(1) The transportation enterprise or any partner of the enterprise operating surface transportation infrastructure that is a toll highway under the terms of a public-private partnership shall, in operating the toll highway:
Ensure unrestricted access by all vehicles to the toll highway and shall not requirethat a particular class of vehicles travel upon the toll highway; except that the enterprise or its partner may designate one or more highway lanes for high-occupancy vehicle use only and may restrict access to vehicles carrying hazardous materials or other vehicles to the extent necessary to protect the health and safety of the public; and
Allow any public transportation vehicle to travel on the toll highway without payinga user fee.
(2) (a) The traffic laws of this state, and those of any municipality through which a toll highway passes, and the transportation enterprise's regulations regarding toll collection and enforcement shall pertain to and govern the use of the toll highway. State and local law enforcement authorities are authorized to enter into traffic and toll enforcement agreements with the transportation enterprise. Any moneys 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.
The transportation enterprise may adopt, by resolution of the transportation enterprise board, rules pertaining to the enforcement of toll collection and providing a civil penalty for toll evasion. The civil penalty established by the transportation enterprise 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. The transportation enterprise 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.
(I) Any person who evades a toll established by the transportation enterprise shall besubject to the civil penalty established by the enterprise 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 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 notice is issued, the notice shall be tendered by a peaceofficer as described in section 16-2.5-101, C.R.S., and shall contain the name and address of the person operating the motor vehicle involved, the license number of the motor vehicle, the person's driver's license number, 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 a toll evasion pursuant to this section if the prescribed toll, fee, or 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 person cited paysthe prescribed penalty. The person cited shall pay the toll, fee, or civil penalty authorized by the transportation enterprise at the office of the enterprise or the enterprise's collection designee either in person or by postmarking the payment within twenty days of the notice. If the person cited does not pay the prescribed toll, fee, or 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 pursuant to this section, 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 the 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 paragraph (b) of this subsection (2).
(d) (I) The respective courts of the municipalities, counties, and cities and counties shall have jurisdiction to try all cases arising under municipal ordinances and state laws governing the use of a toll highway and arising under the toll evasion civil penalty rules enacted by the transportation enterprise. Venue for any such case shall be in the municipality, county, or city and county where the alleged violation of a municipal ordinance, state law, or rule of the transportation enterprise occurred.
At the request of the judicial department, the transportation enterprise shall considerestablishing 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 the transportation enterprise establishes an administrative toll enforcement process, no court of a municipality, county, or city and county shall have jurisdiction to hear toll evasion cases arising on a toll highway operated by the enterprise.
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 the transportation enterprise. The hearing officer may be an administrative law judge employed by the state or an independent contractor of the transportation enterprise. The contract for an independent contractor shall grant to the hearing officer the same degree of independence granted to an administrative law judge employed by the state. The transportation enterprise may enter into contracts pursuant to section 29-1-203, C.R.S., for joint adjudication of toll evasion cases pursuant to this section.
The transportation enterprise may file a certified copy of an order imposing a toll,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 thenceforth have the effect of a judgment of the county court, and execution may issue on the order out of the court as in other cases.
An administrative adjudication of a toll evasion by the transportation enterprise issubject 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 de novo hearing.
Notwithstanding the specific remedies provided by this section, the transportationenterprise shall have every legal remedy available to enforce unpaid tolls and fees as debts owed to the enterprise.
The aggregate amount of penalties, exclusive of court costs, collected as a result ofcivil penalties imposed pursuant to rules adopted as authorized in paragraph (b) of this subsection (2) shall be remitted to the transportation enterprise and shall be applied by the enterprise to defray the costs and expenses of enforcing the laws of the state and the regulations of the enterprise. If a municipal summons or complaint is issued, the aggregate penalty shall be apportioned pursuant to the terms of any enforcement agreement.
