(1) (a) The transportation commission shall review a toll road or toll highway company's toll schedule as part of the project description submitted for approval as part of the statewide transportation plan and every five years thereafter if eminent domain is used by the department of transportation to acquire any part of the right-of-way for a toll road or toll highway. The review shall be limited to determining whether a reduced toll may be imposed on high occupancy vehicles and public mass transit vehicles in order to encourage the use of such vehicles on the toll road or toll highway.
(b) As used in this subsection (1):
"High occupancy vehicles" means vehicles that carry at least the number of personsspecified by the transportation commission.
"Public mass transit vehicles" means vehicles other than charter or sightseeing vehicles that:
Are operated by or under contract with the regional transportation district createdpursuant to article 9 of title 32, C.R.S., or a regional transportation authority created pursuant to part 6 of article 4 of this title; and
Provide regular and continuing general or special transportation to the public.
(c) In determining whether a reduced toll may be imposed on high occupancy vehicles and public mass transit vehicles, the transportation commission shall ensure that the reduced toll does not limit or preclude a toll road or toll highway company's:
Recovery of the costs associated with operations, toll collection, and administration;and
Repayment of the company's capital outlay costs for the project and recovery of areasonable return on the company's investment.
State and local law enforcement authorities are authorized to enter into traffic andtoll enforcement agreements with a toll road or toll highway company. Any funds received by a state law enforcement authority pursuant to a toll enforcement agreement shall be subject to annual appropriations by the general assembly to the law enforcement authority for the purpose of performing its duties pursuant to the agreement.
A toll road or toll highway company may adopt rules pertaining to the enforcementof toll collection and evasion and providing a civil penalty for toll evasion. The civil penalty established by a toll road or toll highway company for any toll evasion shall be not less than ten dollars nor more than two hundred fifty dollars, in addition to any costs imposed by a court. A company may use state of the art technology, including but not limited to automatic vehicle identification photography, to aid in the collection of tolls and enforcement of toll violations. The use of state of the art technology to aid in enforcement of toll violations shall be governed solely by this section.
(a) Any person who evades a toll established by a toll road or toll highway company shall be subject to the civil penalty established by that company for toll evasion. Any peace officer as described in section 16-2.5-101, C.R.S., shall have the authority to issue civil penalty assessments or municipal summons and complaints if authorized pursuant to a municipal ordinance for the toll evasion.
At any time that a person is cited for toll evasion, the person operating the motorvehicle involved shall be given either a notice in the form of a civil penalty assessment notice or a municipal summons and complaint. If a civil penalty assessment is issued, the notice shall be tendered by a peace officer as described in section 16-2.5-101, C.R.S., and shall contain the name and address of the person, the license number of the motor vehicle involved, the number of the person's driver's license, the nature of the violation, the amount of the penalty prescribed for the violation, the date of the notice, a place for the person to execute a signed acknowledgment of the person's receipt of the civil penalty assessment notice, a place for the person to execute a signed acknowledgment of liability for the cited violation, and such other information as may be required by law to constitute the notice as a complaint to appear for adjudication of toll evasion pursuant to this section if the prescribed toll, fee, and civil penalty are not paid within twenty days. Every cited person shall execute the signed acknowledgment of the person's receipt of the civil penalty assessment notice.
The acknowledgment of liability shall be executed at the time the cited person paysthe prescribed penalty. The person cited shall pay the toll, fee, and civil penalty authorized by the toll road or toll highway company involved at the office of the company, either in person or by postmarking the payment within twenty days of the citation. If the person cited does not pay the prescribed toll, fee, and civil penalty within twenty days of the notice, the civil penalty assessment notice shall constitute a complaint to appear for adjudication of toll evasion in court or in an administrative toll enforcement proceeding, and the person cited shall, within the time specified in the civil penalty assessment notice, file an answer to this complaint in the manner specified in the notice.
If a municipal summons and complaint is issued, the adjudication of the violationshall be conducted and the format of the summons and complaint shall be determined pursuant to the terms of the municipal ordinance authorizing issuance of such a summons and complaint. In no case shall the penalty upon conviction for violation of a municipal ordinance for toll evasion exceed the limit established in subsection (3) of this section.
(5) (a) The respective courts of the municipalities, counties, and cities and counties are given jurisdiction to try all cases arising under municipal ordinances and state laws governing the use of a toll road or toll highway operated by a toll road or toll highway company and arising under the toll evasion civil penalty regulations enacted by a toll road or toll highway company. Venue for such cases shall be in the municipality, county, or city and county where the alleged violation of municipal ordinance or state law or of the corporate regulation occurred.
At the request of the judicial department, a toll road or toll highway company shallconsider establishing an administrative toll enforcement process and may, by resolution, adopt rules creating such a process. The rules pertaining to the administrative enforcement of toll evasion shall require notice to the person cited for toll evasion and provide to the person an opportunity to appear at an open hearing conducted by an impartial hearing officer and a right to appeal the final administrative determination of toll evasion to the county court for the county in which the violation occurred.
If a toll road or toll highway company establishes an administrative toll enforcementprocess, no court of a municipality, county, or city and county shall have jurisdiction to hear toll evasion cases arising on a public highway operated by the company.
A toll evasion case may be adjudicated by an impartial hearing officer in an administrative hearing conducted pursuant to this section and the rules promulgated by a toll road or toll highway company. The hearing officer shall be an independent contractor of the toll road or toll highway company.
A toll road or toll highway company may file a certified copy of an order imposing atoll, fee, and civil penalty that is entered by the hearing officer in an adjudication of a toll evasion with the clerk of the county court in the county in which the violation occurred at any time after the order is entered. The clerk shall record the order in the judgment book of the court and enter it in the judgment docket. The order shall have the effect of a judgment of the county court, and the court may execute the order as in the other cases.
