Colorado § 18-4-509 Defacing a cave - definitions

Colorado Statutes

§ 18-4-509 — Defacing a cave - definitions

Colorado § 18-4-509

Title 18Criminal

Art.Offenses Against Property

This text of Colorado § 18-4-509 (Defacing a cave - definitions) 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. § 18-4-509 (2026).

Text

(1)(a) and (b) Repealed.

(c)(I) Any person who, with regard to a cave that is public property or the property of another, knowingly performs any of the following acts without the consent of the owner commits the crime of defacing property:

(A)Breaking or damaging any lock, fastening, door, or structure designed to enclose or protect any such cave;

(B)Defacing, damaging, or breaking from any part of such cave any cave resource; or

(C)Removing from such cave any cave resource.

(II)For purposes of this section:

(A)Cave means any naturally occurring void, cavity, recess, lava tube, or system of interconnected passages that occurs beneath the surface of the earth or within a cliff or ledge, including any cave resource therein, but not including any mine, tunnel, aqueduct, or

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(1) (a) and (b) Repealed.

(c) (I) Any person who, with regard to a cave that is public property or the
property of another, knowingly performs any of the following acts without the
consent of the owner commits the crime of defacing property:

(A) Breaking or damaging any lock, fastening, door, or structure designed to
enclose or protect any such cave;

(B) Defacing, damaging, or breaking from any part of such cave any cave
resource; or

(C) Removing from such cave any cave resource.

(II) For purposes of this section:

(A) Cave means any naturally occurring void, cavity, recess, lava tube, or
system of interconnected passages that occurs beneath the surface of the earth or
within a cliff or ledge, including any cave resource therein, but not including any
mine, tunnel, aqueduct, or other artificial excavation, and that is large enough to
permit an individual to enter, regardless of whether the entrance is naturally
formed or has been artificially created or enlarged. Cave includes any natural pit,
sinkhole, or other feature that is an extension of the entrance.

(B) Cave resource includes any material or substance occurring naturally in
caves, such as animal life, plant life, paleontological deposits, sediments, minerals,
speleogens, and speleothems.

(B.5) Juvenile has the same meaning as set forth in section 19-2.5-102.

(C) Speleogen means relief features on the walls, ceiling, or floor of any
cave that are part of the surrounding rock, including, but not limited to,
anastomoses, scallops, meander niches, petromorphs, and rock pendants in
solution caves and similar features unique to volcanic caves.

(D) Speleothem means any natural mineral formation or deposit occurring
in a cave, including, but not limited to, any stalactite, stalagmite, helictite, cave
flower, flowstone, concretion, drapery, rimstone, or formation of clay or mud.

(2) (a) (I) Defacing a cave is a class 2 misdemeanor.

(II) In sentencing a person who violates this section, the court has discretion
to impose alternatives in sentencing as described in part 1 of article 1.3 of this title
18, including but not limited to restorative justice practices, as defined in section
18-1-901 (3)(o.5), or in the case of a juvenile offender, to impose restorative justice,
as defined in section 19-2.5-102.

(III) Repealed.

(IV) Fifty percent of the fines collected pursuant to this subsection (2)(a)
shall be credited to the highway users tax fund, created in section 43-4-201, and
allocated and expended as specified in section 43-4-205 (5.5)(a), and fifty percent
of the fines collected pursuant to this subsection (2)(a) shall be credited to the
juvenile diversion cash fund created in section 19-2.5-403; except that the fines
collected pursuant to subsection (1)(c) of this section shall be credited to the
Colorado travel and tourism promotion fund created in section 24-49.7-106.

(b) Any person convicted of defacing property pursuant to paragraph (b) or
(c) of subsection (1) of this section shall be ordered by the court to personally make
repairs to any property damaged, or properties similarly damaged, if possible. If the
property cannot be repaired, the court shall order a person convicted of defacing
property to replace or compensate the owner for the damaged property but may, in
the case of a violation of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section, limit such
compensation to two thousand five hundred dollars.

(c) Repealed.

Legislative History

Source: L. 71: R&RE, p. 431, � 1. C.R.S. 1963: � 40-4-509. L. 89: (2) R&RE, p. 875, � 10, effective June 5. L. 93: (2) amended, p. 1732, � 20, effective July 1. L. 94: (2) amended, p. 1463, � 2, effective July 1. L. 97: (2) amended, p. 1536, � 2, effective July 1. L. 2003: Entire section amended, p. 1903, � 1, effective July 1. L. 2004: (1)(c) added and (2) amended, pp. 69, 70, �� 1, 2, effective August 4. L. 2005: (2)(a) amended, p. 140, � 3, effective April 5. L. 2009: (2)(c) repealed, (HB 09-1266), ch. 347, p. 1814, � 2, effective August 5. L. 2011: (1)(c)(II)(B.5) added and (2)(a) amended, (SB 11-256), ch. 254, pp. 1101, 1099, �� 3, 1, effective August 10. L. 2021: (1)(c)(II)(B.5), (2)(a)(II), and (2)(a)(IV) amended, (SB 21-059), ch. 136, p. 721, � 48, effective October 1; (2)(a)(I) amended, (SB 21-271), ch. 462, p. 3179, � 216, effective March 1, 2022; (1)(a)(II), (1)(b)(II), and (2)(a)(III)(B) added by revision, (SB 21-271), ch. 462, pp. 3179, 3331, �� 216, 803.