What Is a Class 3 Felony in Colorado? Crimes, Penalties, and Sentencing

A Class 3 felony in Colorado is the third most serious category of criminal offense, punishable by four to twelve years in prison, three years of mandatory parole, and a fine between $3,000 and $750,000.¹ That baseline applies to offenses committed on or after July 1, 2020, but the real sentence can climb much higher once enhancements for violence, high-risk conduct, or prior convictions enter the picture.

The Standard Sentence

The presumptive range is four to twelve years in the Department of Corrections, followed by three years of parole that cannot be waived.¹ A judge chooses where to land in that window based on the facts, the defendant’s background, and any aggravating or mitigating circumstances.

The fine range runs from $3,000 to $750,000 and can be imposed with prison, or in some cases instead of it. A defendant with two or more prior felony convictions, however, must receive a prison sentence; a fine alone is not available.

Which Crimes Are Class 3 Felonies

Colorado assigns a wide spread of offenses to this class. Common ones include:

Aggravated robbery — taking property by force or threat while armed with a deadly weapon, or while using something the victim reasonably believes is one.²
First-degree assault — intentionally causing serious bodily injury with a deadly weapon, or acting with extreme indifference to human life. Committed in a sudden heat of passion, the charge drops to a Class 5 felony.³
Vehicular homicide while impaired — causing a death by driving under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or both. Colorado treats this as a strict liability crime, so the prosecution need not prove any intent to harm.⁴
First-degree arson of an occupied structure. Arson of an unoccupied building is a Class 4 felony.⁵
Human trafficking for sexual servitude.⁶
Theft of property worth $100,000 to $1,000,000. Theft is graded by value, and six figures crosses into Class 3 territory.⁷

When the Sentence Gets Longer

The four-to-twelve-year range is a starting point. Two statutory categories push the ceiling well beyond twelve years, and both apply often to Class 3 offenses.

Extraordinary Risk Crimes

The legislature has designated certain offenses as presenting an extraordinary risk of harm to society. For a Class 3 felony in this category, the maximum prison term rises by four years, taking the ceiling from twelve to sixteen. The four-year minimum does not change. Qualifying offenses include aggravated robbery, child abuse, drug manufacturing or distribution, stalking, human trafficking, and anything that separately qualifies as a crime of violence.¹

Crimes of Violence

An offense qualifies as a crime of violence when the defendant used or threatened use of a deadly weapon during the offense, or caused serious bodily injury or death.⁸ Qualifying crimes include first- and second-degree assault, aggravated robbery, first-degree arson, kidnapping, murder, human trafficking, and sexual offenses.

When a Class 3 felony is prosecuted this way, the minimum jumps to the midpoint of the applicable range and the maximum doubles. A standard Class 3 crime of violence therefore carries eight to twenty-four years. A Class 3 that is also an extraordinary risk crime starts from the four-to-sixteen-year range, which then produces a floor of ten years and a ceiling of thirty-two.⁸

A crime-of-violence sentence cannot be suspended, and probation is off the table. If a defendant is convicted of two or more crimes of violence arising from the same incident, those sentences must run consecutively.

How Prior Felonies Change the Math

Colorado’s habitual criminal statute stacks additional time on defendants with prior felony convictions:

Two prior felony convictions within ten years: the maximum triples, taking a Class 3 felony up to thirty-six years.⁹
Three prior felony convictions: the maximum quadruples to forty-eight years.
Two prior convictions for violent Class 1, 2, or 3 felonies: a life sentence with no parole eligibility for at least forty calendar years.

Each prior conviction has to come from a separate criminal episode and a separately brought case. Two charges arising from one incident do not count as two priors for this purpose.

Can You Get Probation?

Anyone convicted of an offense other than a Class 1 felony is technically eligible to apply for probation, so a first-time Class 3 defendant can ask.¹⁰ Eligibility is not approval; the judge still decides.

Prior convictions shrink that opening. A defendant with one or more prior felony convictions within the preceding ten years is generally not eligible for probation on a Class 3 felony. For offenses committed on or after May 25, 2010, two or more prior felony convictions for certain violent or serious crimes also bar probation. In either situation, the district attorney can recommend waiving the restriction and the court can approve it. Probation is never available when the offense is sentenced as a crime of violence.

