To publish a legal notice in a Colorado newspaper, you need a paper that qualifies as a legal publication under state law, circulates where the notice is supposed to reach people, runs the notice on the schedule the governing statute sets, and gives you a sworn affidavit of publication when the run is complete. Miss any of those pieces and the notice can be treated as if it never happened.
Confirm the Newspaper Qualifies
Not every Colorado newspaper can carry legal notices. Under CRS 24-70-102, the paper must be printed and published at regular intervals at least once a week, and it must hold periodicals mailing privileges with the United States Postal Service. Higher-frequency classifications (semiweekly, triweekly, daily) exist for papers that publish more often, but the mailing-privileges requirement applies across the board.1Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 24 Section 24-70-102 – Legal Publications
The paper also has to reach the right place. Publishing a Denver notice in a small rural weekly misses the statute’s purpose even if the weekly technically qualifies. Where a county has several qualifying papers, you can choose among them; where none exist, CRS 24-70-103 lets you publish in a qualifying paper from an adjoining county that has general circulation in the area. If no adjoining county has a qualifying paper either, any newspaper with general circulation in the county will do. For a municipality with no qualifying paper inside its borders, a local periodical that would otherwise meet the mailing-privilege requirements but lacks paid circulation can carry municipal legal notices.2Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 24 Section 24-70-103 – Publication in Adjoining County
Picking an ineligible newspaper is one of the more expensive mistakes in this area, because the fix is to start over with republication costs and a delayed proceeding.
Match the Rules to Your Notice Type
The governing statute varies by notice, and it controls timing, content, and where the notice runs.
Foreclosure
Colorado foreclosures run through the county public trustee. Under CRS 38-38-103, the combined notice must be mailed to parties with a recorded interest in the property within 20 calendar days of recording the notice of election and demand, and again no fewer than 45 days before the sale. Publication in a qualifying newspaper must begin at least 45 calendar days before the sale date.3Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 38 Section 38-38-103 – Publication The content has to include the property’s legal description, original loan details, the scheduled sale date, and information about cure and redemption rights.
Probate
The personal representative of an estate must publish a notice to creditors under CRS 15-12-801, unless more than a year has passed since the death. The notice runs in a newspaper in the county where the estate is being administered and must identify the personal representative, the decedent, and the deadline for filing creditor claims. A probate court will not approve final distribution until publication is complete and the claims period has closed.4Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 15 Section 15-12-801 – Notice to Creditors
Name Change
After a court orders a name change under CRS 13-15-101, you must publish notice at least three times within 21 days in a newspaper published in the county where you live. If no newspaper is published in that county, the court designates a paper in a nearby county.5Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 13 Section 13-15-102 – Publication of Change Three times in 21 days is not exactly the same as three consecutive weekly issues, though a weekly paper often satisfies both. Miscounting means the name change may not take legal effect.
Liquor License Applications
A new liquor license application (not a renewal or ownership transfer) requires notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the premises sit. Under CRS 44-3-311, the notice must appear at least 10 days before any scheduled public hearing, which cannot be set fewer than 30 days after the application date. The published notice must state the type of license, the application and hearing dates, and the applicant’s name and address. If the applicant is a corporation, the names and addresses of key officers must also appear. A sign at least 22 by 26 inches, with lettering at least one inch tall, has to be posted on the premises as well.6Colorado State Government. Colorado Liquor Code Article 3, Title 44
Public Meetings
Local public bodies satisfy Colorado’s Open Meetings Law by posting notice in a designated public place at least 24 hours before a meeting. The designated posting location is chosen at the body’s first regular meeting each calendar year, and the notice should include specific agenda information where possible. Anyone who has requested meeting notifications within the previous two years must also receive reasonable advance notice from the clerk or secretary.7Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 24 Section 24-6-402 – Meetings Open to Public Newspaper publication is not the default for this category.
Service by Publication
When a plaintiff cannot locate a defendant after genuine effort, Colorado Rule of Civil Procedure 4(g) allows the court to authorize service by publishing the summons. This is a last resort. The court requires an affidavit showing diligent efforts to find the defendant through other means, including attempted personal service, checking known addresses, searching public records, and contacting family or associates. If the affidavit is thin, the court denies the request, and any judgment obtained after defective service by publication is vulnerable to being set aside.
Get the Timing and Content Right
Colorado is particular about the arithmetic of publication. Under CRS 24-70-106, publication once each week for three successive weeks satisfies a 10-day requirement, and twice-weekly publication satisfies a two-week requirement. The general rule: publication once per week on the same day each week counts toward the required interval unless the specific statute directs otherwise.8Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 24 Section 24-70-106 – Sufficiency of Publication Check the specific statute that governs your notice type; that is the schedule that controls.
The content of the notice is set by that same governing statute. Omitting a required detail is not a technical footnote. It can mean the affected parties were never properly informed, which gives them grounds to challenge whatever action follows the notice.
What It Costs
Colorado caps what newspapers can charge. Under CRS 24-70-107, rates for privately supported legal notices (those paid by individuals or businesses, not government entities) cannot exceed the newspaper’s local classified display line rate offered to commercial customers, including whatever frequency and volume discounts the paper normally provides. Newspapers must publish their legal notice rate on their rate card. For government-supported notices, the rate is calculated at 12 lines per inch for each column inch.9FindLaw. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 24 Section 24-70-107 – Rates
Actual cost still varies. A short name change notice running three times in a small weekly may run a few hundred dollars. A long foreclosure combined notice running for weeks in a metro daily runs considerably more. Because most notice types require multiple insertions, republication over an error effectively doubles the bill.
Get the Affidavit of Publication
When the run is complete, request an affidavit of publication from the newspaper. Under CRS 24-70-106, the affidavit must include the publication dates, the full text of the notice as it appeared, and the signature of an authorized representative of the paper.8Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 24 Section 24-70-106 – Sufficiency of Publication Courts, public trustees, and licensing authorities treat this affidavit as the proof that notice was properly given.
Without it, proceedings stall. A probate court will not approve estate distributions. A public trustee will not proceed with a foreclosure sale. A licensing authority may refuse to move a liquor license application forward. The paper usually prepares the affidavit as part of its publication service, but you have to request it, check it against the required dates and content, and file it with the right authority. Errors in the affidavit, such as a wrong date or a missing insertion, can force republication.
If You Get It Wrong
Consequences track the proceeding. A court can reject a filing when notice was insufficient, restarting timelines. An invalid foreclosure notice can delay the sale by months while the lender pays for republication and additional fees. A probate court unsatisfied with creditor notification can refuse to close an estate. Decisions made at improperly noticed public meetings can be challenged and potentially invalidated under the Open Meetings Law.7Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 24 Section 24-6-402 – Meetings Open to Public A liquor license application can be denied outright.
Most failures trace to the same short list: the wrong newspaper, a miscounted publication schedule, or a missing required detail in the notice text. Verify the paper’s eligibility under CRS 24-70-102, cross-check every deadline against the specific governing statute, and read the affidavit before you file it.
Where Digital Publication Stands
Colorado has traditionally required print publication, and that is still the default. HB26-1095, introduced in the Colorado General Assembly in 2026, would give counties and municipalities the option of publishing legal notices on a newspaper’s website instead of exclusively in print, while keeping the notice with an established newspaper.10Colorado General Assembly. HB26-1095 Digital Publication for Legal Notice Many Colorado newspapers already post their legal notices online as a convenience, but until a bill of this kind is enacted, print publication in a qualifying newspaper is what satisfies the statutes.