 6 (1974), which was approved on November 5, 1974.
• Amended with the approval of Colorado Amendment Z, Independent Commission for State Legislative Redistricting Amendment (2018) on November 6, 2018.

Section 48

Text of Section 48: Commission organization - procedures - transparency - voting requirements. (1) initial organization, officers, procedures, rules, and transparency. (a) The governor shall convene the commission no later than March 30 of the redistricting year and appoint a temporary chairperson from the commission's members. Upon convening, the commission shall elect a chair and a vice-chair, who are not members of the same political party, and other such officers as it determines. (b) The director of research of the legislative council and the director of the office of legislative legal services, or the directors of successor nonpartisan offices of the general assembly, shall appoint nonpartisan staff from their respective offices as needed to assist the commission and the panel of judges as described in section 47 of this article V. Nonpartisan staff shall acquire and prepare all necessary resources, including computer hardware, software, and demographic, geographic, and political databases, as far in advance as necessary to enable the commission to begin its work immediately upon convening. (c) The commission may retain legal counsel in all actions and proceedings in connection with the performance of its powers, duties, and functions, including representation of the commission before any court. (d) The general assembly shall appropriate sufficient funds for the payment of the expenses of the commission, the compensation and expenses of nonpartisan staff, and the compensation and expenses of the panel of judges as described in section 47 of this article V. Members of the commission shall be reimbursed for their reasonable and necessary expenses and may also receive such per diem allowance as may be established by the general assembly. Subject to available appropriations, hardware and software necessary for the development of plans may, at the request of any commissioner, be provided to the commissioner. The commission and its staff must have access to statistical information compiled by the state and its political subdivisions as necessary for its duties. State agencies and political subdivisions shall comply with requests from the commission and its staff for such statistical information. (e) The commission shall adopt rules to govern its administration and operation. The commission must provide at least seventy-two hours of advance public notice of all proposed rules prior to consideration for adoption; except that proposed rules may be amended during commission deliberations without such advance notice of specific, related amendments. neither the commission's procedural rules nor its mapping decisions are subject to the "state administrative procedure act", article 4 of title 24, C.R.S., or any successor statute. Rules must include but need not be limited to the following: (I) the hearing process and review of maps submitted for its consideration; (II) maintenance of a record of the commission's activities and proceedings, including a record of written and oral testimony received, and of the commission's directions to nonpartisan staff on proposed changes to any plan and the commission's rationale for such changes; (III) the process for removing commissioners for participating in communications prohibited under this section; (IV) the process for recommending changes to plans submitted to the commission by nonpartisan staff; and (V) the adoption of a statewide meeting and hearing schedule, including the necessary elements of electronic attendance at a commission hearing. (2) Voting requirements. A simple majority of the appointed commissioners may approve rules and procedural decisions. The election of the commission's chair and vice-chair requires the affirmative vote of at least eight commissioners, including the affirmative vote of at least one commissioner who is unaffiliated with any political party. Removal of any commissioner as provided in this section requires the affirmative vote of at least eight commissioners, including the affirmative vote of at least two commissioners who are unaffiliated with any political party. Adoption of the final plan for submission to the supreme court and the adoption of a revised plan after a plan is returned to the commission from the supreme court requires the affirmative vote of at least eight commissioners, including the affirmative vote of at least two commissioners who are unaffiliated with any political party. The commission shall not vote upon a final plan until at least seventy-two hours after it has been proposed to the commission in a public meeting or at least seventy-two hours after it has been amended by the commission in a public meeting, whichever occurs later; except that commissioners may unanimously waive the seventy-two hour requirement. (3) Public involvement - hearing process. (a) All Colorado residents, including individual commissioners, may present proposed redistricting maps or written comments, or both, for the commission's consideration. (b) The commission must, to the maximum extent practicable, provide opportunities for Colorado residents to present testimony at hearings held throughout the state. The commission shall not approve a redistricting map until at least three hearings have been held in each congressional district, including at least one hearing that is held in a location west of the continental divide and at least one hearing that is held in a location east of the continental divide and either south of El Paso County's southern boundary or east of Arapahoe County's eastern boundary. No gathering of commissioners can be considered a hearing for this purpose unless it is attended, in person or electronically, by at least ten commissioners. The commission shall establish by rule the necessary elements of electronic attendance at a commission hearing. (c) The commission shall maintain a website or comparable means of communicating with the public through which any Colorado resident may submit proposed maps or written comments, or both, without attending a hearing of the commission. (d) The commission shall publish all written comments pertaining to redistricting on its website or comparable means of communicating with the public as well as the name of the Colorado resident submitting such comments. If the commission or nonpartisan staff have a substantial basis to believe that the person submitting such comments has not truthfully or accurately identified himself or herself, the commission need not consider and need not publish such comments but must notify the commenter in writing of this fact. The commission may withhold comments, in whole or in part, from the website or comparable means of communicating with the public that do not relate to redistricting maps, policies, or communities of interest. (e) The commission shall provide simultaneous access to the regional hearings by broadcasting them via its website or comparable means of communicating with the public and maintain an archive of such hearings for online public review. (4) Ethical obligations - transparency - lobbyist reporting. (a) commissioners are guardians of the public trust and are subject to antibribery and abuse of public office requirements as provided in parts 3 and 4 of article 8 of title 18, C.R.S., as amended, or any successor statute. (b) to ensure transparency in the redistricting process: (I) (A) the commission and the commissioners are subject to open meetings requirements as provided in part 4 of article 6 of title 24, C.R.S., as amended, or any successor statute. (B) Except as provided in subsection (4)(b)(i)(d) of this section, a commissioner shall not communicate with nonpartisan staff on the mapping of legislative districts unless the communication is during a public meeting or hearing of the commission. (C) Except for public input and comment, nonpartisan staff shall not have any communications about the content or development of any plan outside of public hearings with anyone except other staff members. nonpartisan staff shall report to the commission any attempt by anyone to exert influence over the staff's role in the drafting of plans. (D) one or more nonpartisan staff may be designated to communicate with commissioners regarding administrative matters, the definition and scope of which shall be determined by the commission. (E) Any commissioner who participates in a communication prohibited in this section must be removed from the commission, and such vacancy must be filled within seven days. (II) The commission, each commissioner, and nonpartisan staff are subject to open records requirements as provided in part 1 of article 72 of title 24, C.R.S., as amended, or any successor statute; except that maps in draft form and not submitted to the commission are not public records subject to disclosure. work product and communications among nonpartisan staff are subject to disclosure once a plan is submitted to the supreme court. (III) Persons who contract for or receive compensation for advocating to the commission, to one or more commissioners, or to nonpartisan staff for the adoption or rejection of any map, amendment to a map, mapping approach, or manner of compliance with any of the mapping criteria specified in section 48.1 of this article V are lobbyists who must disclose to the secretary of state any compensation contracted for, compensation received, and the person or entity contracting or paying for their lobbying services. such disclosure must be made no later than seventy-two hours after the earlier of each instance of such lobbying or any payment of such compensation.the secretary of state shall publish on the secretary of state's website or comparable means of communicating with the public the names of such lobbyists, as well as the compensation received and the persons or entities for whom they work within twenty-four hours of receiving such information. The secretary of state shall adopt rules to facilitate the complete and prompt reporting required by this subsection (4)(b)(iii) as well as a complaint process to address any lobbyist's failure to report a full and accurate disclosure, which complaint must be heard by an administrative law judge, whose decision may be appealed to the court of appeals.

