False swearing is a less serious Colorado offense than perjury. False swearing is just a petty offense, whereas a perjury law violation can be a felony or a misdemeanor.

Both criminal charges involve knowingly lying under oath. However, perjury requires that the lie occurs at an official proceeding or with the intention to mislead a public servant. In contrast, false swearing is lying under oath in any other circumstance.

The following table compares the penalties for false swearing with those of 1st-degree perjury and 2nd-degree perjury.

Colorado Crime	Classification	Incarceration	Fine
First Degree Perjury	Class 4 felony	2 to 6 years in prison	$2,000 to $500,000
Second Degree Perjury	Class 2 misdemeanor	Up to 120 days in county jail	Up to $750
False Swearing	Petty offense	Up to 10 days in jail	Up to $300

First-degree perjury

First-degree perjury (CRS 18-8-502) is knowingly making a materially false statement at an official proceeding in Colorado. Examples of official proceedings include:

• county court trials,
• district court depositions,
• grand jury proceedings, or
• other judicial proceedings.”¹

Under Colorado law, a “materially false statement” is defined as:

A false assertion that affects the action, conduct, or decision of the person who receives or is intended to receive the asserted information in a manner that directly or indirectly benefits the person making the assertion.²

Materiality means that the lie must be intended to somehow affect the proceeding and benefit the person telling the lie. A material statement is different than minor untruths or misleading statements that do not affect or benefit anyone.

Note that you cannot claim your Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination once you are on the witness stand. Therefore if you fear you will give false testimony about a material fact, you should avoid testifying at all.

1st-degree perjury is a class 4 felony, carrying:

• 2 to 6 years in Colorado State Prison, and
• $2,000 to $500,000 in fines.³

Second-degree perjury

In Colorado, second-degree perjury (CRS 18-8-503) is knowingly making a materially false statement in order to mislead a public servant in the performance of their duty. ³

Examples of second-degree perjury may include:

• lying about looking for work on an unemployment application, or
• lying on an affidavit “under penalty of perjury” in an application for a professional license.

These “material fabrications” could influence these state agencies to give the person telling the lie benefits and employment despite being ineligible.

2nd-degree perjury is a class 2 misdemeanor punishable by:

• up to 120 days in county jail and/or
• up to $750 in fines.⁴

False swearing

Like the Colorado crime of crime of perjury, false swearing is knowingly making a materially false statement under oath. However, the context is different. There are no court or other official proceedings or public servants involved.

An example of false swearing could be giving false information on job applications to private businesses that require the applicant to “swear” that all the information they give is correct.

The penalty for perjury is much harsher than for false swearing. A petty offense, false swearing carries up to 10 days in jail and/or up to $300 in fines.⁵

Record seals

If the false swearing or perjury case gets dismissed, then you can pursue a Colorado criminal record seal right away. Otherwise, there is a wait time:⁶

Colorado conviction	Record seal wait time
1st-degree perjury	3 years after the case closes
2nd-degree perjury	2 years after the case closes
False swearing	1 year after the case closes

Learn how to seal a Colorado criminal case.

Additional reading

For more in-depth information, our Denver criminal defense attorneys suggest you refer to these scholarly articles:

• Perjury – American Criminal Law Review article on the crime of lying under oath.
• Lying, Misleading, and Falsely Denying: How Moral Concepts Inform the Law of Perjury, Fraud, and False Statements – Hastings Law Journal.
• Summary Power of Courts to Punish Perjury and False Swearing as Contempt – California Law Review.
• You Do Solemnly Swear or that Perjury Problem – American Institute of Criminal Law & Criminology.
• A Proposal for Enactment of a Law Creating a Misdemeanor to be Known as False Swearing – Oregon Law Review.

Also see our related articles, Tampering with physical evidence (CRS 18-8-610) and What is Colorado’s statute of limitations for perjury?

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Legal References