Colorado Assault Laws: First, Second and Third Degree Penalties

Colorado does not have a battery crime. Its assault statutes, C.R.S. 18-3-202 (first degree), 18-3-203 (second degree) and 18-3-204 (third degree), are built on bodily injury and graded by how serious the injury is, the person's intent and whether a deadly weapon was used. Third degree assault is a class 1 misdemeanor, second degree assault is usually a class 4 felony and first degree assault is a class 3 felony, with lower classes for a sudden heat of passion. An offensive touch without injury is charged as harassment, and a threat as menacing. For other states, see our guide to assault and battery laws by state.

Information last verified on 2026-10-13. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers Colorado's assault statutes (C.R.S. 18-3-201 to 18-3-206), harassment by physical contact (C.R.S. 18-9-111), the general definitions in C.R.S. 18-1-901, the sentencing sections C.R.S. 18-1.3-401, 18-1.3-406, 18-1.3-501 and 18-1.3-801, bias-motivated crimes (C.R.S. 18-9-121), reckless endangerment (C.R.S. 18-3-208), the domestic violence provisions in C.R.S. 18-6-800.3 and 18-6-801, the at-risk person provisions in C.R.S. 18-6.5-102 and 18-6.5-103, and the civil filing periods in C.R.S. 13-80-103, 13-80-103.6, 13-80-103.7 and 13-81-103. It does not cover self-defense and justification (see Colorado self-defense laws), protection orders (see Colorado restraining order laws), sexual offenses, federal assault crimes (see the hub) or city ordinances.

Assault vs. battery in Colorado

Colorado merges the two ideas into graded assault offenses and has no separate offense named battery. Each degree of assault turns on injury. The base offense, third degree assault under C.R.S. 18-3-204(1)(a), applies when "the person knowingly or recklessly causes bodily injury to another person or with criminal negligence the person causes bodily injury to another person by means of a deadly weapon."

Conduct that other states call simple battery or simple assault falls under two different Colorado statutes:

• Harassment by physical contact. Under C.R.S. 18-9-111(1)(a), a person commits harassment if, "with intent to harass, annoy, or alarm another person," the person "strikes, shoves, kicks, or otherwise touches a person or subjects him to physical contact." A violation of subsection (1)(a) is a class 1 misdemeanor under 18-9-111(2)(a).
• Menacing. Under C.R.S. 18-3-206, a person commits menacing "if, by any threat or physical action, he or she knowingly places or attempts to place another person in fear of imminent serious bodily injury." Menacing "is a class 1 misdemeanor, but it is a class 5 felony if committed by the use of a firearm, knife, or bludgeon or a simulated firearm, knife, or bludgeon."

Is assault a felony in Colorado?

Third degree assault is a misdemeanor; second and first degree assault are felonies. C.R.S. 18-3-204(3) provides that "assault in the third degree is a class 1 misdemeanor." Second degree assault is a class 4 felony, or a class 6 felony when committed in a sudden heat of passion (C.R.S. 18-3-203(2)), and a class 3 felony in the listed-felony case under 18-3-203(2)(b.5), and first degree assault is a class 3 felony, or a class 5 felony in a sudden heat of passion (C.R.S. 18-3-202(2)).

Other routes to a felony include third degree assault on an at-risk person (a class 6 felony under C.R.S. 18-6.5-103(3)(c)), menacing with a firearm, knife or bludgeon or a simulated one (a class 5 felony), a misdemeanor that includes an act of domestic violence after three or more prior domestic violence convictions (a class 5 felony under C.R.S. 18-6-801(7)(a)), and knowingly causing bodily injury, with intent to intimidate or harass, because of a person's actual or perceived race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation or transgender identity (a bias-motivated crime, a class 5 felony, or class 4 if the offender is physically aided or abetted by others, under C.R.S. 18-9-121). Recklessly creating a substantial risk of serious bodily injury to another person is reckless endangerment, a class 2 misdemeanor (C.R.S. 18-3-208).

