Costs - Attorney Fees - Inmate Lawsuits

C.R.S. tit. 13, art. 17.5

in effect

C.R.S. § 13-17.5-101 Legislative declaration

13-17.5-101. Legislative declaration. (1) The general assembly declares that the state has a strong interest in limiting substantially frivolous, groundless, or vexatious inmate lawsuits that impose an undue burden on the state judicial system. While recognizing an inmate's right to access the courts for relief from unlawful state actions, the general assembly finds that a significant number of inmates file substantially frivolous, groundless, or vexatious lawsuits. (2) The general assembly, therefore, determines that it is necessary to enact legislation that promotes efficiency in the disposition of inmate lawsuits by providing for preliminary matters to be determined by magistrates and to provide for sanctions against inmates who are allowed to file claims against public defendants and whose claims are dismissed as frivolous.

C.R.S. § 13-17.5-102 Definitions

13-17.5-102. Definitions. As used in this article only: (1) "Civil action" means the filing of a complaint, petition, writ, or motion with any court within the state, including any appellate court; except that "civil action" does not include any criminal action or an action for habeas corpus under article 45 of this title. (1.5) "Detaining facility" means any state correctional facility, as defined in section 17-1-102 (1.7), C.R.S., including the youthful offender system, any private correctional facility housing state prisoners pursuant to part 2 of article 1 of title 17, C.R.S., any local jail, as defined in section 16-11-308.5 (1.5), C.R.S., or any community corrections program, established in article 27 of title 17, C.R.S. A detaining facility shall not include any juvenile detention facility that detains only juveniles. (2) "Inmate" means a person who is sentenced or is awaiting sentencing to any detaining facility. (3) "Public defendant" means any state, county, or municipal agency, any state, county, or municipal official or employee acting within the scope of his or her authority, or any agent acting on behalf of any state, county, or municipal agency.

C.R.S. § 13-17.5-102.3 Exhaustion of remedies

13-17.5-102.3. Exhaustion of remedies. (1) No inmate shall bring a civil action based upon prison conditions under any statute or constitutional provision until all available administrative remedies have been exhausted in a timely fashion by the entity operating the detaining facility and inmate. For purposes of this subsection (1), an inmate shall be considered to have exhausted all available administrative remedies when the inmate has completed the last step in the inmate grievance process as set forth in the regulations promulgated by the entity operating the detaining facility. Failure to allege in the civil action that all available administrative remedies have been exhausted in accordance with this subsection (1) shall result in dismissal of the civil action. (2) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, if a court finds that a claim filed by an inmate is frivolous, malicious, fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from monetary relief, a court may dismiss the claim without first requiring exhaustion of administrative remedies.

C.R.S. § 13-17.5-102.7 Successive claims

13-17.5-102.7. Successive claims. (1) No inmate who on three or more occasions has brought a civil action based upon prison conditions that has been dismissed on the grounds that it was frivolous, groundless, or malicious or failed to state a claim upon which relief may be granted or sought monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief, shall be permitted to proceed as a poor person in a civil action based upon prison conditions under any statute or constitutional provision. (2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, an inmate may proceed as a poor person in a civil action if the judge finds that the action alleges sufficient facts which, if assumed to be true, would demonstrate that the inmate is in imminent danger of serious physical injury. (3) (a) A copy of any court order that dismisses an inmate's civil action on the grounds that it is frivolous, groundless, or malicious or fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted or seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief shall be mailed by the court clerk to the Colorado attorney general, whether or not the attorney general entered an appearance in the civil action, and whether or not the civil action involved a state correctional facility or state defendant. The attorney general shall monitor the dismissals described in this paragraph (a). (b) The attorney general shall inform the state judicial department or the chief judge of each judicial district whenever the attorney general becomes aware that an inmate has been assessed three or more dismissals as described in paragraph (a) of this subsection (3). Each judicial district shall maintain a registry of such information. An inmate listed in the registry who brings a civil action shall be subject to the provisions of subsections (1) and (2) of this section.

C.R.S. § 13-17.5-103 Filing fees

13-17.5-103. Filing fees. (1) An inmate who seeks to proceed in any civil action without prepayment of fees, in addition to filing any required affidavit, shall submit a copy of the inmate's account statement for the six-month period immediately preceding the filing of the civil action, certified by an appropriate official at the detaining facility. If the inmate account demonstrates that the inmate has sufficient funds to pay the filing fee, or if the action on its face is frivolous, groundless, or malicious, or fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted or seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief, the motion to proceed as a poor person shall be denied. (2) Any inmate who is allowed to proceed in the civil action as a poor person shall be required to pay the full amount of the filing fee and service of process fees previously paid by the court in the following installments: (a) If the inmate has ten dollars or more in his or her inmate account, make an initial partial payment in accordance with the order of the court; and (b) Regardless if the inmate has ten dollars in his or her inmate account at the time of the filing of the civil action, make continuing monthly payments to the court equal to twenty percent of the preceding month's deposits in the inmate's account until the filing fee and service of process fees previously paid by the court are paid in full. (2.5) The court shall include in its order granting permission to proceed as a poor person the requirement that the inmate comply with the provisions of subsection (2) of this section. (2.7) A copy of any order granting an inmate's motion to proceed in a civil action as a poor person shall be forwarded by the court to the detaining facility that has custody of the inmate. Upon receipt of the order, the detaining facility shall forward payments from the inmate's account to the court in accordance with the order granting leave to proceed as a poor person. (3) In no event shall an inmate be prohibited from filing a civil action or appealing a civil or criminal judgment because the inmate has no assets and no means by which to pay the initial partial payment.

