§ 24-31-101 — Powers and duties of attorney general

Colorado § 24-31-101

• Jurisdiction: Colorado
• Title 24: Government
• Art.: Department of Law

Text

(1) The attorney general:

(a) Shall act as the chief legal representative of the state and be the legal
counsel and advisor of each department, division, office, board, commission, bureau,
and agency of state government but shall not provide legal counsel to the
legislative branch except for the state auditor in accordance with section 2-3-104.5;

(b) Shall appear for the state and prosecute and defend all actions and
proceedings, civil and criminal, in which the state is a party or is interested when
required to do so by the governor;

(c) Shall prosecute and defend for the state all causes in the appellate
courts in which the state is a party or is interested;

(d) Shall give his or her opinion in writing upon all questions of law submitted
to the attorney general by the:

(I) General assembly, or either the house of representatives or the senate;

(II) Governor;

(III) Lieutenant governor;

(IV) Secretary of state;

(V) State treasurer;

(VI) Executive director of the department of revenue; or

(VII) Commissioner of education.

(e) Shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the relevant district attorney over
part 4 of article 120 of title 12;

(f) May appoint deputy attorneys general and assistant attorneys general for
the efficient administration and supervision of department divisions and offices
specified in section 24-31-102;

(g) May, at his or her sole discretion, appoint special assistant attorneys
general to provide legal services to state agencies except as otherwise provided in
section 24-31-111 (5);

(h) Shall, at the request of the governor, secretary of state, state treasurer,
executive director of the department of revenue, or commissioner of education,
prosecute and defend all suits relating to matters connected with their
departments;

(i) May independently initiate and bring civil and criminal actions to enforce
state laws, including actions brought pursuant to:

(I) The Colorado Antitrust Act of 1992 or the Colorado State Antitrust Act
of 2023, article 4 of title 6;

(II) The Colorado Consumer Protection Act, article 1 of title 6;

(III) The Unfair Practices Act, article 2 of title 6;

(IV) Article 12 of title 6;

(V) Section 6-1-110;

(VI) Section 11-51-603.5;

(VII) Section 11-61-102;

(VIII) Section 24-34-505.5;

(IX) Section 25.5-4-306;

(X) Article 4 of title 8, subject to section 24-31-1303 (2);

(XI) The Colorado Employment Security Act, articles 70 to 82 of title 8,
subject to section 24-31-1303 (1);

(XII) The Immigrant Tenant Protection Act in part 12 of article 12 of title 38;

(XIII) The Mobile Home Park Act in part 2 of article 12 of title 38;

(XIV) The Mobile Home Park Act Dispute Resolution and Enforcement
Program in part 11 of article 12 of title 38;

(XV) Part 1 of article 12 of title 38;

(XVI) Part 7 of article 12 of title 38;

(XVII) The Rental Application Fairness Act, part 9 of article 12 of title 38;

(XVIII) The Reproductive Health Equity Act, part 4 of article 6 of title 25;

(XIX) Part 15 of article 5 of title 25;

(XX) Part 5 of article 12 of title 38;

(XXI) Part 12 of article 4 of title 29;

(XXII) Part 14 of article 12 of title 38;

(XXIII) Section 24-34-806;

(XXIV) Section 13-1-140.1;

(XXV) Repealed.

(XXVI) Article 116 of title 24.

(XXVII) [ Editor's note: For the applicability of this subsection (1)(i)(XXVII) on
or after January 1, 2026, see the editor's note following this section. ] The Colorado
Voting Rights Act, article 47 of title 1.

(XXVIII) Beginning January 1, 2026, part 4 of article 12 of title 38;

(XXIX) Beginning January 1, 2026, part 8 of article 12 of title 38;

(XXX) Beginning January 1, 2026, part 10 of article 12 of title 38; and

(XXXI) Section 13-16-126.

