Colorado statute

C.R.S. § 42-2-136 — Unlawful possession or use of license.

Current through 2025 Regular Session

Part of Part 1: DRIVER'S LICENSES, Colorado Revised Statutes.

Criminal charges under this statute

Unlawful possession or use of license

Full text of C.R.S. § 42-2-136

Statutory text current through the 2025 Regular Session. This is an officially sanctioned publication using the official text of the Colorado Revised Statutes; it is not the official statutes of the State of Colorado.

C.R.S. § 42-2-136Primary source, current through the 2025 Regular Session

(1) (a) No person shall have in such person's possession a lawfully issued driver's, minor driver's, or temporary driver's license or instruction permit, knowing that such license or permit has been falsely altered by means of erasure, obliteration, deletion, insertion of new matter, transposition of matter, or any other means so that such license or permit in its thus altered form falsely appears or purports to be in all respects an authentic and lawfully issued license or permit. (b) No person shall fraudulently obtain a driver's, minor driver's, or temporary driver's license or an instruction permit. (2) No person shall have in such person's possession a paper, document, or other instrument which falsely appears or purports to be in all respects a lawfully issued and authentic driver's, minor driver's, or temporary driver's license or instruction permit, knowing that such instrument was falsely made and was not lawfully issued. (3) No person shall display or represent as being such person's own any driver's, minor driver's, or temporary driver's license or any instruction permit which was lawfully issued to another person. (4) No person shall fail or refuse to surrender to the department upon its lawful demand any driver's, minor driver's, or temporary driver's license or any instruction or temporary permit issued to such person which has been suspended, revoked, or canceled by the department. The department shall notify the district attorney's office in the county where such violation occurred, in writing, of all violations of this subsection (4). (5) No person shall permit any unlawful use of a driver's license issued to such person. (5.5) No person shall photograph, photostat, duplicate, or in any way reproduce any driver's license or facsimile thereof for the purpose of distribution, resale, reuse, or manipulation of the data or images contained in such driver's license unless authorized by the department or otherwise authorized by law. (6) (a) Any person who violates any provision of subsections (1) to (5) of this section commits a class 2 misdemeanor. (b) Any person who violates any provision of subsection (5.5) of this section commits a petty offense and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished as provided in section 18-1.3-503. (c) A person who violates this section violates section 18-5-121 and, in addition to any other penalty, is subject to the penalties of section 18-5-121 (6).

Official sources

Legal terms used in this section

Questions this section answers

Is unlawful possession or use of license a felony or a misdemeanor in Colorado?

It depends on the circumstances: unlawful possession or use of license ranges from a petty offense to a class 2 misdemeanor in Colorado under C.R.S. § 42-2-136.

Possession of falsely altered license or permit: class 2 misdemeanor (C.R.S. § 42-2-136(6)(a)) · Fraudulently obtaining a license or permit: class 2 misdemeanor (C.R.S. § 42-2-136(6)(a)) · Possession of falsely made instrument purporting to be a license: class 2 misdemeanor (C.R.S. § 42-2-136(6)(a)) · Displaying or representing another's license as one's own: class 2 misdemeanor (C.R.S. § 42-2-136(6)(a)) · Failure to surrender suspended, revoked, or canceled license: class 2 misdemeanor (C.R.S. § 42-2-136(6)(a)) · Permitting unlawful use of one's own license: class 2 misdemeanor (C.R.S. § 42-2-136(6)(a)) · Unauthorized reproduction of a driver's license: petty offense (C.R.S. § 42-2-136(6)(b))

Which Colorado statute covers unlawful possession or use of license?

Unlawful possession or use of license is governed by C.R.S. § 42-2-136 (Unlawful possession or use of license).

This reference is informational and is not legal advice.