Amendments

• Colorado Amendment 6 (1974), which was approved on November 5, 1974.
• Amended with the approval of Colorado Amendment Z, Independent Commission for State Legislative Redistricting Amendment (2018) on November 6, 2018.

Section 48.1

Text of Section 48.1: Criteria for determination of legislative districts - definition. (1) in adopting a legislative redistricting plan, the commission shall: (a) make a good-faith effort to achieve mathematical population equality between districts, as required by the constitution of the united states, but in no event shall there be more than five percent deviation between the most populous and the least populous district in each house. districts must be composed of contiguous geographic areas. (b) comply with the federal "voting rights act of 1965", 52 U.S.C. Sec. 5030, as amended. (2) (a) as much as is reasonably possible, the commission's plan must preserve whole communities of interest and whole political subdivisions, such as counties, cities, and towns. to facilitate the efficient and effective provision of governmental services, with regard to any county, city, city and county, or town whose population is less than a district's permitted population, the commission shall presume that such county, city, city and county, or town should be wholly contained within a district; except that a division of such county, city, city and county, or town is permitted where, based on a preponderance of the evidence in the record, a community of interest's legislative issues are more essential to the fair and effective representation of residents of the district.when the commission divides a county, city, city and county, or town, it shall minimize the number of divisions of that county, city, city and county, or town. (b) Districts must be as compact as is reasonably possible. (3) (a) Thereafter, the commission shall, to the extent possible, maximize the number of politically competitive districts. (b) In its hearings in various locations in the state, the commission shall solicit evidence relevant to competitiveness of elections in Colorado and shall assess such evidence in evaluating proposed maps. (c) When the commission approves a plan, or when nonpartisan staff submits a plan in the absence of the commission's approval of a plan as provided in section 48.2 of this article V, the nonpartisan staff shall, within seventy-two hours of such action, make publicly available, and include in the commission's record, a report to demonstrate how the plan reflects the evidence presented to, and the findings concerning, the extent to which competitiveness in district elections is fostered consistent with the other criteria set forth in this section. (d) for purposes of this subsection (3), "competitive" means having a reasonable potential for the party affiliation of the district's representative to change at least once between federal decennial censuses. Competitiveness may be measured by factors such as a proposed district's past election results, a proposed district's political party registration data, and evidence-based analyses of proposed districts. (4) No map may be approved by the commission or given effect by the supreme court if: (a) it has been drawn for the purpose of protecting one or more incumbent members, or one or more declared candidates, of the senate or house of representatives, or any political party; or (b) it has been drawn for the purpose of or results in the denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen to vote on account of that person's race or membership in a language minority group, including diluting the impact of that racial or language minority group's electoral influence.

