Anti-SLAPP Laws in Colorado

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Colorado now has two anti-SLAPP sections in Part 11 of Article 20. Section 13-20-1101 is the broad 2019 law. Effective May 19, 2026, SB 26-095 added § 13-20-1102 for specified statements by victim-survivors. The new section largely repeats the 63-day filing, discovery-stay, merits, and fee rules, but defines its own protected statements and appeal route.

What speech or conduct is protected

The statute defines protected activity in four categories, closely tracking California's model. It covers: (1) statements made before a legislative, executive, or judicial proceeding, or any other official proceeding authorized by law; (2) statements made in connection with an issue under consideration or review by such a body; (3) statements made in a place open to the public or a public forum in connection with an issue of public interest; and (4) any other conduct or communication in furtherance of the right of petition or free speech connected to a public issue or an issue of public interest — a slightly broader catch-all than California's, which ties its fourth category only to a "public issue."

The rule in § 13-20-1102(1)-(2) is narrower and event-specific. It covers a defined victim-survivor's statements connected to a criminal investigation or proceeding, Title IX investigation, child-welfare investigation, civil or extreme-risk protection-order petition, mandated child-abuse report, or other quasi-judicial proceeding.

The remainder, § 13-20-1102(3)-(6), supplies the parallel filing, hearing, discovery, fee, and court-specific appeal rules for that narrower motion.

The special motion to dismiss

File the special motion within 63 days of being served with the complaint (three days longer than California's 60-day window); a court can allow a later filing only "upon terms it deems proper." The court must schedule a hearing within 28 days of when the motion itself is served, unless the court's own docket conditions require a later date. Filing the motion automatically stays all discovery in the case, and that stay lasts until the court's ruling is entered — though a judge can still allow specific, limited discovery for good cause shown.

Burden of proof

Colorado uses the same two-step test as California. First, the defendant must show the challenged claim "arises from" an act in furtherance of petition or free-speech rights on a public issue. Second, if the defendant clears that bar, the plaintiff must show "a reasonable likelihood that the plaintiff will prevail on the claim," based on the pleadings and any supporting or opposing affidavits — not live testimony. Colorado courts have treated "reasonable likelihood" as functionally equivalent to the "reasonable probability" language other states use, though appellate panels have split over exactly how much weight a trial court can give to conflicting evidence at this stage — a live, unsettled question as of mid-2026.

Attorney's fees

A prevailing defendant on a special motion to dismiss is entitled to recover attorney fees and costs — mandatory, not discretionary. The mirror-image protection exists too: if the court finds the special motion itself was frivolous or filed solely to cause delay, it must award the plaintiff costs and fees instead. One carve-out: a defendant doesn't get fees under this statute for beating a motion in an action brought under Colorado's Open Meetings Law or Open Records Act, though those two laws have their own separate fee provisions a defendant can still use.

Right to appeal

An order granting or denying the special motion can be appealed immediately to the Colorado Court of Appeals, without waiting for the rest of the case to finish. There is one statutory exception: if the trial court denies the motion because it finds the action exempt under subsection (8) (the exemptions described below), that particular denial cannot be appealed at all under this statute. Separately — and this is not written into the statute's own text — the Colorado Supreme Court held in February 2026 that the statute's appeal provision is unconstitutional to the extent it lets the Court of Appeals review a final judgment coming out of a county court; Colorado's constitution sends county-court final judgments to district court instead. A non-final county-court order under § 13-20-1101 can still follow that section's statutory route. New § 13-20-1102 avoids the conflict expressly: county-court grants and denials go to district court, while district-court grants and denials go to the Court of Appeals.

Exemptions

Three categories of lawsuit fall outside § 13-20-1101 entirely. First, an action brought by or on behalf of the state or a subdivision of it, enforcing a law or protecting against an imminent threat to health or public safety. Second, an action brought solely in the public interest or on behalf of the general public, if the plaintiff seeks no greater relief than the general public would get, the suit would enforce an important public right and confer a real public benefit, and private enforcement is necessary and would otherwise unfairly burden the plaintiff. Third, claims against a person primarily in the business of selling or leasing goods or services, arising from factual representations about that person's (or a competitor's) business made to secure a sale, lease, or commercial transaction, aimed at an actual or potential customer. The second and third exemptions both have carve-backs: they don't apply to journalists, reporters, or others connected with a newspaper, periodical, or wire or broadcast service gathering news, or to works of dramatic, literary, musical, political, or artistic expression, including film, TV, or a newspaper or magazine article.

What trips people up

The 63-day clock is unforgiving, and it's not the same number as California's. Attorneys used to California's 60-day rule sometimes assume Colorado matches it; it doesn't, and courts read the "later time" exception narrowly regardless.

