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Colorado Revised Statutes

Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-8-103 (2026)

Resisting arrest

✓ current as of July 2026
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(1) A person commits resisting arrest if he knowingly prevents or attempts to prevent a peace officer, acting under color of his official authority, from effecting an arrest of the actor or another, by: (a) Using or threatening to use physical force or violence against the peace officer or another; or (b) Using any other means which creates a substantial risk of causing bodily injury to the peace officer or another. (2) It is no defense to a prosecution under this section that the peace officer was attempting to make an arrest which in fact was unlawful, if he was acting under color of his official authority, and in attempting to make the arrest he was not resorting to unreasonable or excessive force giving rise to the right of self-defense. A peace officer acts "under color of his official authority" when, in the regular course of assigned duties, he is called upon to make, and does make, a judgment in good faith based upon surrounding facts and circumstances that an arrest should be made by him. (3) The term "peace officer" as used in this section and section 18-8-104 means a peace officer in uniform or, if out of uniform, one who has identified himself by exhibiting his credentials as such peace officer to the person whose arrest is attempted. (4) Resisting arrest is a class 2 misdemeanor.

Source: L. 71: R&RE, p. 454, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 40-8-103. L. 72: p. 593, § 69. L. 77: IP(1) amended, p. 965, § 37, effective July 1. L. 81: (1)(b) amended, p. 981, § 5, effective May 13.

18-8-104. Obstructing a peace officer, firefighter, emergency medical service provider, rescue specialist, or volunteer. (1) (a) A person commits obstructing a peace officer, firefighter, emergency medical service provider, rescue specialist, or volunteer when, by using or threatening to use violence, force, physical interference, or an obstacle, such person knowingly obstructs, impairs, or hinders the enforcement of the penal law or the preservation of the peace by a peace officer, acting under color of his or her official authority; knowingly obstructs, impairs, or hinders the prevention, control, or abatement of fire by a firefighter, acting under color of his or her official authority; knowingly obstructs, impairs, or hinders the administration of medical treatment or emergency assistance by an emergency medical service provider or rescue specialist, acting under color of his or her official authority; or knowingly obstructs, impairs, or hinders the administration of emergency care or emergency assistance by a volunteer, acting in good faith to render such care or assistance without compensation at the place of an emergency or accident. (b) To assure that animals used in law enforcement or fire prevention activities are protected from harm, a person commits obstructing a peace officer or firefighter when, by using or threatening to use violence, force, physical interference, or an obstacle, he or she knowingly obstructs, impairs, or hinders any such animal. (1.5) A person shall not be charged with the offense described in subsection (1) of this section because the person remained silent or because the person stated a verbal opposition to an order by a government official. (2) It is not a defense to a prosecution under this section that the peace officer was acting in an illegal manner, if he or she was acting under color of his or her official authority. A peace officer acts "under color of his or her official authority" if, in the regular course of assigned duties, he or she makes a judgment in good faith based on surrounding facts and circumstances that he or she must act to enforce the law or preserve the peace. (2.5) If a person is alleged to have committed the offense described in subsection (1)(a) or (1)(b) of this section by using or threatening to use an unmanned aircraft system as an obstacle, the offense does not apply if the person who operates the unmanned aircraft system: (a) Obtains permission to operate the unmanned aircraft system from a law enforcement agency or other entity that is coordinating the response of peace officers, firefighters, emergency medical service providers, rescue specialists, or volunteers to an emergency or accident; (b) Continues to communicate with such entity during the operation of the unmanned aircraft system; and (c) Complies immediately with any instructions from the entity concerning the operation of the unmanned aircraft system. (3) Repealed. (4) Obstructing a peace officer, firefighter, emergency medical service provider, rescue specialist, or volunteer is a class 2 misdemeanor. (5) For purposes of this section, unless the context otherwise requires: (a) "Emergency medical service provider" means a member of a public or private emergency medical service agency, whether that person is a volunteer or receives compensation for services rendered as such emergency medical service provider. (b) "Obstacle" includes an unmanned aircraft system. (c) "Rescue specialist" means a member of a public or private rescue agency, whether that person is a volunteer or receives compensation for services rendered as such rescue specialist.