Amendments

• Added with the approval of Colorado Amendment Z, Independent Commission for State Legislative Redistricting Amendment (2018) on November 6, 2018.

Section 48.2

Text of Section 48.2: Preparation, amendment, and approval of plans - public hearings and participation. (1) The commission shall begin by considering a plan for the state senate and a plan for the state house of representatives, created by its nonpartisan staff alone, to be known as the "preliminary senate plan" and the "preliminary house plan". such plans must be presented and published no earlier than thirty days and no later than forty-five days after the commission has convened or the necessary census data are available, whichever is later. Within the first twenty days after the commission has convened, any member of the public and any member of the commission may submit written comments to nonpartisan staff on the creation of the preliminary plans and on communities of interest that require representation in one or more specific areas of the state. Nonpartisan staff shall consider such comments in creating the preliminary plans, and such comments shall be part of the record of the commission's activities and proceedings. At the first public hearing at which the preliminary plans are presented, nonpartisan staff shall explain how the plans were created, how the plans address the categories of public comments received, and how the plans comply with the criteria prescribed in section 48.1 of this article V. (2) By July 21 of the redistricting year, the commission shall complete public hearings on the preliminary senate plan and the preliminary house plan in several places throughout the state in accordance with section 48 of this article V. (3) Subsequent to hearings on the preliminary senate plan and the preliminary house plan, nonpartisan staff shall prepare, publish online, and present to the commission no fewer than three plans for the state senate and three plans for the state house of representatives, except as provided in subsection (5) of this section. These plans will be known as the "staff plans" and must be named and numbered sequentially for purposes of subsection (6) of this section. Staff plans must be prepared, published online, and presented in accordance with a timetable established by the commission; except that each staff plan must be presented to the commission no fewer than ten days after the presentation of any previous staff plan, and no fewer than twenty-four hours after it has been published online. If the commission fails to establish a timetable for the presentation of staff plans within ten days after the completion of hearings on the preliminary plan, nonpartisan staff shall establish such timetable. nonpartisan staff shall keep each plan confidential until it is published online or by a comparable means of communicating with the public using generally available technologies. The commission may provide direction, if approved by at least eight commissioners including at least one commissioner unaffiliated with any political party, for the development of staff plans through the adoption of standards, guidelines, or methodologies to which nonpartisan staff shall adhere, including standards, guidelines, or methodologies to be used to evaluate a plan's competitiveness, consistent with subsection (3)(d) of section 48.1 of this article V. In preparing all staff plans, nonpartisan staff shall also consider public testimony and public comments received by the commission that are consistent with the criteria specified in section 48.1 of this article V. (4) Any commissioner or group of commissioners may request nonpartisan staff to prepare additional plans or amendments to plans. Any such request must be made in a public hearing of the commission but does not require commission approval. Plans or amendments developed in response to such requests are separate from staff plans, for purposes of subsection (6) of this section. (5) (a) The commission may adopt a final senate or house plan at any time after presentation of the first staff plans, in which case nonpartisan staff does not need to prepare or present additional staff plans for the house for which a map has been adopted. (b) No later than September 15 of the redistricting year, the commission shall adopt final senate and house plans, which must then be submitted to the supreme court for its review and determination in accordance with section 48.3 of this article V. (c) The commission may adjust the deadlines specified in this section if conditions outside of the commission's control require such an adjustment to ensure adopting a final plan as required by this subsection (5). (d) The commission may grant its nonpartisan staff the authority to make technical de minimis adjustments to the adopted senate and house plans prior to their submission to the supreme court. (6) If, for any reason, the commission does not adopt a final plan for both houses of the general assembly by the date specified in subsection (5) of this section, then nonpartisan staff shall submit the unamended third staff plan to the supreme court for review pursuant to section 48.3 of this article V. If the commission approves a plan for one house of the general assembly but not the other house, then the plan for the approved house shall be submitted to the supreme court as the final plan for that house, and the unamended third staff plan shall be submitted to the supreme court as the final plan for the house for which the commission did not approve a plan.