(j) Shall have the powers, duties, and functions as are prescribed for heads of
principal departments in the Administrative Organization Act of 1968, article 1 of
this title 24;

(k) May make rules, pursuant to section 24-4-103, as may be necessary to
carry out the duties imposed upon him or her by law;

(l) When required, shall prepare drafts for contracts, forms, and other
writings that may be required for the use of the state;

(m) Upon request of any employee in the state personnel system, shall
represent such employee in any civil action or administrative proceeding instituted
against such employee, either in the employee's official or individual capacity if the
action or proceeding arises out of performance of the employee's official duties as
determined by the attorney general and if the action or proceeding has not been
brought by the state personnel director or the appointing authority of the employee
seeking dismissal or other disciplinary action; except that the attorney general
shall not represent any such employee in an action brought under section 24-50.5-105;

(n) Shall, pursuant to section 24-30-1507, represent expert witnesses and
consultants described in section 24-30-1510 (3)(h);

(o) Shall keep in proper books a record of all official opinions and a register
of all actions prosecuted or defended by him or her and of all proceedings had in
relation thereto and the status of pending matters in his or her office, which books
or registers the attorney general shall deliver to his or her successor. Publication of
opinions or other material circulated in quantity outside the executive branch must
be issued in accordance with section 24-1-136.

(p) May bring a civil action to enforce section 24-31-113;

(q) May bring a civil action to enforce section 24-31-307 (2) or a criminal
action to enforce section 24-31-307 (3);

(r) May enter into interagency agreements pursuant to section 6-1-116 (4);

(s) May bring or intervene in a civil action, conduct investigations, and issue
civil investigation demands pursuant to the Colorado False Claims Act, part 12 of
this article 31;

(t) May bring a civil action to enforce section 25-7-144;

(u) May, if the attorney general has reason to believe that a violation of a
statute or rule is causing an imminent and substantive endangerment to the public
health, water quality, or environment within a mobile home park, request a
temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction, permanent injunction, or any
other relief necessary to protect the public health, water quality, or environment;

(v) May expend money, manage staff, and perform other administrative
functions essential for the operation of a district attorney's office when appointed
by executive order of the governor; and

(w) May conduct jail assessments in collaboration with the jail standards
advisory committee, created pursuant to section 30-10-530, pursuant to section 24-31-118.

(2) The general assembly hereby recognizes and reaffirms that the attorney
general has all powers conferred by statute and by common law in accordance with
section 2-4-211 regarding all trusts established for charitable, educational,
religious, or benevolent purposes.

(3) and (4) Repealed.

(5) The attorney general shall conduct enforcement actions authorized by
Senate Bill 25-020, if any, within existing appropriations.