Source: L. 71: R&RE, p. 454, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 40-8-104. L. 77: (1) amended, p. 965, § 38, effective July 1. L. 83: (3) repealed, p. 671, § 23, effective July 1. L. 90: (1) amended, p. 1611, § 2, effective July 1. L. 96: (1) and (4) amended, p. 1477, § 41, effective June 1; (1)(a) and (4) amended and (5) added, p. 956, § 1, effective July 1. L. 2012: (2) amended, (HB 12-1310), ch. 268, p. 1398, § 15, effective June 7. L. 2018: (2.5) and (5)(c) added and (5)(b) amended, (HB 18-1314), ch. 385, p. 2309, § 2, effective August 8. L. 2021: (1.5) added, (SB 21-271), ch. 462, p. 3194, § 272, effective March 1, 2022.

Editor's note: Amendments to subsections (1) and (4) in House Bill 96-208 and Senate Bill 96-68 were harmonized.

Cross references: For the legislative declaration in HB 18-1314, see section 1 of chapter 385, Session Laws of Colorado 2018.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 66 cases (6 in the last 5 years), 1978–2025 · leading case: People v. Lopez, 399 P.3d 129 (Colo. Ct. App. 2015).
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People v. Lopez, 399 P.3d 129 (Colo. Ct. App. 2015). · cites it 8× “¶35 Section 18-8-103, C.R.S.2014, establishes the offense of resisting arrest.”
People v. Armstrong, 720 P.2d 165 (Colo. 1986). · cites it 26× “Section 18-8-103, 8 C.R.S. (1978). When the plain meaning of a statute is clear, it is unnecessary to examine the legislative history with regard to that statute.”
Dempsey v. People, 117 P.3d 800 (Colo. 2005). · cites it 2× “§ 18-8-103, 6 C.R.S. (2002). . Dempsey also filed a civil suit in the federal district court for the district of Colorado naming as defendants, among others, Boulder County District Attorney, Mary Keenan and the Boulder Police Department.”
United States v. Davis, 139 S. Ct. 2319 (2019). “, Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-8-103 (1)(b) (2018) ("substantial risk of causing bodily injury"); Ind.”
v. Snider, 2021 COA 19 (Colo. Ct. App. 2021). · cites it 8× “¶ 49 However, as to obstruction of a peace officer under section 18-8-104(1)(a), the unit of prosecution has yet to be identified.”
Banek v. Thomas, 733 P.2d 1171 (Colo. 1986). · cites it 4× “§§ 18-8-103 and 18-1-106, 8B C.R.S. (1986).”
People v. Baird, 66 P.3d 183 (Colo. Ct. App. 2002). · cites it 3× “" Section 18-8-103(1), C.R.S.2002. "A person acts 'knowingly' or 'willfully,' with respect to a result of his conduct, when he is aware that his conduct is practically certain to cause the result.”
Cervantes v. People, 715 P.2d 783 (Colo. 1986). · cites it 8× “Once directed to this statute, Cervantes could not help but conclude that he was being charged under subsection (1)(c) since that is the only subsection containing language that resembles the words used in the amended information.”
People v. Fuller, 781 P.2d 647 (Colo. 1989). · cites it 8× “Section 18-8-103(2), 1 concerning resisting arrest, simply establishes that this same rule applies when an arrest is unlawful, thus rejecting the common law tradition that a person could resist an unlawful arrest even when excessive force was not used.”
Peo v. Lowe, 2020 COA 116 (Colo. Ct. App. 2020). · cites it 5× “16CA1894, Peo v Lowe — Crimes — Resisting Arrest; Criminal Law — Prosecution of Multiple Counts for Same Act; Constitutional Law — Fifth Amendment — Double Jeopardy — Multiplicity A division of the court of appeals considers an issue of first impression in Colorado: the unit of…”
People v. Trujillo, 83 P.3d 642 (Colo. 2004). · cites it 2× “In the second trial, Trujillo requested and received jury instructions on the lesser non-included offenses of resisting arrest, § 18-8-103(1), 6 C.R.S. (2002), and reckless endangerment, § 18-3-208, 6 C.”
People v. Fitzgerald, 573 P.2d 100 (Colo. 1978). · cites it 6× “1973; section 18-8-103(2), C.R.S. 1973; and section 18-9-106(1)(c), C.”
Show all 66 citing cases →
— Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-8-103(1) — 10 cases