Colorado assault offenses and penalties

Where the numbers come from. For offenses committed on or after March 1, 2022, C.R.S. 18-1.3-501(1)(a.5) sets the class 1 misdemeanor maximum at "364 days imprisonment, not more than a one thousand dollar fine, or both." For felony offenses committed on or after July 1, 2020, C.R.S. 18-1.3-401(1)(a)(V.5)(A) sets the presumptive ranges: class 2, 8 to 24 years (mandatory parole of 5 years for a crime of violence, otherwise 3); class 3, 4 to 12 years (3 years of parole); class 4, 2 to 6 years (3 years); class 5, 1 to 3 years (2 years); class 6, 1 year to 18 months (1 year). C.R.S. 18-1.3-401(1)(a)(III)(A) sets fine ranges that "may be imposed" in addition to, or in lieu of, other sentences: $3,000 to $750,000 for class 3, $2,000 to $500,000 for class 4, and $1,000 to $100,000 for classes 5 and 6. These are statutory ranges, not a prediction of the sentence in any case. Crime-of-violence sentencing under C.R.S. 18-1.3-406 replaces these ranges for the forms described in the next section.

These are the ranges for the offense itself; C.R.S. 18-1.3-801 sets much longer terms, up to life, for some repeat felony convictions, described below.

Violent-crime sentencing and extraordinary risk

Some assault convictions leave the ordinary presumptive range. C.R.S. 18-1.3-406(1)(a) requires a person convicted of a crime of violence to be sentenced "for a term of incarceration of at least the midpoint in, but not more than twice the maximum of, the presumptive range provided for such offense in section 18-1.3-401 (1)(a), as modified for an extraordinary risk crime," without suspension, subject to a limited later modification in exceptional cases.

• First degree assault. C.R.S. 18-3-202(2)(c): "If a defendant is convicted of assault in the first degree pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, the court shall sentence the defendant in accordance with the provisions of section 18-1.3-406."
• Second degree assault with a deadly weapon or serious bodily injury. Under C.R.S. 18-3-203(2)(c)(II), a conviction under subsection (1)(b), (1)(c.5), (1)(d) or (1)(g) is sentenced under 18-1.3-406, "except that, notwithstanding the provisions of section 18-1.3-406, the court is not required to sentence the defendant to the department of corrections for a mandatory term of incarceration."
• Repeat strangulation. Under C.R.S. 18-3-203(2)(c)(III), added by House Bill 26-1290, a second degree strangulation conviction by a defendant previously convicted, in a separately brought and tried case, of second degree strangulation is sentenced under 18-1.3-406. The prior conviction "must be set forth in the complaint, indictment, or information."
• Extraordinary risk crimes. C.R.S. 18-1.3-401(10) lists crimes that "present an extraordinary risk of harm to society," including "any crime of violence, as defined in section 18-1.3-406" and second degree assault by strangulation under 18-3-203(1)(i). For these crimes the maximum of the presumptive range is increased by four years for a class 3 felony and by two years for a class 4 felony.
• Habitual criminals. Under C.R.S. 18-1.3-801(1), a person convicted of a class 1 or 2 felony, or of a class 3 felony that is a crime of violence as defined in 18-1.3-406(2) (such as first degree assault involving a deadly weapon or serious bodily injury), who has twice been convicted before of such offenses, charged and tried separately and arising out of separate criminal episodes, must be sentenced to life imprisonment and is not eligible for parole until serving at least forty calendar years. Under 18-1.3-801(1.5), a person convicted of a class 1 to 5 felony who, within ten years of the date of the offense, has twice previously been convicted of felonies from separate criminal episodes is sentenced to three times the maximum of the presumptive range; under 18-1.3-801(2), a person with three such prior felony convictions is sentenced to four times the maximum.

Definitions that decide the grade

C.R.S. 18-1-901(3) supplies the definitions used across the criminal code:

• Bodily injury: "physical pain, illness, or any impairment of physical or mental condition."
• Serious bodily injury: "bodily injury that, either at the time of the actual injury or at a later time, involves a substantial risk of death; a substantial risk of serious permanent disfigurement; a substantial risk of protracted loss or impairment of the function of any part or organ of the body; or breaks, fractures, a penetrating knife or penetrating gunshot wound, or burns of the second or third degree."
• Deadly weapon: "(I) A firearm, whether loaded or unloaded; or (II) A knife, bludgeon, or any other weapon, device, instrument, material, or substance, whether animate or inanimate, that, in the manner it is used or intended to be used, is capable of producing death or serious bodily injury."