Legislative History

Source: L. 41: � 79, � 49. CSA: C. 3, � 49. CRS 53: � 3-9-1. C.R.S. 1963: � 3-9-1. L. 64: p. 119, � 15. L. 65: p. 144, � 1. L. 75: (1)(a) amended, p. 215, � 45, effective July 16. L. 77: (1)(e) added, p. 1183, � 1, effective May 26; (1)(a) and (1)(b) amended, p. 263, � 2, effective June 2. L. 79: (4) amended, p. 968, � 3, effective June 15. L. 81: (5) added, p. 1166, � 1, effective May 26; (1)(f) added, p. 671, � 3, effective July 1; (2) repealed, p. 339, � 2, effective July 1. L. 83: (1)(c) amended, p. 835, � 43, effective July 1. L. 94: (6) added, p. 565, � 11, effective April 6. L. 2004: (4.5) added, p. 620, � 2, effective July 1. L. 2006: (1)(f) amended, p. 762, � 22, effective July 1. L. 2014: (4.7) added, (HB 14-1380), ch. 376, p. 1794, � 4, effective July 1. L. 2016: (1)(a), (1)(b), (1)(c), (1)(d), (3), and (4) amended, (HB 16-1094), ch. 94, p. 263, � 1, effective August 10. L. 2019: (1)(f) amended, (HB 19-1172), ch. 136, p. 1688, � 127, effective October 1. L. 2020: (3) and (4) added, (SB 20-217), ch. 110, p. 457, � 9, effective June 19; entire section R&RE, (SB 20-063), ch. 12, p. 49, � 2, effective September 14. L. 2021: (1)(n) amended, (1)(p) and (1)(q) added, and (3) and (4) repealed, (HB 21-1250), ch. 458, p. 3065, � 10, effective July 6. L. 2022: (1)(i) amended, (SB 22-161), ch. 370, p. 2637, � 13, effective August 10; (1)(i) amended, (SB 22-228), ch. 407, p. 2883, � 2, effective August 10; (1)(i) amended, (HB 22-1082), ch. 166, p. 1026, � 2, effective August 10; (1)(p) and (1)(q) amended and (1)(r) added, (SB 22-157), ch. 154, p. 982, � 2, effective August 10; (1)(p) and (1)(q) amended and (1)(t) added, (SB 22-179), ch. 485, p. 3521, � 1, effective August 10; (1)(p) and (1)(q) amended and (1)(s) added, (HB 22-1119), ch. 394, p. 2778, � 1, effective August 10; (1)(i) amended, (HB 22-1287), ch. 255, p. 1855, � 1, effective October 1. L. 2023: (1)(i)(XVI) and (1)(i)(XVII) amended and (1)(i)(VXIII) added, (SB 23-188), ch. 68, p. 250, � 21, effective April 14; (1)(s) and (1)(t) amended and (1)(u) added, (HB 23-1257), ch. 376, p. 2257, � 4, effective June 5; (1)(i)(I) amended, (HB 23-1192), ch. 427, p. 2518, � 4, effective June 7; (1)(e) amended, (HB 23-1250), ch. 432, p. 2537, � 1, effective August 7; (1)(i)(XVII) amended, (HB 23-1099), ch. 151, p. 642, � 5, effective August 7. L. 2024: (1)(i)(XVII) and (1)(i)(XVIII) amended and (1)(i)(XX) added, (SB 24-094), ch. 158, p. 729, � 12, effective May 3; (1)(t) and (1)(u) amended and (1)(v) added, (HB 24-1118), ch. 73, p. 241, � 1, effective April 17; (1)(t) and (1)(u) amended and (1)(w) added, (HB 24-1054), ch. 328, p. 2218, � 5, effective June 3; (1)(i)(XVII) and (1)(i)(XVIII) amended and (1)(i)(XXII) added, (HB 24-1294), ch. 399, p. 2750, � 19, effective June 30; (1)(i)(XVII) and (1)(i)(XVIII) amended and (1)(i)(XIX) added, (HB 24-1081), ch. 72, p. 240, � 3, effective July 1; (1)(i)(XVII) and (1)(i)(XVIII) amended and (1)(i)(XXI) added, (HB 24-1175), ch. 286, p. 1918, � 2, effective August 7; (1)(i)(XVII) and (1)(i)(XVIII) amended and (1)(i)(XXIII) added, (HB 24-1342), ch. 477, p. 3344, � 3, effective January 1, 2025. L. 2025: (1)(i)(XXII) amended and (1)(i)(XXIV), (1)(i)(XXV), and (1)(i)(XXVI) added, (SB 25-129), ch. 96, p. 439, � 6, effective April 24; (1)(i)(XXII) and (1)(i)(XXIII) amended and (1)(i)(XXVII) added, (SB 25-001), ch. 178, p. 759, � 12, effective August 6; (1)(i)(XXII) amended and (1)(i)(XXVIII), (1)(i)(XXIX), (1)(i)(XXX), and (5) added, (SB 25-020), ch. 264, p. 1354, � 2, effective August 6; (1)(i)(XXII) and (1)(i)(XXIII) amended and (1)(i)(XXXI) added, (HB 25-1329), ch. 407, p. 2321, � 3, effective August 6; (1)(i)(XXV) repealed, (SB 25-300), ch. 428, p. 2449, � 30, effective August 6.