Colorado Bill of Rights: Key Protections and Victim Rights

The Colorado Bill of Rights is Article II of the Colorado Constitution, a set of 32 sections ratified in 1876 that define what state and local government cannot do to the people within Colorado’s borders.¹ It covers much of the same ground as the federal Bill of Rights, including free speech, religion, due process, jury trials, and protection from unreasonable searches. In several areas, though, Colorado courts have read Article II as granting broader protection than the U.S. Constitution, particularly on privacy, speech, and property.

Foundational Rights

Section 3 sets the philosophical floor. It declares that all people have natural and inalienable rights, including the rights to enjoy and defend their lives and liberties, to acquire and protect property, and to seek safety and happiness.¹ Colorado courts treat this as a source of enforceable rights that colors how every other section is read.

Section 25 adds due process. The state cannot deprive you of life, liberty, or property without following fair procedures, whether the action is a criminal case, a license revocation, or a property seizure.²

Two provisions broaden the equality guarantees. Section 26 prohibits slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime after conviction. Section 29, adopted in 1972, bars the state and its political subdivisions from denying equality of rights under the law on account of sex.¹

Speech, Press, Religion, and Assembly

Section 10 protects freedom of speech and the press. No law may impair that freedom, and every person is free to speak, write, or publish on any subject, while remaining responsible for abuse of that liberty. In libel cases, truth may be offered as a defense, and the jury determines both the law and the facts.¹ That dual role for the jury is unusual: in most legal settings, judges handle the law and juries decide only the facts.

Section 4 handles religious freedom through several distinct guarantees. Worship is protected without discrimination. No one can be denied a civil or political right because of religious beliefs. No one can be forced to attend or financially support any church. And the state cannot give legal preference to any denomination or mode of worship. The provision also notes that religious liberty does not excuse behavior that threatens public safety or good order.¹

Section 24 rounds this out by protecting the right of the people to peaceably assemble for the common good and to petition the government for redress of grievances.¹

Right to Bear Arms

Section 13 protects the right of every person to keep and bear arms in defense of home, person, and property, and in aid of civil authority when lawfully summoned. The same section expressly states that nothing in it justifies carrying concealed weapons.¹ That carve-out is why Colorado can require a concealed handgun permit, issued through the county sheriff’s office, without conflicting with the state constitution.³

Privacy and Protection from Unreasonable Searches

Section 7 protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures of their persons, papers, homes, and effects. No warrant can be issued without probable cause supported by a sworn written statement, and the warrant must specifically describe the place to be searched or the person or item to be seized.¹

The language tracks the federal Fourth Amendment, but Colorado courts have interpreted Section 7 as reaching further in a few important places. The state’s Supreme Court has rejected the federal “third-party doctrine,” which treats information you share with a company as information you no longer have a privacy interest in. Under Colorado law, residents retain a constitutionally protected privacy interest in records like internet search history even when a technology company holds the data. Warrants seeking expressive materials must also meet a higher standard of justification than federal law requires.

If You’re Accused of a Crime

Several sections of Article II work together to protect people facing criminal charges. Section 16 is the centerpiece. Anyone accused of a crime has the right to appear and defend in person and through counsel, to be told the nature of the accusation, to confront witnesses face to face, to compel witnesses to appear, and to receive a speedy public trial by an impartial jury in the county or district where the alleged offense occurred.¹

Section 23 preserves the jury trial right in criminal cases and sets a grand jury at twelve people, with nine required to return an indictment. The legislature can modify or abolish the grand jury system. In civil cases and in criminal cases before courts not of record, juries may be smaller than twelve as the law provides.¹

Section 18 prohibits double jeopardy and protects against being compelled to testify against yourself. You cannot be tried twice for the same offense. A deadlocked jury, an arrested judgment after a verdict, or a conviction reversed on appeal does not count as double jeopardy if the case is retried.¹

Bail and Excessive Punishment

Section 19 entitles all people to bail while awaiting the outcome of their charges, with specific exceptions. Bail can be denied for capital offenses when the proof is evident or presumption great. It can also be denied when a court finds, within 96 hours of arrest, that releasing the accused would place the public in significant danger, and the person is accused of a crime of violence committed while on probation, parole, or bail for a prior violent charge, or after two previous felony convictions.⁴

Bail pending sentencing or appeal is tighter still. No bail is allowed for people convicted of murder, felony sexual assault involving a deadly weapon, felony sexual assault against a child under 15, a crime of violence as defined by statute, or any felony committed with a firearm.⁴

Section 20 prohibits excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishment.⁵ This is a limit on government discretion rather than a fixed dollar ceiling. The specific penalty ranges for offenses come from statute.