Because a break or fracture counts as serious bodily injury, an assault that fractures a bone can meet the serious bodily injury element of second degree assault under 18-3-203(1)(g) when the person acted "with intent to cause bodily injury."

Strangulation. The statute describes strangulation as applying "sufficient pressure to impede or restrict the breathing or circulation of the blood of another person by applying such pressure to the neck or by blocking the nose or mouth of the other person." With intent to cause bodily injury, and bodily injury results, it is second degree assault (18-3-203(1)(i)); with intent to cause serious bodily injury, and serious bodily injury results, it is first degree assault (18-3-202(1)(g)).

Heat of passion. The heat-of-passion classes apply only when the act is "performed upon a sudden heat of passion, caused by a serious and highly provoking act of the intended victim, affecting the person causing the injury sufficiently to excite an irresistible passion in a reasonable person, and without an interval between the provocation and the injury sufficient for the voice of reason and humanity to be heard." The statute excludes an act that "results solely from the discovery of, knowledge about, or potential disclosure of the victim's actual or perceived gender, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation."

Assaulting a police officer, firefighter, emergency medical provider or judge

The main protected groups are defined in C.R.S. 18-3-201:

• Peace officer, firefighter or emergency medical service provider "engaged in the performance of his or her duties." This covers a person engaged or acting in, or present to engage in, any duty imposed or permitted by law, whether or not within his or her jurisdiction, "if the peace officer, firefighter, or emergency medical service provider is in uniform or the person committing an assault upon or offense against or otherwise acting toward" that person "knows or reasonably should know" the victim's status. For part 2, "peace officer" includes designated county enforcement personnel.
• Emergency medical care provider: "a doctor, intern, nurse, nurse's aide, physician's assistant, ambulance attendant or operator, air ambulance pilot, paramedic, or any other member of a hospital or health-care facility staff or security force who is involved in providing emergency medical care at a hospital or health-care facility, or in an air ambulance or ambulance."

The offenses for these victims, worded as the statutes word them:

• Second degree, 18-3-203(1)(c): "with intent to prevent one whom the person knows, or should know, to be a peace officer, firefighter, emergency medical care provider, or emergency medical service provider from performing a lawful duty, the person intentionally causes bodily injury to another person." Class 4 felony.
• Second degree, 18-3-203(1)(c.5): the same intent, as to a peace officer, firefighter or emergency medical service provider (emergency medical care providers are not named in this subsection), where the person "intentionally causes serious bodily injury to another person." Class 4 felony, sentenced under 18-1.3-406, though the court is not required to impose a mandatory prison term (18-3-203(2)(c)(II)).
• Second degree, 18-3-203(1)(h): with intent to infect, injure or harm a person the actor knows or reasonably should know is performing duties as a peace officer, firefighter, emergency medical care provider or emergency medical service provider, causing that person to come into contact with blood, seminal fluid, urine, feces, saliva, mucus, vomit or toxic, caustic or hazardous material. Class 4 felony. The same contact with intent only "to harass, annoy, threaten, or alarm" is third degree assault under 18-3-204(1)(b), a class 1 misdemeanor.
• First degree, 18-3-202(1)(e): with intent to cause serious bodily injury, threatening with a deadly weapon a peace officer, firefighter or emergency medical service provider engaged in the performance of duties, where the offender knows or reasonably should know the victim's status. Class 3 felony.
• Judges and court officers, 18-3-202(1)(e.5): with intent to cause serious bodily injury, threatening "a judge of a court of competent jurisdiction or an officer of said court" with a deadly weapon, knowing or reasonably should know the victim's status. Class 3 felony.
• People in custody, 18-3-203(1)(f) and (f.5) and 18-3-202(1)(f): a person lawfully confined or in custody who knowingly and violently applies physical force against a peace officer, firefighter, emergency medical service provider, judge, court officer, or detention or youth services staff performing duties commits second degree assault; under 18-3-203(1)(f.5), a person lawfully confined in a detention facility who, with intent to infect, injure or harm, causes a person the actor knows or reasonably should know is a detention facility employee to come into contact with blood, seminal fluid, urine, feces, saliva, mucus, vomit or toxic, caustic or hazardous material also commits second degree assault; threatening detention or youth services staff with a deadly weapon, with intent to cause serious bodily injury, is first degree assault. Sentences under 18-3-202(1)(f) and 18-3-203(1)(f) are served in the department of corrections and run consecutively, except that for an offense against a youth services employee under 18-3-203(1)(f) the court may grant probation or a suspended sentence.

