(1) (a) If any landowner or any registered elector in the area proposed to be annexed, the board of county commissioners of any county governing the area proposed to be annexed, or any municipality within one mile of the area proposed to be annexed believes itself to be aggrieved by the acts of the governing body of the annexing municipality in annexing said area to said municipality, such acts or findings of the governing body may be reviewed by certiorari in accordance with the Colorado rules of civil procedure. Such review proceedings shall be instituted in any district court having jurisdiction of the county in which the annexed area is located. In no event shall such a proceeding be instituted prior to the effective date of the annexing ordinance by the annexing municipality.
(b) If the annexed area is located within two or more counties, review proceedings may be brought in any district court having jurisdiction of any one of such counties. In all such certiorari proceedings under this part 1, the district court shall be presided over by a judge appointed by the chief justice of the supreme court of the state of Colorado, which judge shall not be from the judicial district in which the area proposed to be annexed is located nor from a judicial district contiguous thereto.
(2) (a) (I) All such actions to review the findings and the decision of the governing body shall be brought within sixty days after the effective date of the ordinance, and, if such action is not brought within such time, such action shall forever be barred.
All such actions to review the findings and the decision of the governing body shallbe subject to the following requirement, which is a condition precedent to the right to obtain judicial review under this section: Any party bringing such action shall first have filed a motion for reconsideration within ten days of the effective date of the ordinance finalizing the challenged annexation, which motion shall state with particularity the grounds upon which judicial review is sought.
The district court shall schedule such actions for expedited hearing.
In the event that the person bringing an action pursuant to this section fails to substantially prevail, the court may award the municipality its reasonable attorney fees and costs of defense.
(b) In any action brought within the sixty-day limitation of paragraph (a) of this subsection (2) to review the annexation of an enclave pursuant to section 31-12-106 (1), the court may review the findings and determinations of the governing body in annexing any territory which, in whole or in part, resulted in the creation of the enclave. If the court finds that any such prior annexation resulted in the creation of a municipal boundary that consists of public rights-of-way as set forth in section 31-12-106 (1.1)(a)(I) or occurred without compliance with section 30 of article II of the state constitution as set forth in section 31-12-106 (1.1)(a)(II), it shall declare the annexation of the enclave to be void, but no such finding or decision shall affect the validity of the prior annexation.
Review proceedings instituted under this section shall not be extended further than todetermine whether the governing body has exceeded its jurisdiction or abused its discretion under the provisions of this part 1.
Any annexation accomplished in accordance with the provisions of this part 1 shallnot be directly or collaterally questioned in any suit, action, or proceeding, except as expressly authorized in this section.
If the hearing has not been stenographically reported as provided in section 31-12109 (2) and if the court determines, after proper investigation, that the minutes of the hearing are not adequate to form the basis for a determination of the issue in the certiorari proceedings, the court may proceed to try the issue de novo.
All proceedings for judicial review of any annexation proceeding under this part 1 shall be advanced as a matter of immediate public interest and concern and heard at the earliest practical moment. The courts shall be open at all times for the purposes of this part 1.
Source: L. 75: Entire title R&RE, p. 1089, § 1, effective July 1. L. 81: (2) amended, p. 1511, § 2, effective July 1. L. 87: (1)(a) and (2) amended, p. 1221, § 7, effective May 28. L. 90: (1)(a) amended, p. 1479, § 1, effective March 9. L. 97: (2)(b) amended, p. 996, § 6, effective May 27. L. 2006: (2)(b) amended, p. 1008, § 2, effective September 1. L. 2010: (1)(a) amended, (HB 10-1259), ch. 211, p. 919, § 11, effective August 11.
Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 31-8-116 as it existed prior to 1975.