(1) Except as otherwise provided by
law, criminal actions shall be tried in the county where the offense was committed,
or in any other county where an act in furtherance of the offense occurred.
(2) If a person committing an offense upon the person of another is in one
county and his victim is in another county at the time of the commission of an act
constituting an element of the offense, the offense is committed and trial may be
had in either of said counties.
(3) In a case involving the death of a person, the offense is committed and
the offender may be tried in any county in which the cause of death is inflicted, or in
which death occurs, or in which the body of the deceased or any part of such body
is found.
(4) Theft of property is committed and the offender may be tried in any
county in which he exercised control over the property.
(5) If the commission of an offense commenced outside the state is
consummated within this state, the offense is committed and the offender shall be
tried in the county where the offense is consummated.
(6) If an offense is committed in or upon any automobile, trailer, railroad car,
aircraft, or other vehicle of transportation passing within or over this state, the
offense is deemed to have been committed and the offender may be tried in any
county through or over which the vehicle of transportation passed.
(7) (a) When multiple crimes are based upon the same act or series of acts
arising from the same criminal episode and are committed in several counties, the
offender may be tried in any county in which any one of the individual crimes could
have been tried, regardless of whether or not the counties are in the same judicial
district.
(b) (I) For purposes of this subsection (7), when a person commits one of the
offenses listed in subparagraph (II) of this paragraph (b) on two or more occasions
within a six-month period, it may be considered part of the same criminal episode.
Nothing in this subsection (7) shall bar prosecution of an offense that could have
been joined in another prosecution.
(II) The provisions of subsection (7)(b)(I) of this section apply to the following
offenses:
(A) Theft, as defined in section 18-4-401;
(B) and (C) Repealed.
(D) Criminal mischief, as defined in section 18-4-501;
(E) Fraud by check, as defined in section 18-5-205;
(F) Defrauding a secured creditor or debtor, as defined in section 18-5-206;
(G) Failure to pay over assigned accounts, as defined in section 18-5-502;
(H) Concealment or removal of secured property, as defined in section 18-5-504;
(I) Failure to pay over proceeds, as defined in section 18-5-505;
(J) Unauthorized use of a financial transaction device, as defined in section
18-5-702;
(K) Cybercrime, as defined in section 18-5.5-102;
(L) Repealed.
(M) Trafficking in food stamps, as defined in section 26-2-306, C.R.S.;
(N) Unlawful use of a patient personal needs trust fund, as defined in section
25.5-6-206, C.R.S.;
(O) Repealed.
(P) Theft of a license plate, as described in section 42-5-104;
(Q) Theft in connection with assistive technology, as described in section 6-1-409, C.R.S.;
(R) Theft of farm products, as described in section 35-36-313;
(S) Fraud in connection with obtaining public assistance, as described in
section 26-1-127, C.R.S.;
(T) Fraud in connection with obtaining food stamps, as described in section
26-2-305, C.R.S.;
(U) An offense described in part 1 of article 5 of this title;
(V) Forgery, as defined in sections 18-5-102 and 18-5-104; and
(W) Identity theft, as defined in section 18-5-902.
(c) (I) For an indictment or information that includes an offense described in
article 5 of this title, the offender may be tried in a county where the offense
occurred, in a county where an act in furtherance of the offense occurred, or in a
county where a bank, savings and loan, credit union, or government agency
processed a document or transaction related to the offense.
(II) For the purpose of this section, processed means to physically handle a
document or to make a written or electronic entry in a permanent or temporary
record of the transaction, whether the entry is made manually or through
automated means.
(8) An inchoate offense is committed and the offender may be tried in any
county in which any act which is an element of the offense, including formation of
the agreement in conspiracy, is committed.
(9) When a person in one county solicits, abets, agrees, aids, or attempts to
aid another in the planning or commission of an offense in another county, the
offense is committed and the offender may be tried for the offense in either county,
or in any other county in which the principal offense could be tried.
(10) When an offense is committed on the boundary line between two
counties, or so close thereto as to be difficult to readily ascertain in which county
the offense occurred, the offense is committed and the offender may be tried for
the offense in either county.
(11) Proof of the county in which the offense occurred or which county is the
proper place for trial pursuant to this section shall not constitute an element of any
offense and need not be proven by the prosecution at trial unless required by the
statute defining the offense. Any challenge to the place of trial pursuant to this
section shall be made by motion in writing no later than twenty-one days after
arraignment, except for good cause shown. The court shall determine any such
issue prior to the commencement of the trial and the selection of a jury. If the court
finds that trial is not proper in the county in which the charges were filed, the court
shall transfer the case to a court of appropriate jurisdiction in the proper county.
Failure to challenge the place of trial as provided in this subsection (11) shall
constitute a waiver of any objection to the place of trial. Pursuant to section 16-12-102 (2), C.R.S., the prosecution may file an interlocutory appeal of a decision
transferring the case to another county.
(12) If a person commits the offense of failure to register as a sex offender
as provided in section 18-3-412.5, the offense is committed and the offender may be
tried in the county in which the offender was released from incarceration for
commission of the offense requiring registration, in the county in which the
offender resides, in the county in which the offender completed his or her last
registration, or in the county in which the offender is apprehended.
(13) If a person commits identity theft as described in section 18-5-902,
identity theft is committed and the offender may be tried in any county where a
prohibited act was committed, in any county where an act in furtherance of the
offense was committed, or in any county where the victim resides during all or part
of the offense. For purposes of this subsection (13), a business entity resides in any
county in which it maintains a physical location.
(14) (a) If a person commits sexual assault on a child as described in section
18-3-405 (1) and commits the offense as part of a pattern of sexual abuse as
described in section 18-3-405 (2)(d), or commits sexual assault on a child by one in
a position of trust as described in section 18-3-405.3 (1) and commits the offense as
part of a pattern of sexual abuse as described in section 18-3-405.3 (2)(b), the
offender may be tried for all acts:
(I) In a county where at least one of the acts constituting the offense or the
pattern of sexual abuse was committed; or
(II) In a county where an act in furtherance of the offense was committed.
(b) This subsection (14) takes effect on April 4, 2017, and applies to an act
constituting a pattern of sexual abuse for which the offense's statute of limitations
has not yet run on April 4, 2017.
(c) Nothing in this subsection (14) allows for a defendant to be placed in
jeopardy twice for the same incident of sexual conduct involving a child that has
been previously alleged as an incident necessary to form a pattern of sexual abuse
as defined in section 18-3-401(2.5) in violation of the prohibition against second
trials in sections 18-1-301, 18-1-302, and 18-1-303.