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Criminal penalties in Colorado

Checked in October 2026 against the Colorado Revised Statutes 2024, Titles 18 and 42.

These are statutory ranges for a first offence, from the least to the most the law allows. A court decides the actual sentence in each case. Not legal advice.

How Colorado sets penalties

  • Colorado sorts felonies into classes 1 to 6 (C.R.S. § 18-1.3-401). For a felony committed on or after 1 July 2020, the presumptive range is: class 1 life imprisonment; class 2 eight to 24 years; class 3 four to 12 years; class 4 two to six years; class 5 one to three years; class 6 one year to 18 months. A mandatory period of parole follows a prison term.
  • Fines for felonies run from $5,000 to $1,000,000 (class 2), $3,000 to $750,000 (class 3), $2,000 to $500,000 (class 4), and $1,000 to $100,000 (classes 5 and 6). There is no fine for a class 1 felony.
  • Some offences are 'extraordinary risk crimes' or 'crimes of violence' with modified or mandatory ranges (for example aggravated robbery, a class 3 felony subject to a modified presumptive range under § 18-1.3-401(10)), and sexual offences are sentenced under part 10 of article 1.3. These modifications were not read in full, so the ordinary class range is shown.
  • Colorado grades theft and second-degree arson by value: below $300 a petty offense, $300 to under $1,000 a class 2 misdemeanor, $1,000 to under $2,000 a class 1 misdemeanor, $2,000 to under $5,000 class 6, $5,000 to under $20,000 class 5, $20,000 to under $100,000 class 4, $100,000 to under $1,000,000 class 3, and $1,000,000 or more class 2.
  • Murder in the first degree is a class 1 felony. Murder in the second degree is a class 2 felony, or a class 3 felony where the act was performed upon a sudden heat of passion caused by a serious and highly provoking act of the victim.
  • This table shows first-offence ranges.

Death penalty: No. For a felony committed on or after 1 July 2020, the presumptive range for a class 1 felony is life imprisonment (C.R.S. § 18-1.3-401(1)(a)(V.5)). Earlier tables in the same section list 'life imprisonment or death' for offences committed before that date.

First-degree murder

A class 1 felony: life imprisonment

  • Murder in the first degree (after deliberation and with intent to cause death, or under circumstances of universal malice, or the killing of a child under 12 by a person in a position of trust, among others) (Class 1 felony)

    Least
    Life imprisonment
    Most
    Life imprisonment

    Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-3-102; § 18-1.3-401

Second-degree murder

A class 2 felony: 8 to 24 years (class 3 if committed in a sudden heat of passion)

Voluntary manslaughter

A class 5 felony (criminally negligent homicide) up to a class 4 felony (manslaughter)

Robbery

A class 4 felony (robbery); a class 3 felony (aggravated robbery)

  • Robbery: knowingly taking anything of value from the person or presence of another by force, threats or intimidation (Class 4 felony)

    Least
    2 years
    Most
    6 years
    Fine
    $2,000 to $500,000

    Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-4-301; § 18-1.3-401

  • Aggravated robbery (Class 3 felony)

    Least
    4 years
    Most
    12 years
    Fine
    $3,000 to $750,000

    Aggravated robbery is also an extraordinary risk crime subject to a modified presumptive range under § 18-1.3-401(10).

    Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-4-302; § 18-1.3-401

Burglary

A class 5 felony (second degree, other building) up to a class 3 felony (first degree)

Arson

A class 4 felony (building) or a class 3 felony (occupied structure) for first degree; by value for second degree

  • First-degree arson of a building (Class 4 felony)

    Least
    2 years
    Most
    6 years
    Fine
    $2,000 to $500,000

    Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-4-102; § 18-1.3-401

  • First-degree arson of an occupied structure (Class 3 felony)

    Least
    4 years
    Most
    12 years
    Fine
    $3,000 to $750,000

    Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-4-102; § 18-1.3-401

  • Second-degree arson, by value of the property: $2,000 to under $5,000 (class 6), up to $1,000,000 or more (class 2) (Class 6 felony)

    Least
    1 year
    Most
    18 months
    Fine
    $1,000 to $100,000

    The class rises with the value: class 5 for $5,000 to under $20,000, class 4 for $20,000 to under $100,000, class 3 for $100,000 to under $1,000,000, and class 2 for $1,000,000 or more. Below $2,000 it is a misdemeanor or a petty offense.

    Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-4-103(2); § 18-1.3-401

Aggravated assault

A class 4 felony (second degree) up to a class 3 felony (first degree)

Rape and sexual assault

A class 4 felony; a class 3 felony in aggravated circumstances; a class 2 felony in the most serious

Sexual offences in Colorado are sentenced under part 10 of article 1.3 (indeterminate sentences). That part was not read, so the ordinary class range is shown.

Kidnapping

A class 4 felony (second degree) up to a class 1 felony (first degree, bodily injury)

Embezzlement

A class 6 felony ($2,000 to under $5,000) up to a class 2 felony ($1,000,000 or more)

Colorado punishes embezzlement as theft, graded by value (C.R.S. § 18-4-401(2)).

Forgery

A class 5 felony

Drunk driving, first offence

5 days to 1 year in county jail (the minimum may be suspended), a fine of $600 to $1,000, and 48 to 96 hours of public service

  • Driving under the influence or DUI per se, first offence (Misdemeanor traffic offence)

    Least
    5 days (the court may suspend the mandatory minimum if the offender completes an alcohol and drug programme)
    Most
    1 year
    Fine
    $600 to $1,000

    At least 48 and no more than 96 hours of public service are mandatory, and the court cannot suspend them. A blood alcohol of 0.20 or more brings a different range (§ 42-4-1307(3)(b)).

    Colo. Rev. Stat. § 42-4-1307(3)(a)

Compare with: Iowa, Arizona, California, New York, Florida, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Maryland, Minnesota, Maine, South Carolina, Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota, Alabama, Alaska, North Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, Vermont, West Virginia, Nevada, Montana, Idaho, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Connecticut.

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