Colorado Secretary of State’s Office Sends Notice of Temporary Adoption and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Regarding Campaign Finance Complaint Hearing Procedures

Denver, April 13, 2023 - The Secretary of State’s Office has issued a notice of temporary adoption of rules taking immediate effect and a notice of proposed rulemaking to consider permanent adoption of those temporary rules to ensure the uniform and proper administration and enforcement of Colorado’s campaign and political finance laws.

These new rules include:

• Amendments to Rule 23.2 to ensure the proper implementation of New Rule 24.
• New Rule 24 to establish procedural rules for administrative hearings in compliance with section 1-45-111.7, C.R.S., and section 24-4-105, C.R.S.

The new rules will establish procedures for third-party hearing officer review of campaign and political finance cases prosecuted by the Election Division’s civil service career staff based on citizen complaints and Division-initiated complaints filed with the Secretary of State’s Office. This new procedure is modeled on and is similar to the procedure used by the Office of Administrative Courts at the Department of Personnel & Administration in addressing these campaign finance cases.

A public rulemaking hearing is scheduled for May 16, 2023, at 11 a.m. to receive testimony concerning the preliminary draft of permanent rules. This hearing will be conducted in-person and via webinar. The in-person hearing will take place at the Secretary of State’s Office in the Red Rocks Conference Room. Online registration for the hearing can be found at https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/1412536421090004571. Public comment opportunities will be provided to all participants, whether in person or online.

Rulemaking webpage. Notice of Rulemaking. Notice of Temporary Adoption.

The public is also invited to send feedback to the Secretary of State’s Office regarding the rulemaking process. Those interested in participating can review the preliminary draft rules and submit written comments about the proposed permanent rules to SOS.Rulemaking@coloradosos.gov at any time prior to and during the hearing. All written comments will be added to the official rulemaking record.