Amendments

• Added with the approval of Colorado Amendment Z, Independent Commission for State Legislative Redistricting Amendment (2018) on November 6, 2018.

Section 48.3

Text of Section 48.3: Supreme court review. (1) The supreme court shall review the submitted plans and determine whether the plans comply with the criteria listed in section 48.1 of this article V. The court's review and determination shall take precedence over other matters before the court. The supreme court shall adopt rules for such proceedings and for the production and presentation of supportive evidence for such plans. Any legal arguments concerning such plans shall be submitted to the supreme court pursuant to the schedule established by the court. (2) The supreme court shall approve the plans submitted unless it finds that the commission or nonpartisan staff, in the case of a staff plan submitted in the absence of a commission-approved plan, abused its discretion in applying or failing to apply the criteria listed in section 48.1 of this article V, in light of the record before the commission. The supreme court may consider any maps submitted to the commission in assessing whether the commission or nonpartisan staff, in the case of a staff plan submitted in the absence of a commission-approved plan, abused its discretion. (3) If the supreme court determines that the submitted state senate plan or the submitted state house of representatives plan constitutes an abuse of discretion in applying or failing to apply the criteria listed in section this article V, in light of the record before the commission, the supreme court shall return the respective plan to the commission with the court's reasons for disapproval. (4) (a) By November 15 of the redistricting year, the supreme court shall approve or return to the commission the submitted state senate plan and the submitted state house of representatives plan. (b) If the court returns a plan to the commission, the commission shall have twelve days to hold a commission hearing that includes public testimony and to return an adopted plan that resolves the court's reasons for disapproval. (c) If the commission fails to adopt and return a plan to the court within twelve days, nonpartisan staff shall have an additional three days to prepare a plan that resolves the court's reasons for disapproval and return it to the court for approval. (d) The supreme court shall review the revised plan in accordance with subsections (1), (2), and (3) of this section. (5) The supreme court shall approve plans for the redrawing of state senate districts and state house of representative districts no later than December 29 of the redistricting year. The court shall order that such plans be filed with the secretary of state no later than such date.

Amendments

• Added with the approval of Colorado Amendment Z, Independent Commission for State Legislative Redistricting Amendment (2018) on November 6, 2018.

Section 48.4

Text of Section 48.4: Severability. If any provision of sections 46 through 48.3 of this article V is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unconstitutional, or if any application of these sections is found by such a court to be unconstitutional, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the remaining provisions of these sections that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application. The provisions of sections 46 through 48.3 of this article V are deemed and declared severable.

Amendments

• Added with the approval of Colorado Amendment Z, Independent Commission for State Legislative Redistricting Amendment (2018) on November 6, 2018.

Section 49

Text of Section 49: Appointment of State Auditor Term Qualifications Duties. (1) The general assembly, by a majority vote of the members elected to and serving in each house, shall appoint, without regard to political affiliation, a state auditor, who shall be a certified public accountant licensed to practice in this state, to serve for a term of five years and until his successor is appointed and qualified. Except as provided by law, he shall be ineligible for appointment to any other public office in this state from which compensation is derived while serving as state auditor. He may be removed for cause at any time by a two­thirds vote of the members elected to and serving in each house. (2) It shall be the duty of the state auditor to conduct post audits of all financial transactions and accounts kept by or for all departments, offices, agencies, and institutions of the state government, including educational institutions notwithstanding the provisions of section 14 of article IX of this constitution, and to perform similar or related duties with respect to such political subdivisions of the state as shall from time to time be required of him by law. (3) Not more than three members of the staff of the state auditor shall be exempt from the personnel system of this state.

Amendments

• Colorado Amendment 6 (1974), which was approved on November 5, 1974.

Section 50

Repealed.

Amendments

• Colorado Initiative 3, Prohibit Public Funds for Abortions Initiative (1984), which was approved on November 6, 1984.

• Repealed by voter approval of Amendment 79 on November 5, 2024.

See also

• State constitution
• Constitutional article
• Constitutional amendment
• Constitutional revision
• Constitutional convention
• Amendments
  • Initiated constitutional amendment
  • Legislatively-referred constitutional amendment
  • Publication requirements for proposed state constitutional amendments
  • Rules about constitutional conventions in state constitutions
  • State constitutional articles governing state legislatures

External links

Suggest a link

• Lexis Nexis, "Colorado Constitution"
• Constitution of the State of Colorado, as currently amended
• Colorado Experience: Colorado Constitution on Youtube
• List of constitutional amendments since 1912
• Huffington Post, "Colorado Constitution"

Additional reading

• Oesterle, Dale A., and Richard B. Collins (2002). The Colorado State Constitution: A Reference Guide, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing.