Colo. Rev. Stat. » Title 30
Colorado Revised Statutes

Colo. Rev. Stat. § 30-11-101 (2026)

Powers of counties

✓ current as of July 2026
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(1) Each organized county within the state is a body corporate and politic and as such is empowered for the following purposes: (a) To sue and be sued; (b) To purchase and hold real and personal property for the use of the county, and acquire lands sold for taxes, as provided by law; (c) To sell, convey, or exchange any real or personal property owned by the county and make such order respecting the same as may be deemed conducive to the interests of the inhabitants; and to lease any real or personal property, either as lessor or lessee, together with any facilities thereon, when deemed by the board of county commissioners to be in the best interests of the county and its inhabitants; (d) To make all contracts and do all other acts in relation to the property and concerns necessary to the exercise of its corporate or administrative powers. Any such contract may by its terms exceed one year and shall be binding upon the parties thereto as to all of its rights, duties, and obligations. (e) To exercise such other and further powers as may be especially conferred by law; (f) To develop, maintain, and operate mass transportation systems, which power shall be vested either individually in the board of county commissioners or jointly with other political subdivisions or governmental entities formed pursuant to the provisions of part 2 of article 1 of title 29, C.R.S. Except as provided in paragraph (j) of this subsection (1), this provision shall not apply to any county or portion thereof encompassed by the regional transportation district as formed pursuant to the provisions of article 9 of title 32, C.R.S. Counties, by ordinance adopted, administered, and enforced in accordance with part 4 of article 15 of this title, shall have the authority: To fix, maintain, and revise passenger fees, rates, and charges, and terms and conditions for such systems; to prescribe the method of development, maintenance, and operation of such mass transportation systems; and to receive contributions, gifts, or other support from public and private entities to defray the operating costs of such systems. (g) To provide for the payment of construction, installation, operation, and maintenance of street lighting by ordinance adopted, administered, and enforced in accordance with part 4 of article 15 of this title and to assess, either in whole or in part, the cost of constructing, installing, operating, and maintaining such street lighting against the property in the vicinity of such street lighting in proportion to the frontage of the property abutting the road, street, or alley where such street lighting is so constructed, installed, operated, and maintained; (h) To enter into contracts with the executive director of the department of corrections pursuant to section 16-11-308.5, C.R.S., for the placement of persons under the custody of the executive director in county jails or adult detention centers; (i) To dispose of abandoned personal property acquired by an elected county official or county employee in performing official duties. Said personal property may be disposed of only after the exercise of due diligence to determine the owner of such personal property. Such personal property may be sold, discarded, or used for county purposes as the board of county commissioners deems to be in the best interests of the county.

(j) For any county located in whole or in part within the boundaries of the regional transportation district, to provide transit services in cooperation with and pursuant to consultation with the board of directors of the district. For purposes of this paragraph (j), "county" means any county or city and county. (k) To coordinate, pursuant to 43 U.S.C. sec. 1712, the "National Environmental Policy Act of 1969", 42 U.S.C. sec. 4321 et seq., 40 U.S.C. sec. 3312, 16 U.S.C. sec. 530, 16 U.S.C. sec. 1604, and 40 CFR parts 1500 to 1508, with the United States secretary of the interior and the United States secretary of agriculture to develop land management plans that address hazardous fuel removal and other forest management practices, water development and conservation measures, watershed protection, the protection of air quality, public utilities protection, and private property protection on federal lands within such county's jurisdiction; (l) To conduct or participate in forest health projects as defined in section 37-95-103

(4.9) within and outside the boundaries of the county.

(2) Counties have the authority to adopt and enforce ordinances and resolutions regarding health, safety, and welfare issues as otherwise prescribed by law. In addition to any other enforcement or collection method authorized by law, if a county passes an ordinance or resolution of which a violation would be a class 2 petty offense, the county may elect to apply the penalty assessment procedure set forth in section 16-2-201, C.R.S., and may adopt a graduated fine schedule for multiple offenses. If a specified offense would be an unclassified misdemeanor, a county may elect to downgrade the offense to a class 2 petty offense and apply the penalty assessment procedure under circumstances deemed appropriate and prescribed by the county in an ordinance or resolution.

Source: G.L. § 428. G.S. § 521. R.S. 08: § 1177. C.L. § 8658. CSA: C. 45, § 1. CRS 53: § 36-1-1. C.R.S. 1963: § 36-1-1. L. 73: pp. 465, 466, §§ 1, 1. L. 79: (1)(g) added, p. 1150, § 2, effective April 25. L. 88: (1)(h) added, pp. 677, 711, §§ 5, 12, effective July 1. L. 90: (1)(f) and (1)(g) R&RE, p. 1446, § 1, effective July 1. L. 92: (1)(i) added, p. 967, § 9, effective June 1. L. 93: (1)(h) amended, p. 407, § 6, effective April 19. L. 2002: (1)(f) amended and (1)(j) added, p. 733, § 3, effective August 7; (1)(f) amended and (1)(j) added, p. 713, § 3, effective August 7. L. 2003: (1)(k) added, p. 1036, § 10, effective April 17. L. 2008: (2) added, p. 57, § 2, effective August 5. L. 2021: IP(1) amended and (1)(l) added, (HB 21-1008), ch.159, p. 905, § 2, effective May 20.