(I) In addition to the penalty assessment procedure provided for in paragraph (c) ofthis subsection (2), 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 transportation enterprise 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 date of the notice, the date, time, and location of the violation, the amount of the penalty prescribed for the violation, a place for such 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 a toll evasion civil penalty assessment. Except as otherwise provided in subparagraphs (II) and (III) of this paragraph (f), the registered owner of the vehicle involved in a toll evasion shall be presumed liable for the toll, fee, or civil penalty imposed by the transportation enterprise. If the registered owner of the vehicle does not pay the prescribed toll, fee, or civil penalty within thirty days of the date of the civil penalty assessment notice, the 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 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, or civil penalty as set forth in the notice or to appear and answer the complaint and request a hearing as specified in the notice, a final order of liability shall be entered against the registered owner of the vehicle for the purposes of enabling the registered owner to appeal pursuant to subparagraph (VI) of paragraph (d) of this subsection (2) and allowing the transportation enterprise to proceed to judgment pursuant to subparagraph (V) of paragraph (d) of this subsection (2).
(II) 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 such 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 to the transportation enterprise; 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 transportation enterprise 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 transportation enterprise when a toll evasion violation civil penalty is incurred during the term of the lease or rental agreement.
(III) The registered owner of a vehicle involved in a toll evasion violation may rebut the presumption of liability for the violation by proving by a preponderance of the evidence that:
The owner sold or otherwise transferred ownership of the vehicle to another personbefore the date of the violation as evidenced by a bill of sale or similar document; or
The owner did not have custody and control of the vehicle at the time of the violation due to theft as evidenced by a report to a law enforcement agency.
(IV) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2010, (SB 10-016), ch. 150, p. 519, § 2, effective April 21, 2010.)
(g) A court with jurisdiction in a toll evasion case pursuant to subparagraph (I) of paragraph (d) of this subsection (2) or the transportation enterprise, if it has jurisdiction in a toll evasion case pursuant to subparagraph (II) of paragraph (d) of this subsection (2), may report to the department of revenue any outstanding judgment or warrant or any failure to pay the toll, fee, or civil penalty for any toll evasion. Upon receipt of a certified report from a court or the transportation enterprise stating that the owner of a registered vehicle has failed to pay a toll, fee, or civil penalty resulting from a final order entered by the enterprise, the department shall not renew the registration of the vehicle until the toll, fee, and civil penalty are paid in full. The transportation enterprise 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 paragraph (g). 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.
(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law and subject to the requirements of section 43-4-806 (8) and any limitations set forth in the state constitution or in federal law, the transportation enterprise may:
(a) Impose user fees on a highway segment or highway lanes that have previously served vehicular traffic on a user fee-free basis if:
It has obtained any required federal approval for the user fees; and
It has obtained the approval of every local government that includes territory in which all or any portion of the highway segment or highway lanes upon which the user fee is to be imposed pass or that will otherwise be substantially impacted by the imposition of the user fees on the highway segment or highway lanes;
Incorporate congestion management and congestion pricing into its schedule of userfees for any highway or highway system; and
Authorize the investment of highway-derived user fee revenues for cost-effectivemultimodal transportation projects that promote mobility, reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases, and energy efficiency.
When determining whether to undertake and complete a surface transportation infrastructure project to be funded, in whole or in part, through the imposition of any user fee, the transportation enterprise shall consider whether the completion of the project will help to reconnect or reintegrate any local government or other community that has been disconnected or divided by existing transportation infrastructure.
Before imposing a user fee on a highway segment or highway lanes that have previously served vehicular traffic on a toll-free basis, the transportation enterprise shall prepare or cause to be prepared a local air quality impact statement and a local community traffic safety assessment that specifically take into account any diversion of vehicular traffic from the highway segment or highway lanes onto other highways, roads, or streets that is expected to result from the imposition of the user fee.
Source: L. 2009: Entire part R&RE, (SB 09-108), ch. 5, p. 40, § 1, effective March 2. L. 2010: (2)(d)(VI), (2)(f)(I), and (2)(f)(IV) amended, (SB 10-016), ch. 150, p. 519, § 2, effective April 21.
Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 43-4-811 as it existed prior to 2009, and the former § 43-4-808 was relocated to § 43-4-807.