Colorado § 18-3-303 False imprisonment

Colorado Statutes

§ 18-3-303 — False imprisonment

Colorado § 18-3-303

Title 18Criminal

Art.Offenses Against the Person

This text of Colorado § 18-3-303 (False imprisonment) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-3-303 (2026).

Text

(1)Any person who knowingly confines or detains another without the other's consent and without proper legal authority commits false imprisonment. This section does not apply to a peace officer acting in good faith within the scope of his or her duties.

(2)False imprisonment is a class 2 misdemeanor; except that false imprisonment is a class 5 felony if:

(a)(I) The person uses force or threat of force to confine or detain the other person; and

(II)The person confines or detains the other person for twelve hours or longer; or

(b)(I) The person confines or detains another person less than eighteen years of age in a locked or barricaded room under circumstances that cause bodily injury or serious emotional distress; and

(II)Such confinement or detention was part of a contin

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(1) Any person who knowingly confines or
detains another without the other's consent and without proper legal authority
commits false imprisonment. This section does not apply to a peace officer acting in
good faith within the scope of his or her duties.

(2) False imprisonment is a class 2 misdemeanor; except that false
imprisonment is a class 5 felony if:

(a) (I) The person uses force or threat of force to confine or detain the other
person; and

(II) The person confines or detains the other person for twelve hours or
longer; or

(b) (I) The person confines or detains another person less than eighteen
years of age in a locked or barricaded room under circumstances that cause bodily
injury or serious emotional distress; and

(II) Such confinement or detention was part of a continued pattern of cruel
punishment or unreasonable isolation or confinement of the child; or

(c) The person confines or detains another person less than eighteen years
of age by means of tying, caging, chaining, or otherwise using similar physical
restraints to restrict that person's freedom of movement under circumstances that
cause bodily injury or serious emotional distress.

(3) Notwithstanding section 13-90-107 or any other provision of law, the
statutory privilege between a patient and a physician or between an individual and
his or her spouse is not available for the purpose of excluding or refusing testimony
in any prosecution for a violation of this section where the conditions described in
subsection (2)(b) or (2)(c) of this section are alleged.

(4) Nothing in this section limits the ability of a person to assert the
affirmative defense described in section 18-1-703.

Legislative History

Source: L. 71: R&RE, p. 422, � 1. C.R.S. 1963: � 40-3-303. L. 77: Entire section amended, p. 961, � 14, effective July 1. L. 2002: Entire section amended, p. 1579, � 3, effective July 1. L. 2018: Entire section amended, (SB 18-119), ch. 299, p. 1821, � 1, effective August 8.