The assault sections, 18-3-202 to 18-3-204, do not name teachers, sports officials, retail workers or utility workers as protected victims, and health care workers are covered only as "emergency medical care providers" as defined above. Separately, since August 6, 2025, wrongfully interfering with a transit worker performing a lawful duty is harassment, a class 1 misdemeanor (C.R.S. 18-9-111(1)(i), added by House Bill 25-1290).

Assault on an at-risk person

C.R.S. 18-6.5-103(3) raises every degree of assault when the victim is an at-risk person: first degree becomes a class 2 felony (class 4 in a heat of passion), second degree a class 3 felony (class 5 in a heat of passion) and third degree a class 6 felony. Under C.R.S. 18-6.5-102, an "at-risk person" means an at-risk adult, an at-risk adult with IDD, an at-risk elder or an at-risk juvenile, and an "at-risk elder" means "any person who is seventy years of age or older." An at-risk adult includes a person 70 or older or a person 18 or older "with a disability" as the statute defines it, and an at-risk juvenile is a person under 18 with such a disability.

Domestic violence assault in Colorado

Domestic violence in Colorado is a designation that attaches to an underlying crime rather than a separate assault offense. C.R.S. 18-6-800.3(1) defines "domestic violence" as "an act or threatened act of violence upon a person with whom the actor is or has been involved in an intimate relationship," and an "intimate relationship" means "a relationship between spouses, former spouses, past or present unmarried couples, or persons who are both the parents of the same child regardless of whether the persons have been married or have lived together at any time."

When the court finds on the record that a conviction's factual basis includes an act of domestic violence, C.R.S. 18-6-801(1)(a) requires the person, in addition to any other sentence, to "complete a treatment program and a treatment evaluation" that conform with the standards of the domestic violence offender management board. And under 18-6-801(7)(a), "any misdemeanor offense that includes an act of domestic violence is a class 5 felony if the defendant at the time of sentencing has been previously convicted of three or more prior offenses that included an act of domestic violence and that were separately brought and tried and arising out of separate criminal episodes."

Under federal law, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(9) bars a person convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence from possessing firearms or ammunition; see the assault and battery laws hub for the federal rules. Protection orders are covered on our Colorado restraining order laws page.

Recent changes

• House Bill 26-1290 (Laws 2026, chapter 162, approved May 27, 2026) amended second degree assault under 18-3-203(1)(c) and (1)(c.5) and added the repeat-strangulation sentencing rule in 18-3-203(2)(c)(III). It took effect September 1, 2026 and "applies to offenses committed on or after" its effective date.
• House Bill 25-1290 (Laws 2025, chapter 353) added wrongful interference with a transit worker to the harassment statute, 18-9-111(1)(i), effective August 6, 2025.
• House Bill 23-1293 (Laws 2023, chapter 298) amended 18-3-203(1)(f.5)(I) and (2)(c), effective October 1, 2023.

Civil lawsuits for assault and battery

A criminal prosecution and a civil lawsuit are separate. Colorado's civil filing period is short: C.R.S. 13-80-103(1)(a) provides that tort actions for "assault, battery, false imprisonment, false arrest, libel, and slander," "regardless of the theory upon which suit is brought, or against whom suit is brought, shall be commenced within one year after the cause of action accrues, and not thereafter."

Longer periods apply in some cases. Under C.R.S. 13-80-103.6, "notwithstanding any other statute of limitations specified in this article 80," a civil action to recover damages caused by an act of domestic violence (as defined in C.R.S. 14-10-103) must be commenced within six years after the cause of action accrues, or within six years after a qualifying disability is removed, whichever is later, and never more than twenty years after accrual. Under C.R.S. 13-80-103.7, a civil action based on sexual misconduct (conduct for sexual arousal, gratification or abuse that constitutes one of the sex offenses the section lists) "may be commenced at any time without limitation." That rule covers claims accruing on or after January 1, 2022, and older claims only if their earlier limitation period had not run by that date. And under C.R.S. 13-81-103, a person under disability (including a minor under 18) who has no legal representative may sue within the ordinary period or within two years after the disability ends, whichever is later. Other filing deadlines are collected in our guide to the Colorado statute of limitations.