People v. Baird, 66 P.3d 183 (Colo. Ct. App. 2002). “" Section 18-8-103(1), C.R.S.2002. "A person acts 'knowingly' or 'willfully,' with respect to a result of his conduct, when he is aware that his conduct is practically certain to cause the result.”
Peo v. Lowe, 2020 COA 116 (Colo. Ct. App. 2020). “16CA1894, Peo v Lowe — Crimes — Resisting Arrest; Criminal Law — Prosecution of Multiple Counts for Same Act; Constitutional Law — Fifth Amendment — Double Jeopardy — Multiplicity A division of the court of appeals considers an issue of first impression in Colorado: the unit of…”
Bailey v. Lincoln Gen. Ins. Co., 255 P.3d 1039 (Colo. 2011).
People v. Stanley, 56 P.3d 1241 (Colo. Ct. App. 2002).
People v. Trujillo, 83 P.3d 642 (Colo. 2004). “In the second trial, Trujillo requested and received jury instructions on the lesser non-included offenses of resisting arrest, § 18-8-103(1), 6 C.R.S. (2002), and reckless endangerment, § 18-3-208, 6 C.”
— Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-8-103(1)(a) — 5 cases
v. Snider, 2021 COA 19 (Colo. Ct. App. 2021). “¶ 49 However, as to obstruction of a peace officer under section 18-8-104(1)(a), the unit of prosecution has yet to be identified.”
People v. Armstrong, 720 P.2d 165 (Colo. 1986). “Section 18-8-103, 8 C.R.S. (1978). When the plain meaning of a statute is clear, it is unnecessary to examine the legislative history with regard to that statute.”
People in Interest of JJC, 854 P.2d 801 (Colo. 1993).
Wieder v. People, 722 P.2d 396 (Colo. 1986).
People v. George, 914 P.2d 367 (Colo. 1996).
— Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-8-103(1)(b) — 3 cases
v. Thomas, 2020 COA 19 (Colo. Ct. App. 2020).
People v. Jompp, 2018 COA 128 (Colo. Ct. App. 2018).
Peo v. Dominguez (Colo. Ct. App. 2025).
— Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-8-103(2) — 12 cases
People v. Lopez, 399 P.3d 129 (Colo. Ct. App. 2015). “¶35 Section 18-8-103, C.R.S.2014, establishes the offense of resisting arrest.”
People v. Fuller, 781 P.2d 647 (Colo. 1989). “Section 18-8-103(2), 1 concerning resisting arrest, simply establishes that this same rule applies when an arrest is unlawful, thus rejecting the common law tradition that a person could resist an unlawful arrest even when excessive force was not used.”
People v. Fitzgerald, 573 P.2d 100 (Colo. 1978). “1973; section 18-8-103(2), C.R.S. 1973; and section 18-9-106(1)(c), C.”
Dempsey v. People, 117 P.3d 800 (Colo. 2005). “§ 18-8-103, 6 C.R.S. (2002). . Dempsey also filed a civil suit in the federal district court for the district of Colorado naming as defendants, among others, Boulder County District Attorney, Mary Keenan and the Boulder Police Department.”
People v. Barrus, 232 P.3d 264 (Colo. Ct. App. 2010).
— Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-8-103(3) — 2 cases
People v. Shockley, 591 P.2d 589 (Colo. Ct. App. 1978).
People in Interest of JJC, 854 P.2d 801 (Colo. 1993).
— Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-8-103(3)(b) — 1 case
People v. Martinez, 32 P.3d 582 (Colo. Ct. App. 2001).
— Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-8-103(8) — 2 cases
People v. Lee, 30 P.3d 686 (Colo. Ct. App. 2000).
People v. Martinez, 32 P.3d 582 (Colo. Ct. App. 2001).
— Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-8-103(8)(b) — 1 case
People v. Valdez, 183 P.3d 720 (Colo. Ct. App. 2008).
— Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-8-103(a) — 1 case
People v. Trujillo, 83 P.3d 642 (Colo. 2004). “In the second trial, Trujillo requested and received jury instructions on the lesser non-included offenses of resisting arrest, § 18-8-103(1), 6 C.R.S. (2002), and reckless endangerment, § 18-3-208, 6 C.”
— Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-8-103(l)(a) — 6 cases
People v. Armstrong, 720 P.2d 165 (Colo. 1986). “Section 18-8-103, 8 C.R.S. (1978). When the plain meaning of a statute is clear, it is unnecessary to examine the legislative history with regard to that statute.”
People v. Ortega, 899 P.2d 236 (Colo. Ct. App. 1994).
Wieder v. People, 722 P.2d 396 (Colo. 1986).
People v. Valdez, 621 P.2d 332 (Colo. 1981).
People v. Parsons, 610 P.2d 93 (Colo. 1980).
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