An administrative adjudication of a toll evasion by a toll road or toll highway company is subject to judicial review. The administrative adjudication may be appealed as to matters of law and fact to the county court for the county in which the violation occurred. The appeal shall be a review of the record of the administrative adjudication and not a de novo hearing.
Notwithstanding the specific remedies provided by this section, a toll road or tollhighway company shall have every remedy available under the law to enforce unpaid tolls and fees as debts owed to the toll road or toll highway company.
The aggregate amount of penalties, exclusive of court costs, collected as a result ofcivil penalties imposed pursuant to rules authorized in subsection (3) of this section shall be remitted to the toll road or toll highway company in whose name the civil penalty assessment notice was issued and shall be applied by the company to defray the costs and expenses of enforcing the laws of the state and the rules of the company. If a municipal summons or complaint is issued, the aggregate penalty shall be apportioned pursuant to the terms of any enforcement agreement.
(a) In addition to the penalty assessment procedure provided for in subsection (4) of this section, where an instance of toll evasion is evidenced by automatic vehicle identification photography or other technology not involving a peace officer, a civil penalty assessment notice may be issued and sent by first-class mail, or by any mail delivery service offered by an entity other than the United States postal service that is equivalent to or superior to first-class mail with respect to delivery speed, reliability, and price, by the toll road or toll highway company to the registered owner of the motor vehicle involved. The notice shall contain the name and address of the registered owner of the vehicle involved, the license number of the vehicle involved, the time and location of the violation, the amount of the penalty prescribed for the violation, a place for the registered owner of the vehicle to execute a signed acknowledgment of liability for the cited violation, and such other information as may be required by law to constitute the notice as a complaint to appear for adjudication of a toll evasion civil penalty assessment. The registered owner of the vehicle involved in a toll evasion shall be liable for the toll, fee, and civil penalty imposed by the company, except as otherwise provided by paragraph (b) of this subsection (7).
(b) In addition to any other liability provided for in this section, the owner of a motor vehicle who is engaged in the business of leasing or renting motor vehicles is liable for payment of a toll evasion violation civil penalty; except that, at the discretion of the owner:
The owner may obtain payment for a toll evasion violation civil penalty from theperson or company who leased or rented the vehicle at the time of the toll evasion through a credit or debit card payment and forward the payment on to the toll road or toll highway company; or
The owner may seek to avoid liability for a toll evasion violation civil penalty if theowner of the leased or rented motor vehicle can furnish sufficient evidence that, at the time of the toll evasion violation, the vehicle was leased or rented to another person. To avoid liability for payment, the owner of the motor vehicle shall, within thirty days after receipt of the notification of the toll evasion violation, furnish to the toll road or toll highway company an affidavit containing the name, address, and state driver's license number of the person or company who leased or rented the vehicle. As a condition to avoid liability for payment of a toll evasion violation civil penalty, any person or company who leases or rents motor vehicles to a person shall include a notice in the leasing or rental agreement stating that, pursuant to the requirements of this section, the person renting or leasing the vehicle is liable for payment of a toll evasion violation civil penalty incurred on or after the date the person renting or leasing the vehicle takes possession of the motor vehicle. The notice shall inform the person renting or leasing the vehicle that the person's name, address, and state driver's license number shall be furnished to the toll road or toll highway company when a toll evasion violation civil penalty is incurred during the term of the lease or rental agreement.
(c) If the prescribed penalty is not paid within twenty days, in order to ensure that adequate notice has been given, a toll road or toll highway company shall send a second penalty assessment notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, or by any mail delivery service offered by an entity other than the United States postal service that is equivalent to or superior to certified mail, return receipt requested, with respect to receipt verification and delivery speed, reliability, and price, containing the same information as is specified in paragraph (a) of this subsection (7). The notice shall specify that the registered owner of the vehicle may pay the same penalty assessment at any time prior to the scheduled hearing. If the registered owner of the vehicle does not pay the prescribed toll, fee, and civil penalty within twenty days of the notice, the civil penalty assessment notice shall constitute a complaint to appear for adjudication of a toll evasion in court or in an administrative toll enforcement proceeding and the registered owner of the vehicle shall, within the time specified in the civil penalty assessment notice, file an answer to the complaint in the manner specified in the notice. If the registered owner of the vehicle fails to pay in full the outstanding toll, fee, and civil penalty set forth in the notice or to appear and answer the notice as specified in the notice, the registered owner of the vehicle shall be deemed to have admitted liability and to have waived the right to a hearing, and a final order of liability in default against the registered owner of the vehicle may be entered.
(8) A court with jurisdiction in a toll evasion case pursuant to paragraph (a) of subsection (5) of this section or a toll road or toll highway company with jurisdiction in a toll evasion case pursuant to paragraph (b) of subsection (5) of this section may report to the department of revenue any outstanding judgment or warrant or any failure to pay the toll, fee, and civil penalty for any toll evasion. Upon receipt of a certified report from a court or a toll road or toll highway company stating that the owner of a registered vehicle has failed to pay a toll, fee, and civil penalty resulting from a final order entered by the toll road or toll highway company, the department shall not renew the vehicle registration of the vehicle until the toll, fee, and civil penalty are paid in full. The toll road or toll highway company shall contract with and compensate a vendor approved by the department for the direct costs associated with the nonrenewal of a vehicle registration pursuant to this subsection (8). The department has no authority to assess any points against a license under section 42-2-127, C.R.S., upon entry of a conviction or judgment for any toll evasion.
Source: L. 2006: Entire part R&RE, p. 1770, § 3, effective June 6.