On top of any sentence, every felony conviction requires the court to address restitution. The judge must set a dollar amount, order restitution for future treatment costs, or make a written finding that no victim suffered a financial loss.¹¹

How Long Prosecutors Have to File Charges

The general statute of limitations for a Class 3 felony is three years from the date of the offense.¹² Shorter than many people expect for a crime this serious. Several exceptions extend it:

If the defendant leaves Colorado, the clock pauses for up to five years during the absence.
Human trafficking charges under sections 18-3-503 and 18-3-504 carry a twenty-year deadline.
Vehicular homicide paired with leaving the scene of a fatal accident carries a ten-year deadline.
For theft, identity theft, cybercrime, and similar financial offenses, the clock starts when the crime is discovered rather than when it occurred.

What a Conviction Costs Beyond the Sentence

A Class 3 felony conviction follows a person long after release.

Firearms

Colorado prohibits anyone convicted of a felony from possessing, using, or carrying a firearm. Violating that ban is itself a Class 5 felony.¹³ Federal law separately bars anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than a year of imprisonment from possessing firearms or ammunition, and every Class 3 felony clears that threshold.¹⁴ The practical result is a lifetime ban under both systems.

Voting

A person serving a prison sentence for a felony cannot register or vote.¹⁵ Once released to parole, voting rights return. Colorado changed the rule in 2019, and the state now treats a parolee as having completed the imprisonment portion of the sentence for voting purposes.¹⁶

Jobs and Professional Licenses

Colorado’s Chance to Compete Act bars employers from asking about criminal history on an initial job application or in a job ad. The restriction covers all employers; government agencies are exempt.¹⁷ Background checks can still happen later in the process.

For professional licenses, the state’s Division of Professions and Occupations regulates roughly fifty-five professions and does not automatically deny applicants with records. A regulator may only consider a conviction during a three-year window starting from the conviction date or the end of incarceration. After that window closes, an applicant must be evaluated the same as anyone else, unless the crime directly relates to the profession.¹⁸ A theft conviction weighs more heavily on a CPA application than on an unrelated field.

Sealing Is Not an Option

Colorado law prohibits sealing conviction records for Class 3 felonies.¹⁹ The record stays public, and no waiting period or rehabilitation showing changes that for almost any offense in this class. The only exception is narrow: certain marijuana cultivation convictions under versions of the controlled substances statute in effect before July 1, 1992, August 11, 2010, or October 1, 2013, depending on the specific section charged.

Dismissals are different. If the charges were dismissed through acquittal, completion of a diversion agreement, or a deferred judgment where all counts were later dismissed, that record can be sealed through a simplified court process.²⁰ The Class 3 sealing bar applies to convictions, not to charges that never produced one.

1
Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 18-1.3-401 – Felonies Classified, Presumptive Penalties
2
Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 18-4-302 – Aggravated Robbery
3
Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 18-3-202 – Assault in the First Degree
4
Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 18-3-106 – Vehicular Homicide
5
Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 18-4-102 – First Degree Arson
6
FindLaw. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 18 Criminal Code 18-3-504 – Human Trafficking for Sexual Servitude
7
Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 18-4-401 – Theft
8
Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 18-1.3-406 – Mandatory Sentencing for Violent Crimes
9
Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 18-1.3-801 – Punishment for Habitual Criminals
10
FindLaw. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 18 Criminal Code 18-1.3-201 – Probation Eligibility
11
Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 18-1.3-603 – Assessment of Restitution, Corrective Orders
12
Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 16-5-401 – Limitation for Commencing Criminal Proceedings
13
FindLaw. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 18 Criminal Code 18-12-108 – Possession of Weapons by Previous Offenders
14
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
15
Colorado Secretary of State. Voters with Convictions FAQs
16
Colorado General Assembly. HB19-1266 – Restore Voting Rights Parolees
17
Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. Colorado Chance to Compete Act FAQs
18
Colorado Division of Professions and Occupations. Ex-Offenders Practice in Regulated Occupations
19
Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 24-72-706 – Sealing of Criminal Conviction Records
20
Colorado General Assembly. HB19-1275 – Increased Eligibility for Criminal Record Sealing