(1) The traffic laws of this state,
and those of any municipality through which passes a public highway constructed,
operated, or maintained by an authority, and such an authority's rules and
regulations regarding toll collection and enforcement shall pertain to and govern
the use of any such public highway. State and local law enforcement authorities are
authorized to enter into traffic and toll enforcement agreements with authorities.
Any funds received by a state law enforcement authority pursuant to such toll
enforcement agreement shall be subject to annual appropriations by the general
assembly to such law enforcement authority for the purpose of performing its
duties pursuant to such agreement.
(2) Any authority may adopt, by resolution of its board, rules pertaining to
the enforcement of toll collection and evasion and providing a civil penalty for toll
evasion. The civil penalty established by an authority for any toll evasion shall be
not less than ten dollars nor more than two hundred fifty dollars in addition to any
costs imposed by a court. An authority may use state of the art technology,
including, but not limited to, automatic vehicle identification photography, to aid in
the collection of tolls and enforcement of toll violations. The use of state of the art
technology to aid in enforcement of toll violations shall be governed solely by this
section.
(3) (a) Any person who evades a toll established by an authority shall be
subject to the civil penalty established by that authority for toll evasion. Any peace
officer as described in section 16-2.5-101, C.R.S., shall have the authority to issue
civil penalty assessments, or municipal summons and complaints if authorized
pursuant to a municipal ordinance, for such toll evasion.
(b) At any time that a person is cited for toll evasion, the person operating
the motor vehicle involved shall be given either a notice in the form of a civil penalty
assessment notice or a municipal summons and complaint. If a civil penalty
assessment is issued, such notice shall be tendered by a peace officer as described
in section 16-2.5-101, C.R.S., and shall contain the name and address of such person,
the license number of the motor vehicle involved, the number of such person's
driver's license, the nature of the violation, the amount of the penalty prescribed for
the violation, the date of the notice, a place for such person to execute a signed
acknowledgment of such person's receipt of the civil penalty assessment notice, a
place for such person to execute a signed acknowledgment of liability for the cited
violation, and such other information as may be required by law to constitute such
notice as a complaint to appear for adjudication of toll evasion pursuant to this
section if the prescribed toll, fee, and civil penalty are not paid within twenty days.
Every cited person shall execute the signed acknowledgment of the person's
receipt of the civil penalty assessment notice.
(c) The acknowledgment of liability shall be executed at the time the cited
person pays the prescribed penalty. The person cited shall pay the toll, fee, and civil
penalty authorized by the authority involved at the office of such authority, either in
person or by postmarking such payment within twenty days of the citation. If the
person cited does not pay the prescribed toll, fee, and civil penalty within twenty
days of the notice, the civil penalty assessment notice shall constitute a complaint
to appear for adjudication of toll evasion in court or in an administrative toll
enforcement proceeding, and the person cited shall, within the time specified in the
civil penalty assessment notice, file an answer to this complaint in the manner
specified in the notice.
(d) If a municipal summons and complaint is issued, the adjudication of the
violation shall be conducted and the format of the summons and complaint shall be
determined pursuant to the terms of the municipal ordinance authorizing issuance
of such a summons and complaint. In no case shall the penalty upon conviction for
violation of a municipal ordinance for toll evasion exceed the limit established in
subsection (2) of this section.
(4) (a) The respective courts of the municipalities, counties, and cities and
counties are given jurisdiction to try all cases arising under municipal ordinances
and state laws governing the use of a public highway operated by an authority and
arising under the toll evasion civil penalty regulations enacted by authorities. Venue
for such cases shall be in the municipality, county, or city and county where the
alleged violation of municipal ordinance or state law or of the authority regulation
occurred.
(b) At the request of the judicial department, an authority shall consider
establishing an administrative toll enforcement process and may, by resolution,
adopt rules creating such a process. The rules pertaining to the administrative
enforcement of toll evasion shall require notice to the person cited for toll evasion
and provide to the person an opportunity to appear at an open hearing conducted
by an impartial hearing officer and a right to appeal the final administrative
determination of toll evasion to the county court for the county in which the
violation occurred.
(c) If an authority establishes an administrative toll enforcement process, no
court of a municipality, county, or city and county shall have jurisdiction to hear toll
evasion cases arising on a public highway operated by the authority.
(d) A toll evasion case may be adjudicated by an impartial hearing officer in
an administrative hearing conducted pursuant to this section and the rules
promulgated by an authority. The hearing officer may be an administrative law
judge employed by the state or an independent contractor of the authority. The
contract for an independent contractor shall grant to the hearing officer the same
degree of independence granted to an administrative law judge employed by the
state. An authority may enter into contracts pursuant to section 29-1-203, C.R.S.,
for joint adjudication of toll evasion cases pursuant to this section.
(e) An authority may file a certified copy of an order imposing a toll, fee, and
civil penalty that is entered by the hearing officer in an adjudication of a toll evasion
with the clerk of the county court in the county in which the violation occurred at
any time after the order is entered. The clerk shall record the order in the judgment
book of the court and enter it in the judgment docket. The order shall thenceforth
have the effect of a judgment of the county court, and execution may issue on the
order out of the court as in other cases.
