In Colorado, burglary is defined as knowingly entering (or unlawfully remaining on) someone else’s property intending to commit a crime (other than trespass). Burglary can be charged as a felony or a misdemeanor, depending on the facts of the case.
Burglary is divided into:
- First-degree burglary (CRS 18-4-202)
- Second-degree burglary (CRS 18-4-203)
- Third-degree burglary (CRS 18-4-204)
The degree of burglary that gets charged depends on the type of property and the level of danger to anyone inside.
Examples of burglary include (without limitation):
- Prying open a locked cash register to steal the money;
- Breaking into a house to kidnap someone inside;
- Hiding in a store until after it closes so that you can vandalize it.
You do not commit burglary if you commit a crime on a property that you are on lawfully, or if you form the intent to commit the crime only after you are already on the property.
Consequences of burglary
Burglary can be a felony or a misdemeanor in Colorado. Penalties for burglary can range from just fines to forty-eight years in prison, depending on:
- the degree of burglary,
- the crime you commit or intended to commit, and
- whether you threatened or menaced anyone, or used or threatened the use of, a deadly weapon.
| Burglary crime in Colorado | Penalties (generally) |
| First-degree burglary (CRS 18-4-202) | Class 3 felony: 4 to 12 years in prison and/or $3,000 to $750,000 |
| Second-degree burglary (CRS 18-4-203) | Burglary of a dwelling Class 3 felony: 4 to 12 years in prison and/or $3,000 to $750,000 |
| An occupied structure or of commercial building Class 4 felony: 2 to 6 years in prison and/or $2,000 to $500,000 | |
| Burglary of other buildings Class 5 felony: 1 to 3 years in prison and/or $1,000 to $100,000 | |
| Third-degree burglary (CRS 18-4-204) | Class 2 misdemeanor: Up to 120 days in jail and/or up to $750. |
Defenses to burglary charges
Common means of defending burglary charges include (but are not limited to):
- You were lawfully on the property;
- You didn’t know you were unlawfully on the property;
- You didn’t enter or remain on the property with the intent to commit a crime.
To help you better understand Colorado’s burglary laws, our Denver Colorado criminal defense lawyers discuss:
In Colorado, burglary is defined as knowingly entering, or unlawfully remaining on, someone else’s property with the intent to commit a crime (other than trespass).
1. “Burglary” Defined
In Colorado, burglary consists of three essential elements:
- You knowingly,
- Enter or unlawfully remain on someone else’s property,
- With the intent to commit any crime (other than trespass) while you are on or inside the property.
Let’s take a closer look at each of these elements.
The legal meaning of “knowingly”
In Colorado, you commit burglary knowingly when:
- You conduct yourself in a way, or under a circumstance, prohibited by one of Colorado’s burglary laws, or
- You are aware that your conduct is practically certain to cause a result prohibited by burglary law.1
The “knowingly” requirement applies to every element of the offense. Thus, for instance, if you don’t know you are on someone else’s property without lawful authority, you aren’t guilty of burglary.
Entering or unlawfully remaining on property
You do not need to “break into” property in order to commit burglary. It is enough that you simply enter or remain on property unlawfully.2
You enter or remain on premises unlawfully when you are not
- licensed,
- invited, or
- otherwise privileged
to do so.3
If you are lawfully on the premises, however, you are not guilty of burglary, even if you enter or remain intending to commit a crime.
Example: Joe, a plumber, is hired to unclog the kitchen sink of one of his clients. He knows from prior experience that this client keeps an expensive laptop in the nook next to the kitchen. While he is in the house lawfully to work on the sink, he slips the laptop into his toolbox. Although he is guilty of theft, he is not guilty of burglary because he was lawfully on the premises.4
Intent to commit a crime
Contrary to popular belief, the crime you intend to commit does not need to involve theft. Nor does it need to be a felony. Any crime other than trespass can serve as the basis for a felony burglary charge.
However, the intention to commit the crime needs to have been formed
- at the time you entered the property or
- before you remained on the property unlawfully.
If you only form the intent to commit a crime after you were already there, you are not guilty of burglary.
Example: Kathy is at a party when she gets a headache. The host tells her there is a bottle of aspirin in the medicine cabinet. When Kathy opens the medicine cabinet, she sees a prescription bottle of Vicodin and decides to take it. While she is guilty of theft, she is not guilty of burglary because she was already on the premises lawfully when she formed the intent to steal the drugs.
And even if she only went to the party in order to steal the drugs, because she was an invited guest, she has still not committed burglary. If, on the other hand, she saw the drugs at the party and broke in later that night in order to steal them, she would be guilty of burglary.
There are three degrees of burglary in Colorado.
2. Degrees of Burglary
Third-degree burglary – 18-4-204 C.R.S.
18-4-204 (1) C.R.S. provides:
A person commits third-degree burglary if with intent to commit a crime he enters or breaks into any vault, safe, cash register, coin vending machine, product dispenser, money depository, safety deposit box, coin telephone, coin box, or other apparatus or equipment whether or not coin operated.
Colorado’s law on third-degree burglary applies not only to the types of property specifically listed in the statute, but to other locked boxes and containers including:
- Parking lot collection boxes,5
- Glass display cases,6 and
- Gym lockers secured with personal combination locks.7
Second-degree burglary – 18-4-203 C.R.S.
18-4-203 (1) C.R.S. provides:
A person commits second-degree burglary, if the person knowingly breaks an entrance into, enters unlawfully in, or remains unlawfully after a lawful or unlawful entry in a building or occupied structure with the intent to commit therein a crime against another person or property.
For purposes of Colorado’s second-degree burglary statute, a structure is a “building” if it offers protection against the elements, even if the roof and/or walls are in disrepair. And any part of a building can be a dwelling if it is part of someone’s residence or lodgings.
