Colorado statute

C.R.S. § 18-3-301 — First degree kidnapping.

Current through 2025 Regular Session

Part of Part 3: KIDNAPPING, Colorado Revised Statutes.

Criminal charges under this statute

First degree kidnapping

Full text of C.R.S. § 18-3-301

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. § 18-3-301Primary source, current through the 2025 Regular Session

(1) Any person who does any of the following acts with the intent thereby to force the victim or any other person to make any concession or give up anything of value in order to secure a release of a person under the offender's actual or apparent control commits first degree kidnapping: (a) Forcibly seizes and carries any person from one place to another; or (b) Entices or persuades any person to go from one place to another; or (c) Imprisons or forcibly secretes any person. (2) Whoever commits first degree kidnapping is guilty of a class 1 felony if the person kidnapped shall have suffered bodily injury; but no person convicted of first degree kidnapping shall suffer the death penalty if the person kidnapped was liberated alive prior to the conviction of the kidnapper. (3) Whoever commits first degree kidnapping commits a class 2 felony if, prior to his conviction, the person kidnapped was liberated unharmed.

Official sources

Legal terms used in this section

Questions this section answers

Is first degree kidnapping a felony or a misdemeanor in Colorado?

It depends on the circumstances: first degree kidnapping ranges from a class 2 felony to a class 1 felony in Colorado under C.R.S. § 18-3-301.

First degree kidnapping — victim suffered bodily injury: class 1 felony (C.R.S. § 18-3-301(2)) · First degree kidnapping — victim liberated unharmed: class 2 felony (C.R.S. § 18-3-301(3))

Which Colorado statute covers first degree kidnapping?

First degree kidnapping is governed by C.R.S. § 18-3-301 (First degree kidnapping).

This reference is informational and is not legal advice.