Cross references: For the legislative declaration contained in the 2003 act enacting subsection (1)(k), see section 1 of chapter 145, Session Laws of Colorado 2003.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 19 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1980–2025 · leading case: City of Lakewood v. Armstrong, 2017 COA 159 (Colo. Ct. App. 2017).
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City of Lakewood v. Armstrong, 2017 COA 159 (Colo. Ct. App. 2017). · cites it 3× “Jefferson County Had Authority to Purchase the Mackey Easement ¶ 36 The Armstrongs contend that the Commissioners deed is void because Jefferson County did not have the authority to purchase the easement for use by Lakewood.”
Wigger v. McKee, 809 P.2d 999 (Colo. Ct. App. 1990). · cites it 6× “Section 30-11-101, C.R.S. (1986 Repl.Vol.”
Romer v. Bd. of Cnty. Commissioners, 956 P.2d 566 (Colo. 1998). · cites it 2× “Rather, the BOCC's powers in this context derive directly from the Colorado Constitution, Article XIV and from sections 30-11-101 and -107, 9 C.R.S. (1997).”
Bd. of Cnty. Commissioners v. Rocky Mountain Christian Church, 481 F. Supp. 2d 1181 (D. Colo. 2007). · cites it 4× “In response (#8), the Board argues that: (i) C.R.S. § 30-11-101 authorizes counties to exercise the power to sue or be sued, and this action does not fall within certain exceptions to that power; and (ii) that the Church’s case presents an inadequate alternative to the…”
East Grand Cnty. Sch. Dist. No. 2 v. Town of Winter Park, 739 P.2d 862 (Colo. Ct. App. 1987). · cites it 3× “Section 30-11-101(1)(a), C.R.S. (1986 RepLYol.”
Bd. of Cnty. Commissioners v. Denver Bd. of Water Commissioners, 718 P.2d 235 (Colo. 1986). · cites it 2× “Section 30-11-101(1)(a), 12 C.R.S. (1977), authorizes a county to sue.”
City & Cnty. of Denver, Etc. v. Bergland, 517 F. Supp. 155 (D. Colo. 1981). · cites it 2× “Grand County is an agency of the state of Colorado and is authorized, pursuant to Colo.Rev.Stat. § 30-11-101 et seq. (1973) to sue and be sued.”
Friends of the Black Forest Reg'l Park, Inc. v. Bd. of Cnty. Commissioners, 80 P.3d 871 (Colo. Ct. App. 2003). “Nor, we conclude, can a letter sent from the county’s par'k planner to the USFS, which requests permission to relocate an entrance road and refers to the road easement, grant such an easement or convey or create an interest in county-owned property.”
Stump v. Gates, 777 F. Supp. 808 (D. Colo. 1991). “§ 31-15-101(1)(a), (b) and § 30-11-101(1)(a). Indeed, neither police departments nor coroners’ offices themselves have the capacity to commit acts depriving individuals of civil rights; rather it is the acts of municipal and county employees, performed under color of state law,…”
Durango Transp., Inc. v. City of Durango, 786 P.2d 428 (Colo. Ct. App. 1990). · cites it 4× “Defendants also argue that even if the constitutional provision does not expressly exempt counties from the jurisdictional control of the PUC vis a vis public utilities, § 30-11-101(1)(f), C.R.S. (1986 Repl.Vol.”
Cortese v. Black, 838 F. Supp. 485 (D. Colo. 1993). “§ 30-11-101(1)(a) and § 30-10-522. I will treat Cortese’s suit against the Sheriffs.”
N. Colorado Water Conservancy Dist. v. Bd. of Cnty. Commissioners, 482 F. Supp. 1115 (D. Colo. 1980). · cites it 2× “While the federal clean water program provides for the use of various agencies of state and local government in pursuing environmental goals, it does not constitute a grant of substantive powers to political subdivisions of another sovereign.”
Show all 19 citing cases →
— Colo. Rev. Stat. § 30-11-101(1)(a) — 5 cases
East Grand Cnty. Sch. Dist. No. 2 v. Town of Winter Park, 739 P.2d 862 (Colo. Ct. App. 1987). “Section 30-11-101(1)(a), C.R.S. (1986 RepLYol.”
Bd. of Cnty. Commissioners v. Denver Bd. of Water Commissioners, 718 P.2d 235 (Colo. 1986). “Section 30-11-101(1)(a), 12 C.R.S. (1977), authorizes a county to sue.”
Stump v. Gates, 777 F. Supp. 808 (D. Colo. 1991). “§ 31-15-101(1)(a), (b) and § 30-11-101(1)(a). Indeed, neither police departments nor coroners’ offices themselves have the capacity to commit acts depriving individuals of civil rights; rather it is the acts of municipal and county employees, performed under color of state law,…”
Cortese v. Black, 838 F. Supp. 485 (D. Colo. 1993). “§ 30-11-101(1)(a) and § 30-10-522. I will treat Cortese’s suit against the Sheriffs.”
Schmidt v. Petek (D. Colo. 2019).
— Colo. Rev. Stat. § 30-11-101(1)(b) — 1 case
City of Lakewood v. Armstrong, 2017 COA 159 (Colo. Ct. App. 2017). “Jefferson County Had Authority to Purchase the Mackey Easement ¶ 36 The Armstrongs contend that the Commissioners deed is void because Jefferson County did not have the authority to purchase the easement for use by Lakewood.”
— Colo. Rev. Stat. § 30-11-101(1)(e) — 1 case
City of Lakewood v. Armstrong, 2017 COA 159 (Colo. Ct. App. 2017). “Jefferson County Had Authority to Purchase the Mackey Easement ¶ 36 The Armstrongs contend that the Commissioners deed is void because Jefferson County did not have the authority to purchase the easement for use by Lakewood.”
— Colo. Rev. Stat. § 30-11-101(1)(f) — 1 case
Durango Transp., Inc. v. City of Durango, 786 P.2d 428 (Colo. Ct. App. 1990). “Defendants also argue that even if the constitutional provision does not expressly exempt counties from the jurisdictional control of the PUC vis a vis public utilities, § 30-11-101(1)(f), C.R.S. (1986 Repl.Vol.”
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