Examples of dwellings:
- A garage attached to a house,8
- A hotel room,
- A trailer home, or
- A jail cell.9
However, an animal enclosure with chicken wire for a roof would not be a building within the meaning of 18-4-203 C.R.S. because its sheltering effect is minimal.10
First-degree burglary – Colorado 18-4-202 C.R.S
Entering or remaining unlawfully in a building or dwelling becomes first-degree burglary rather than second-degree burglary if, while on the property or while entering or leaving, you or another participant:
- Assaults or menaces any person; or
- Is armed with explosives; or
- Uses a deadly weapon; or
- Possesses and threatens the use of a deadly weapon.
Example: Oscar and Perry break into their high school one night intending to spray paint graffiti on the teachers’ lounge. Perry has a switchblade in his jacket pocket, in violation of Colorado’s law against carrying a concealed weapon on school grounds. While they are on school property, they run into the night janitor. When the janitor takes out his phone to call the police, Perry pulls out his switchblade and threatens to cut him, a violation of Colorado’s menacing law. As a result, both Oscar and Perry can be charged with first-degree burglary.
3. Punishment
Third-degree burglary penalties
Third-degree burglary is typically a class 2 misdemeanor carrying:
- up to 120 days in jail and/or
- a fine of up to $750.
However, 3rd-degree burglary becomes a class 1 misdemeanor if the objective of the burglary is the theft of a controlled substance lawfully kept in or upon the property. Penalties include:
- up to 364 days in jail and/or
- up to $1,000 in fines.
Second-degree burglary penalties
Burglary of a dwelling is a class 3 felony in Colorado carrying:
- 4-12 years in prison (with 5 years mandatory parole); and/or
- a fine of $3,000-$750,000.
The same sentence applies if the objective of the burglary is theft of either:
- a controlled substance lawfully kept within any building or occupied structure; or
- one or more firearms of ammunition.
Burglary of an occupied structure or of commercial building is a class 4 felony carrying:
- 2-6 years in prison (with 3 years mandatory parole); and/or
- a fine of $2,000-$500,000.
Also, burglary is a class 2 misdemeanor if the person knowingly violated a written notice by a retailer – or a court order – specifically restraining a person from entering a particular retail location during hours which the retail store is open to the public. Punishments include
- up to 120 days in jail and/or
- up to $750 in fines.
Burglary of a building in other cases is a class 5 felony carrying:
- 1-3 years in prison with 2 years mandatory parole); and/or
- a fine of $1,000 to $100,000.11
First-degree burglary penalties
First-degree burglary
First-degree burglary is usually a class 3 felony. Punishment for Colorado first-degree burglary can include:
- 4-12 years in prison (with 5 years mandatory parole), and/or
- A fine of $3,000-$750,000.
First-degree burglary as a Colorado “crime of violence”
First-degree burglary carries an enhanced penalty as a Colorado “crime of violence” if:
- You used, or possessed and threatened the use of, a deadly weapon; or
- You caused serious bodily injury or death to any other person except another participant.
4. Defenses
The best defense to Colorado burglary charges depends on the exact crime you were charged with. However, some of the most common defenses to Colorado burglary accusations include:
- You were lawfully on the property;
- You didn’t know you were unlawfully on the property;
- You didn’t enter or remain on the property with the intent to commit a crime;
- You were the victim of mistaken identity;
- There was police misconduct (such as coercing your confession of discovering evidence through an illegal search and seizure).
5. Burglary Tools
Colorado 18-4-205 (1) C.R.S. provides:
A person commits possession of burglary tools if he possesses any explosive, tool, instrument, or other article adapted, designed, or commonly used for committing or facilitating the commission of an offense involving forcible entry into premises or theft by a physical taking, and intends to use the thing possessed, or knows that some person intends to use the thing possessed, in the commission of such an offense.
CRS 18-4-205 makes possession of burglary tools to forcibly enter a dwelling for the purpose of stealing a class 5 felony carrying
- up to 3 years in prison and
- a fine of up to $100,000.00.
Otherwise, possession of burglary tools is a class 2 misdemeanor punishable by
- up to 120 days in jail and/or
- up to $750 in fines.
Colorado Legal Defense Group
4047 Tejon Street
Denver, CO 80211
(303) 222-0330
Arrested in California? See our article on California burglary laws | Penal Code 459 PC. Arrested in Nevada? See our article on Nevada burglary laws (NRS 205.060).
Legal references:
- See 18-1-501 (6) C.R.S.
- Armintrout v. People, 1993, 864 P.2d 576.
- People v. Bondurant, App.2012, 296 P.3d 200, rehearing denied, certiorari denied.
- See, for example, People v. Carstensen, 1966, 420 P.2d 820, 161 Colo. 249.
- People v. Garcia, App.1989, 784 P.2d 823, certiorari denied.
- People v. Geyer, App.1996, 942 P.2d 1297.
- People v. Nerud, App.2015, 360 P.3d 201, certiorari denied.
- People v. Jiminez, 1982, 651 P.2d 395.
- People v. Nichols, App.1996, 920 P.2d 901, rehearing denied.
- Same.
- The penalties for second- and third-degree burglary were different prior to March 1, 2022. Before, 2nd-degree burglary could never be a misdemeanor. And 3rd-degree burglary was either a class 5 felony punishable by 1 to 3 years in prison (with 2 years mandatory parole) and/or $1,000 to $100,000 in fines or a class 4 felony punishable by 2 to 6 years in prison (with 3 years mandatory parole) and/or a fine of $2,000 to $500,000. SB21-271. HB 23-1293.
