Congressional Districts

C.R.S. tit. 2, art. 1
in effect

C.R.S. § 2-1-100.5 Legislative declaration

2-1-100.5. Legislative declaration. The general assembly hereby finds and declares that the state of Colorado shall be divided into districts pursuant to the official figures of the most recent decennial census of the United States. The general assembly further finds and declares that such figures are the most reliable data that the state has available and that the use of any other data or of any data adjustments may create a serious risk of inaccuracy and injustice in establishing congressional districts to represent the citizens of Colorado.

C.R.S. § 2-1-101 Congressional districts

2-1-101. Congressional districts. (Repealed)

C.R.S. § 2-1-101.5 Definitions

2-1-101.5. Definitions. As used in this article 1, unless the context otherwise requires: (1) "Congressional commission" means the independent congressional redistricting commission created pursuant to section 44 of article V of the state constitution. (2) "Major political party" means one of the two largest political parties as determined by the number of registered electors with each political party according to voter registration data published by the secretary of state for the earliest day in January of the year in which members of the congressional commission are appointed. (3) "Voting Rights Act of 1965" means the federal statute, codified at 52 U.S.C. sec. 10301 et seq., as referred to in the ballot measure adopted by voters in 2018 to add section 48.1 (1)(b) to article V of the state constitution.

C.R.S. § 2-1-102 Neutral criteria for judicial determinations of congressional districts

2-1-102. Neutral criteria for judicial determinations of congressional districts. (Repealed)

C.R.S. § 2-1-103 Citation for federal "Voting Rights Act of 1965" - legislative declaration

2-1-103. Citation for federal "Voting Rights Act of 1965" - legislative declaration. (1) The voters of Colorado considered and overwhelmingly approved legislatively referred measures at the 2018 general election to establish balanced commissions to set district lines for both the United States house of representatives and the Colorado general assembly. (2) The voters were aware that among the protections provided by these referred measures was the incorporation of the protections provided by federal law including the "Voting Rights Act of 1965", as amended. (3) Because of a misprint in the measures referring these constitutional amendments to the voters, the federal statute was correctly cited as "the federal 'Voting Rights Act of 1965'" but incorrectly cited as "52 U.S.C. sec. 50301, as amended" when the proper citation is "52 U.S.C. sec. 10301 et seq., as amended." (4) The general assembly finds and declares that voter intent was clear and should not be frustrated by a clerical error in referring to a federal law that has long been applied by federal courts and the Colorado courts in the redistricting context and was intended to be applied based on the measures' context and legislative analyses provided to voter households in advance of the 2018 general election.

C.R.S. § 2-1-104 Precinct boundaries

2-1-104. Precinct boundaries. (1) (a) Pursuant to the provisions of sections 1-5-101 and 1-5-102, the clerk and recorder of each county, subject to the approval of its board of county commissioners, shall redraw the general election precincts in such county to ensure that no general election precinct is contained within more than one state representative, state senatorial, or congressional district. (b) Not more than one week after such approval of precinct boundaries and in accordance with sections 1-5-101 and 1-5-102, the board of county commissioners shall file with the secretary of state a copy of the county precinct boundary map showing thereon the revised and reestablished general election precinct boundaries and the boundaries of any legislative or congressional district, if said county is divided into two or more state representative, state senatorial, or congressional districts. (2) The board of county commissioners shall notify the county chair of each of the two major political parties of any general election precinct boundaries revised and reestablished in accordance with the provisions of this section within five days after the establishment of precinct boundaries in accordance with the provisions of this section.

C.R.S. § 2-1-105 Maps of legislative districts

2-1-105. Maps of legislative districts. (1) At the time of submission of a final congressional plan to the Colorado supreme court for its review and determination in accordance with section 44.5 of article V of the state constitution, the congressional commission shall provide the supreme court with a copy of all maps showing the division of the state into legislative districts and necessary supportive evidence, pursuant to the supreme court rules adopted for such proceedings. (2) As soon as possible after approval of a final plan by the Colorado supreme court, the congressional commission shall prepare and file with the secretary of state copies of census maps showing thereon each legislative district and a description of each district in terms of official census units. The congressional commission shall also file with the county clerk and recorder in each county the necessary maps and descriptions of each legislative district located within the boundaries of such county.

