(a)Docketing the Proceeding; Filing Fees.(1)Payment of Fees by Initiating Party. At the time an appellant or petitioner initiates a proceeding in the court of appeals or the supreme court, the appellant or petitioner must pay the required filing fee to the clerk of the applicable appellate court. (2)Docketing the Proceeding. Any proceeding initiated in the court of appeals or the supreme court must comply with these rules, including the service requirements of C.A.R. 25. Upon receipt of the filing fee or evidence of compliance with subparagraph (b) if a party is authorized to proceed without prepayment of fees, the appellate clerk will enter the proceeding upon the docket. (3)Payment of Fees by Additional Parties Entering an Appearance. The filing fee for an appellee or respondent must be paid to the clerk of the appellate court upon the entrance of an appearance by the appellee or respondent. After an initial appellant, petitioner, appellee, or respondent have paid their docket fees, any additional appellants, cross-appellants, petitioners, cross-petitioners, or appellees must also pay the filing fee upon entering an appearance. (4)Waiver of Filing Fees for Public Entities. As authorized by statute, rule, or chief justice directive, all filing fees are waived for the State of Colorado, all state agencies, institutions, and political subdivisions thereof. In criminal cases, the filing fee is waived for parties represented by the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender or the Office of the Alternate Defense Counsel; compliance with subparagraph (b) is unnecessary. Attorneys appearing as Alternate Defense Counsel must indicate they are appearing as such in the case caption. (5)Waiver of Filing Fees for Habeas Appeals. The filing fee for a party appealing the denial of a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the district court is waived; compliance with subparagraph (b) is unnecessary.(b)Waiver of Filing Fees in Appellate Court Proceedings.(1)In the Supreme Court.(A)By Motion.(a)In the Trial Court. A party may file in the trial court a motion to proceed on appeal in forma pauperis in the supreme court, together with an affidavit showing inability to pay the filing fee and costs. If the trial court denies the motion, the trial court must state in writing the reasons for the denial.(b)In the Supreme Court. A party may file in the supreme court a motion to waive the filing fee, together with an affidavit showing inability to pay the filing fee and costs.(B)Prior Approval. Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the court will waive the filing fee for a party who has been permitted to proceed in forma pauperis in an action in the trial court or the court of appeals or who has been permitted to proceed there as one who is financially unable to obtain an adequate defense in a criminal case. Any party proceeding under this subparagraph must attach a copy of the lower court's order granting leave to proceed in forma pauperis to the notice of appeal or initiating pleading.(2)In the Court of Appeals. Any request to proceed in forma pauperis in the court of appeals must first be sought in the trial court. Any lower court order granting in forma pauperis status must have been entered no earlier than 12 months before the filing of a notice of appeal or other initiating pleading. A party may file in the court of appeals a motion to reconsider a trial court's denial of a motion to proceed in forma pauperis in the court of appeals. The motion and affidavit must be filed at the time of filing the notice of appeal or other initiating pleading.(c)Leave to Proceed on Appeal or Review in Forma Pauperis in Administrative Agency Proceedings. A party to a proceeding before an administrative agency, board, commission, or officer seeking to proceed on appeal or review in the appellate court in forma pauperis must file in that court a motion, together with an affidavit showing inability to pay fees and costs.Source: a amended August 30, 1985, effective 1/1/1986; b amended May 15, 1986, effective 11/1/1986; a and e amended and effective 2/7/2008; Amended November 1, 2017, effective 1/1/2018; amended and adopted by the Court, En Banc, March 23, 2023, effective 3/23/2023.Comment to (a): This revision calls for the payment of appellant's docket fee when the notice of appeal is filed, or, at the time of filing of the initial documents with the appellate court. It also eliminates designation of parties form.
Comment to (e): This change is necessary because "docketing" has been eliminated.
Annotation Law reviews. For article, "Supreme Court Proceedings: Rules 111-119 ", see 23 Rocky Mtn. L. Rev. 618 (1951). For article, "Appellate Procedure and the New Supreme Court Rules", see 30 Dicta 1 (1953). For note, "Colorado Appellate Procedure", see 40 U. Colo. L. Rev. 551 (1968). For article, "The Problem of Delay in the Colorado Court of Appeals", see 58 Den. L.J. 1 (1980). Failure to comply with rule will cause dismissal. Where appellants fail to comply with this rule in that they do not file designation of parties or pay docket fee within time fixed for transmission of record, failing to do so for approximately 90 days thereafter, where appellants fail to show good cause for noncompliance, where appellee moves for dismissal based thereon, and where 60-day extension of time for transmission of record has been granted, appeal will be dismissed. Gonzales v. Petriken, 31 Colo. App. 415, 502 P.2d 1110 (1972). Failure to comply with rule may be waived by failure to file objection, but where sufficient and timely objection is made and there is no adequate excuse for failure to comply, it is an appellate court's duty to enforce this rule. Gonzales v. Petriken, 31 Colo. App. 415, 502 P.2d 1110 (1972). Leave to proceed in forma pauperis granted. In re Petition of Griffin, 152 Colo. 347, 382 P.2d 202 (1963); In re Petition of Pigg, 152 Colo. 500, 384 P.2d 267 (1963). Supreme court will not consider unintelligible petitions and motions which have no legal significance and which do not meet the requirements of established procedures in appellate practice, in view of the right of an indigent defendant to have counsel appointed to prosecute an appeal. In re Petition of Griffin, 152 Colo. 347, 382 P.2d 202 (1963). Issue cannot be reviewed on appeal when the record does not contain a transcript of the testimony taken in the trial court. Buder v. Reynolds, 175 Colo. 28, 486 P.2d 432 (1971). When a reporter fails within 60 days to file a reporter's transcript or seek an extension of time, the trial court will order that the transcript be stricken from the record on error. Buder v. Reynolds, 175 Colo. 28, 486 P.2d 432 (1971). Determination of indigency lies within the discretion of the trial court. A party who proceeded as an indigent in the trial court may proceed as an indigent on appeal without further authorization unless the court finds, in writing, that the party is no longer entitled to so proceed. The trial court may order the production of any documents or evidence it deems necessary to determine continuing indigency. People in Interest of M.N., 950 P.2d 674 (Colo. App. 1997). Because trial court had previously permitted defendant to proceed in forma pauperis on direct appeal, it was unnecessary for defendant to reapply to the trial court to proceed in forma pauperis on his motion for postconviction relief; thus trial court's failure to address defendant's motion to proceed in forma pauperis on appeal contemporaneously with his motion for postconviction relief was not error. People v. Boyd, 23 P.3d 1242 (Colo. App. 2001). Applied in Denbow v. District Court, 652 P.2d 1065 (Colo. 1982).
For current rule concerning dismissal for failure to timely docket, see C.A.R. 38(a); for waiver of costs incurred by poor persons, see § 13-16-103, C.R.S.