(f) An administrative adjudication of a toll evasion by an authority is subject
to judicial review. The administrative adjudication may be appealed as to matters of
law and fact to the county court for the county in which the violation occurred. The
appeal shall be a de novo hearing.
(g) Notwithstanding the specific remedies provided by this section, an
authority shall have every remedy available under the law to enforce unpaid tolls
and fees as debts owed to the authority.
(5) The aggregate amount of penalties, exclusive of court costs, collected as
a result of civil penalties imposed pursuant to resolutions adopted as authorized in
subsection (2) of this section shall be remitted to the authority in whose name the
civil penalty assessment notice was issued, and shall be applied by the authority to
defray the costs and expenses of enforcing the laws of the state and the rules and
regulations of the authority. If a municipal summons or complaint is issued, the
aggregate penalty shall be apportioned pursuant to the terms of any enforcement
agreement.
(6) (a) In addition to the penalty assessment procedure provided for in
subsection (3) of this section, where an instance of toll evasion is evidenced by
automatic vehicle identification photography, or other technology not involving a
peace officer, a civil penalty assessment notice may be issued and sent by first-class mail, or by any mail delivery service offered by an entity other than the United
States postal service that is equivalent to or superior to first-class mail with
respect to delivery speed, reliability, and price, by the public highway authority to
the registered owner of the motor vehicle involved. The notice shall contain the
name and address of the registered owner of the vehicle involved, the license
number of the vehicle involved, the time and location of the violation, the amount of
the penalty prescribed for the violation, a place for the registered owner of the
vehicle to execute a signed acknowledgment of liability for the cited violation, and
such other information as may be required by law to constitute the notice as a
complaint to appear for adjudication of a toll evasion civil penalty assessment. The
registered owner of the vehicle involved in a toll evasion shall be liable for the toll,
fee, and civil penalty imposed by the authority, except as otherwise provided by
paragraph (a.5) of this subsection (6). If the registered owner of the vehicle does
not pay the prescribed toll, fee, and civil penalty within thirty days of the date of the
civil penalty assessment notice, the notice shall constitute a complaint to appear
for adjudication of a toll evasion in court or in an administrative toll enforcement
proceeding, and the registered owner of the vehicle shall, within the time specified
in the notice, file an answer to the complaint in the manner specified in the notice. If
the registered owner of the vehicle fails to pay in full the outstanding toll, fee, and
civil penalty as set forth in the notice or to appear and answer the complaint and
request a hearing as specified in the notice, a final order of liability shall be entered
against the registered owner of the vehicle for the purposes of enabling the
registered owner to appeal pursuant to paragraph (f) of subsection (4) of this
section and allowing an authority to proceed to judgment pursuant to paragraph (e)
of subsection (4) of this section.
(a.5) In addition to any other liability provided for in this section, the owner of
a motor vehicle who is engaged in the business of leasing or renting motor vehicles
is liable for payment of a toll evasion violation civil penalty; except that, at the
discretion of such owner:
(I) The owner may obtain payment for a toll evasion violation civil penalty
from the person or company who leased or rented the vehicle at the time of the toll
evasion through a credit or debit card payment and forward the payment on to the
public highway authority; or
(II) The owner may seek to avoid liability for a toll evasion violation civil
penalty if the owner of the leased or rented motor vehicle can furnish sufficient
evidence that, at the time of the toll evasion violation, the vehicle was leased or
rented to another person. To avoid liability for payment, the owner of the motor
vehicle shall, within thirty days after receipt of the notification of the toll evasion
violation, furnish to the public highway authority an affidavit containing the name,
address, and state driver's license number of the person or company who leased or
rented such vehicle. As a condition to avoid liability for payment of a toll evasion
violation civil penalty, any person or company who leases or rents motor vehicles to
a person shall include a notice in the leasing or rental agreement stating that,
pursuant to the requirements of this section, the person renting or leasing the
vehicle is liable for payment of a toll evasion violation civil penalty incurred on or
after the date the person renting or leasing the vehicle takes possession of the
motor vehicle. The notice shall inform the person renting or leasing the vehicle that
the person's name, address, and state driver's license number shall be furnished to
the public highway authority when a toll evasion violation civil penalty is incurred
during the term of the lease or rental agreement.
(b) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2010, (SB 10-016), ch. 150, p. 518, � 1, effective
April 21, 2010.)
(c) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2005, p. 835, � 1, effective June 1, 2005.)
(7) A court with jurisdiction in a toll evasion case pursuant to paragraph (a) of
subsection (4) of this section or an authority with jurisdiction in a toll evasion case
pursuant to paragraph (b) of subsection (4) of this section may report to the
department of revenue any outstanding judgment or warrant or any failure to pay
the toll, fee, and civil penalty for any toll evasion. Upon receipt of a certified report
from a court or an authority stating that the owner of a registered vehicle has failed
to pay a toll, fee, and civil penalty resulting from a final order entered by the
authority, the department shall not renew the vehicle registration of the vehicle
until the toll, fee, and civil penalty are paid in full. The authority shall contract with
and compensate a vendor approved by the department for the direct costs
associated with the nonrenewal of a vehicle registration pursuant to this subsection
(7). The department has no authority to assess any points against a license under
section 42-2-127, C.R.S., upon entry of a conviction or judgment for any toll evasion.