C.R.S. § 2-1-106 Attachments and detachments

2-1-106. Attachments and detachments. (1) If any area of the state is omitted from the redistricting plan approved by the Colorado supreme court, inadvertently or by virtue of the complexities of the census materials used in the development of the plan, the secretary of state, upon discovery of such omission, shall determine to which congressional district the area should be assigned as follows: (a) If the area is surrounded by a congressional district, the area must be assigned to said district; and (b) If the area is contiguous to two or more congressional districts, the area must be assigned to the district that has the least population according to the latest national census. (2) If any area of the state is included in two or more congressional districts in the redistricting plan approved by the Colorado supreme court, inadvertently or by virtue of the complexities of the census materials used in the development of the plan, the secretary of state, upon discovery of such inclusion, shall detach said area from the congressional district or districts having the largest population and shall designate such area as being assigned to the district having the least population; except that, if such area is wholly surrounded by a congressional district and inadvertently is also included in another district, the secretary of state shall assign such area to the district wholly surrounding such area, regardless of population. (3) (a) If a county clerk and recorder discovers that a border between two congressional districts divides a residential parcel between the two districts and the clerk and recorder wishes to have the border moved, the clerk and recorder shall submit to the secretary of state documentation, satisfactory to the secretary of state, evidencing such division. If the secretary of state believes that the border should be moved, the secretary of state shall propose moving the border between the two districts to a visible feature normally relied upon by the United States census bureau such that the border: (I) Does not split a residential parcel; (II) Moves the remaining portion of the residential parcel into the least populated of the two districts; except that, if the border is a border between both congressional districts, the remaining portion of the residential parcel must be moved into the least populated of the two congressional districts; (III) Would not result in a violation of section 44.3 (1)(a) of article V of the state constitution based upon the latest national census; (IV) Minimizes the impact on the affected community for purposes of establishing polling locations; and (V) Minimizes changes in distances from the redistricting plan approved by the Colorado supreme court. (b) If the secretary of state proposes moving any border pursuant to this subsection (3), the secretary of state shall describe any potential changes in populations of affected congressional districts, based on the latest national census, to the Colorado supreme court. If the supreme court determines that the assignments made by the secretary of state satisfy the criteria established in subsection (3)(a) of this section, the supreme court may approve said assignments. If the supreme court determines that the assignment does not satisfy the criteria established in subsection (3)(a) of this section, the supreme court shall deny the proposed assignment. reme court. If the supreme court determines that the assignments made by the secretary of state satisfy the criteria established in subsection (3)(a) of this section, the supreme court may approve said assignments. If the supreme court determines that the assignment does not satisfy the criteria established in subsection (3)(a) of this section, the supreme court shall deny the proposed assignment. (4) Following the assignment of any area pursuant to the provisions of subsection (1) or (2) of this section, the secretary of state shall certify the population of such assigned area and any changes in populations of affected congressional districts, based on the latest national census, to the Colorado supreme court. If the supreme court determines that the assignments made by the secretary of state would not result in a violation of the population requirements of section 44.3 (1)(a) of article V of the state constitution, the supreme court shall approve said assignments. If the supreme court determines that the assignments would result in a violation of the population requirements of section 44.3 (1)(a) of article V of the state constitution, the supreme court shall certify a revised reapportionment plan to the secretary of state.

C.R.S. § 2-1-107 Changes in county and municipal boundaries

2-1-107. Changes in county and municipal boundaries. Whenever the boundaries of a congressional district coincide with the boundaries of a county or municipality and said county or municipal boundaries are changed by annexation or detachment, the boundaries of the congressional district remain the same until such time as a new redistricting is made following a national census as provided in sections 44 to 44.6 of article V of the state constitution.

C.R.S. § 2-1-108 Published plan and records

2-1-108. Published plan and records. (1) Upon submission of the congressional redistricting plan approved by the Colorado supreme court, the congressional commission shall provide copies of the published plan to the secretary of state. (2) The secretary of state shall provide any candidate for legislative office or any Colorado citizen with a copy of a map showing the boundaries for any congressional district upon request. Individual district maps must be provided to any resident of a congressional district without charge. A nominal charge, not to exceed the actual cost, may be determined and collected pursuant to section 24-21-104 (3) for copies of congressional district maps for which an individual is not a resident.

C.R.S. § 2-1-109 Applicability

2-1-109. Applicability. This article 1 applies to each congressional commission and to congressional districts created by said commission.
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-02.docxFetched: 10/6/2026