Related legal issues

Self-defense and defense of others are justifications with their own rules; see Colorado self-defense laws rather than this page. For protection orders, see Colorado restraining order laws. For sealing a past conviction, see Colorado expungement laws.

Related pages

• Assault and battery laws by state
• Colorado self-defense laws
• Colorado restraining order laws
• Colorado expungement laws
• Colorado statute of limitations
• New Mexico assault and battery laws
• Arizona assault and battery laws

This article provides general legal information about Colorado assault statutes as of 2026-10-13. It is not legal advice. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in Colorado.

Last updated: 2026-10-13.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between assault and battery in Colorado?

Colorado does not have a battery offense. Its assault statutes, C.R.S. 18-3-202 to 18-3-204, require bodily injury (or, in some forms, contact with bodily fluids or a threat with a deadly weapon against listed victims); an offensive touch with intent to harass, annoy or alarm is harassment under C.R.S. 18-9-111(1)(a).

Is assault a felony in Colorado?

Third degree assault is a class 1 misdemeanor (C.R.S. 18-3-204(3)). Second degree assault is a class 4 felony (class 3 when a non-participant suffers serious bodily injury during a listed felony), or a class 6 felony in a sudden heat of passion, and first degree assault is a class 3 felony, or a class 5 felony in a sudden heat of passion (C.R.S. 18-3-203(2); 18-3-202(2)). A bias-motivated crime that knowingly causes bodily injury is a class 5 or class 4 felony (C.R.S. 18-9-121).

What is the penalty for third degree assault in Colorado?

Third degree assault is a class 1 misdemeanor. For offenses committed on or after March 1, 2022, a class 1 misdemeanor carries up to 364 days of imprisonment, a fine of not more than $1,000, or both (C.R.S. 18-1.3-501(1)(a.5)).

What is the sentence for second degree assault in Colorado?

Second degree assault is usually a class 4 felony, with a presumptive range of 2 to 6 years plus 3 years of mandatory parole for offenses on or after July 1, 2020 (C.R.S. 18-1.3-401(1)(a)(V.5)(A)); for strangulation, an extraordinary risk crime, the maximum is raised by two years (C.R.S. 18-1.3-401(10)). Several forms, including injury with a deadly weapon and serious bodily injury, must be sentenced under the violent-crime statute, C.R.S. 18-1.3-406, although for those forms the court is not required to impose a mandatory prison term (C.R.S. 18-3-203(2)(c)(II)).

What happens if you assault a police officer in Colorado?

Intentionally causing bodily injury, with intent to prevent someone the person knows or should know is a peace officer, firefighter, emergency medical care provider or emergency medical service provider from performing a lawful duty is second degree assault, a class 4 felony (C.R.S. 18-3-203(1)(c)). Threatening such an officer, firefighter or emergency medical service provider with a deadly weapon, with intent to cause serious bodily injury, is first degree assault, a class 3 felony (C.R.S. 18-3-202(1)(e)).

Is choking someone a felony in Colorado?

Yes. Applying pressure to the neck, or blocking the nose or mouth, with intent to cause bodily injury and thereby causing bodily injury is second degree assault, a class 4 felony (C.R.S. 18-3-203(1)(i)); with intent to cause and actually causing serious bodily injury, it is first degree assault, a class 3 felony (C.R.S. 18-3-202(1)(g)).

Is assaulting an elderly person a felony in Colorado?

Yes. When the victim is an at-risk person, which includes anyone 70 or older, third degree assault becomes a class 6 felony, second degree assault a class 3 felony and first degree assault a class 2 felony, with lower classes in a sudden heat of passion (C.R.S. 18-6.5-103(3)).

How long do you have to sue for assault in Colorado?

C.R.S. 13-80-103(1)(a) generally requires tort actions for assault and battery to be commenced within one year after the cause of action accrues, regardless of the theory upon which suit is brought or against whom. A claim for damages caused by domestic violence has six years (C.R.S. 13-80-103.6), a claim based on sexual misconduct, as that section defines it, has no time limit if it accrued on or after January 1, 2022, or was still timely on that date (C.R.S. 13-80-103.7), and a minor or other person under disability without a legal representative may have until two years after the disability ends (C.R.S. 13-81-103).