A county-court win can still leave you appealing to the wrong court. The statute's own text says any grant or denial of the motion goes to the Court of Appeals, but the Colorado Supreme Court ruled in Hinds v. Foreman, 2026 CO 9, that this can't apply to a final judgment issued by a county court — the state constitution requires those to go to district court instead. If your case was filed in county court (common for smaller-value disputes) and the special motion disposes of the whole case, don't assume the Court of Appeals has jurisdiction; check whether the ruling is a final judgment first.

Losing on an exemption ruling can be final immediately. Most special motion rulings can be appealed right away. Subsection (9) specifically turns that off when the loss is a denial based on one of the subsection (8) exemptions — so if your motion is denied on exemption grounds, you don't get the usual interlocutory appeal.

The new victim-survivor section is already effective. SB 26-095 became law on May 19, 2026. Its § 13-20-1102 procedure is not a pending proposal, and its protected-statement definition must be checked separately from the broader § 13-20-1101 categories.

Common questions

Does filing the special motion stop the whole case, or just discovery? Filing it stays discovery automatically. The underlying claims against you stay on the docket until the court actually rules on the motion.

Can I use this if I'm sued over a critical online comment about a business? Possibly, under the fourth, catch-all category of protected activity — the statute covers "any other conduct or communication" that furthers your free-speech rights on a public issue or an issue of public interest, which Colorado's Court of Appeals has read broadly.

What if I lose the motion — do I have to pay the other side's fees? Only if the court separately finds your motion was frivolous or filed solely to delay the case. Losing on the merits alone doesn't trigger a fee award against you.

Statutes and sources

• Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-20-1101(3) — "A cause of action against a person arising from any act of that person in furtherance of the person's right of petition or free speech under the United States constitution or the state constitution in connection with a public issue is subject to a special motion to dismiss unless the court determines that the plaintiff has established that there is a reasonable likelihood that the plaintiff will prevail on the claim." Source: https://olls.info/crs/crs2025-title-13.htm (accessed 2026-08-13).
• Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-20-1101(2)(a) — the defined term includes “any other conduct or communication in furtherance of the exercise of the constitutional right of petition or the constitutional right of free speech in connection with a public issue or an issue of public interest.” Source: https://olls.info/crs/crs2025-title-13.htm (accessed 2026-08-13).
• Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-20-1101(5)-(6) — "The special motion must be filed within sixty-three days after the service of the complaint or, in the court's discretion, at any later time upon terms it deems proper... All discovery proceedings in the action are stayed upon the filing of a notice of motion made pursuant to this section." Source: https://olls.info/crs/crs2025-title-13.htm (accessed 2026-08-13).
• Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-20-1101(4) — "[A] prevailing defendant on a special motion to dismiss is entitled to recover the defendant's attorney fees and costs. If the court finds that a special motion to dismiss is frivolous or is solely intended to cause unnecessary delay... the court shall award costs and reasonable attorney fees to a plaintiff prevailing on the motion." Source: https://olls.info/crs/crs2025-title-13.htm (accessed 2026-08-13).
• Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-20-1101(7), (9) — "Except as provided in subsection (9) of this section, an order granting or denying a special motion to dismiss is appealable to the Colorado court of appeals... If any trial court denies a special motion to dismiss on the grounds that the action or cause of action is exempt pursuant to subsection (8) of this section, the appeal provisions in subsection (7) of this section do not apply." Source: https://olls.info/crs/crs2025-title-13.htm (accessed 2026-08-13).
• Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-20-1101(8) — the section excludes an action brought by or on behalf of the state or any subdivision of the state enforcing a law or rule or seeking to protect against an imminent threat to health or public safety, an action brought solely in the public interest or on behalf of the general public if all of [a 3-part test] exist, and a cause of action brought against a person primarily engaged in the business of selling or leasing goods or services... arising from factual representations made to secure a sale or lease. Source: https://olls.info/crs/crs2025-title-13.htm (accessed 2026-07-05).
• Hinds v. Foreman, 2026 CO 9 (Colo. Feb. 2, 2026) — "[Sections] 13-20-1101 and 13-4-102.2... are unconstitutional to the extent that they authorize the court of appeals to review a final judgment of a county court. This is because article VI, section 17 of the Colorado Constitution explicitly requires that a final judgment of a county court be reviewed on appeal by this court or the district court." Source: https://www.coloradojudicial.gov/system/files/opinions-2026-02/24SC698.pdf (accessed 2026-08-13).
• Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-20-1102, 2026 Colo. Sess. Laws ch. 133 — the victim-survivor protected-statement definition, parallel 63-day special motion, discovery stay, fee rules, and county-court-to-district-court appeal route. Source: https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_files/116546/download (accessed 2026-08-13).