Property Rights and Just Compensation

Property is protected through two complementary sections. Section 14 bars the government from taking private property for private use unless the owner consents. The narrow exceptions are private roads of necessity and reservoirs, drains, flumes, or ditches that must cross other people’s land for agricultural, mining, milling, domestic, or sanitary purposes.¹

Section 15 governs public takings and requires just compensation whenever government takes or damages private property. The compensation amount is set by a board of at least three commissioners who are freeholders, or by a jury if the owner requests one. Until payment is made to the owner or deposited with the court, the property cannot be needlessly disturbed and the owner’s rights remain intact. Whether a proposed taking actually serves a public purpose is a question for the courts, regardless of what the legislature says about the use.¹

The word “damages” in Section 15 is doing significant work. Colorado allows compensation when government action merely damages your property, not just when it physically takes it. That is broader than the traditional federal takings standard, which required an actual appropriation. Colorado courts have recognized claims for damage caused by public improvements to neighboring property.

Rights of Crime Victims

Section 16a gives crime victims constitutional standing. Any person who is a victim of a criminal act, or that person’s designee, legal guardian, or surviving immediate family members, has the right to be heard when relevant, to be informed, and to be present at all critical stages of the criminal justice process.¹ The legislature defines which stages qualify, but in practice victims have the right to be heard at bail reduction hearings, during plea negotiations, and at sentencing.

Those constitutional rights are backed up by statutes that treat criminal restitution as a civil judgment in favor of the victim, enforceable against the defendant’s property.⁶

Access to the Courts

Section 6 requires that courts of justice remain open to every person and that a speedy remedy be available for every injury to person, property, or character. Justice must be administered without sale, denial, or delay.¹ The “without sale” language limits how high fees can go before they effectively block access. The “without denial” language prevents courts from refusing cases within their jurisdiction. The “without delay” language gives litigants a constitutional basis to challenge unreasonable stalling.

Section 21 reinforces access to justice by providing that the writ of habeas corpus can never be suspended unless rebellion or invasion makes suspension necessary for public safety.¹ Habeas corpus is how a person in custody challenges whether their detention is lawful, and its near-absolute protection in Article II means Coloradans always have a path to contest unlawful confinement.

Rights Not Listed

Section 28 mirrors the federal Ninth Amendment almost word for word. The listing of specific rights in the constitution does not deny, impair, or disparage other rights retained by the people.¹ The 31 other sections are not the full inventory of what Coloradans are entitled to. A right can be fundamental and protected even if it was not spelled out in 1876.

Where Colorado Goes Beyond Federal Protections

People often assume a state bill of rights just restates the federal one. Colorado’s Article II is an independent source of legal authority, and in several areas it provides stronger protection. That matters because when a federal court narrows a right, Colorado’s constitution can still protect it at the state level.

The most consequential difference is privacy. Federal courts apply the third-party doctrine, which generally holds that you give up your expectation of privacy when you voluntarily share information with a company. Colorado’s Supreme Court has rejected that doctrine under Section 7 and has held that residents retain a protected privacy interest in records such as internet search history even when a technology company holds the data. Warrants seeking expressive materials in Colorado must also meet a higher standard than federal law requires.

Free speech under Section 10 has likewise been read as broader than the First Amendment. And Section 15’s property protections cover government action that damages property, not only action that physically seizes it, which goes beyond the traditional federal takings standard. For Colorado residents, Article II is often the stronger shield.

1
Justia. Colorado Constitution Article II, Bill of Rights
2
FindLaw. Colorado Constitution Art II Sect 25 – Due Process of Law
3
Colorado Bureau of Investigation. Concealed Handgun Permit (CHP)
4
Colorado Constitution. Colorado Constitution Article II Section 19 – Right to Bail – Exceptions
5
FindLaw. Colorado Constitution Art II Sect 20 – Excessive Bail, Fines or Punishment
6
Justia. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 18-1.3-603 – Restitution