C.R.S. § 13-17.5-104 Stay of state judicial proceedings

13-17.5-104. Stay of state judicial proceedings. If the court determines, during the course of a state civil action by an inmate against any public defendant, that a federal civil action or grievance procedure is pending that involves the inmate and any of the same issues raised in the state civil action, the court shall stay the state civil action until the federal civil action or the grievance procedure is completed and all rights of appeal have been exhausted.

C.R.S. § 13-17.5-105 Proceedings before magistrate

13-17.5-105. Proceedings before magistrate. As provided by sections 13-5-201 and 13-6-501, district and county court magistrates may preside over inmate motions filed pursuant to section 13-16-103 and motions filed pursuant to the Colorado rules of civil procedure to dispose of the inmate's action without the necessity of trial.

C.R.S. § 13-17.5-106 Assessment of costs and attorney fees - review of inmate spending from account - recovery of costs from inmate accounts - alternative sanctions - continuing garnishment authorized

13-17.5-106. Assessment of costs and attorney fees - review of inmate spending from account - recovery of costs from inmate accounts - alternative sanctions - continuing garnishment authorized. (1) (a) In any action based upon prison conditions brought under any statute or constitutional provision, if attorney fees are recoverable pursuant to any state or federal statute, no attorney fees shall be awarded to an inmate, except to the extent that: (I) The fees were directly and reasonably incurred in proving an actual violation of the inmate's rights protected by the constitution or statute; and (II) (A) The amount of the fees is proportionately related to the court-ordered relief for the violation; or (B) The fees were directly and reasonably incurred in enforcing the relief ordered for the violation. (b) No award of attorney fees under paragraph (a) of this subsection (1) shall be based on an hourly rate in excess of one hundred fifty percent of the hourly rate paid to court-appointed counsel in the district in which the action was filed. (c) Whenever a separate monetary judgment is awarded in an action in which attorney fees are awarded under paragraph (a) of this subsection (1), a portion of the judgment not to exceed twenty-five percent shall be applied to reduce the amount of attorney fees awarded against the defendant. (d) Nothing in this subsection (1) shall prohibit an inmate from entering into an agreement to pay an attorney fee in excess of the amount authorized in this subsection (1), if the fee is paid by the individual rather than by a defendant. (2) The court may also enter judgment against an inmate who has been allowed to proceed as a poor person pursuant to section 13-16-103 for the amount of court costs and fees that the inmate would have incurred except for the provisions of that section, if the court awards attorney fees pursuant to subsection (1) of this section. The judgment entered by the court shall be collected and applied in accordance with subsection (3) of this section. (3) If judgment for costs and attorney fees is awarded to a public defendant or to the court, pursuant to subsection (1) or (2) of this section, the court, pursuant to section 13-54.5-102, shall issue a writ of continuing garnishment of the inmate's account with the detaining facility, which garnishment shall continue until the judgment is paid in full, notwithstanding the requirement set forth in section 13-54.5-103 that the garnishment be renewed.

C.R.S. § 13-17.5-106.5 Court-ordered payment

13-17.5-106.5. Court-ordered payment. Any compensatory damages awarded to an inmate in connection with a civil action brought against any federal, state, or local jail, prison, or facility or against any official or agent of a jail, prison, or facility, after deduction for any award of attorney fees pursuant to section 13-17.5-106 (1)(c), shall be paid directly to satisfy any outstanding court-ordered payments pending against the inmate, including but not limited to restitution or child support. The remainder of the award after full payment of all pending court orders shall be forwarded to the inmate.

C.R.S. § 13-17.5-107 Construction of article - severability

13-17.5-107. Construction of article - severability. Nothing in this article shall be construed to impede an inmate's constitutional right of access to the courts. If any provision of this section or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid or unconstitutional, such invalidity or unconstitutionality shall not affect other provisions or applications of this section which can be given effect without the invalid or unconstitutional provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this section are declared to be severable.

C.R.S. § 13-17.5-108 Teleconferenced hearings

13-17.5-108. Teleconferenced hearings. The department of law, the department of corrections, and the state judicial department shall cooperate to determine the cost of and actively pursue federal funding and contributions from any public or private entity for the purpose of developing, implementing, and maintaining a teleconferencing system for conducting proceedings in connection with state or federal civil actions filed by an inmate against a public defendant. On or before December 1, 1996, the state judicial department shall inform the judiciary committees of the general assembly of the progress made in pursuing funds for the development of the system. On or before March 1, 1996, the state judicial department shall submit a detailed plan to implement the use of a teleconferencing system for all proceedings in which an inmate is a witness or a party.

Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-13.docxFetched: 10/6/2026