2022 Colorado Code
Title 44 - Revenue - Regulation of Activities
Article 3 - Alcohol Beverages
Part 3 - State and Local Licensing
§ 44-3-302. License Renewal - Rules

1. 1. Ninety days before the expiration date of an existing license, the state licensing authority shall notify the licensee of the expiration date by any method reasonably likely to actually notify the licensee. The state licensing authority shall promulgate rules setting the procedure to notify a licensee in accordance with this subsection (1)(a).
   2. For the renewal of an existing license, the licensee must apply to the local licensing authority not less than forty-five days and to the state licensing authority not less than thirty days before the date of expiration. The local licensing authority shall not accept an application for renewal of a license after the date of expiration, except as provided in subsection (2) of this section. Filing with the local licensing authority is deemed filing with the state licensing authority. The state licensing authority shall process all renewal applications that are filed with the local licensing authorities before the expiration date and subsequently approved and shall extend the expiration date until the state license application process is completed. The state or the local licensing authority, for good cause, may waive the forty-five- or thirty-day time requirements set forth in this subsection (1)(b).
   3. The local licensing authority may hold a hearing on the application for renewal, but not until a notice of hearing has been conspicuously posted on the licensed premises for ten days and notice of the hearing has been provided the applicant at least ten days before the hearing. The licensing authority may refuse to renew any license for good cause, subject to judicial review. The state licensing authority shall hold any renewal hearing in accordance with section 44-3-305 (2).

2. 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, a licensee whose license has been expired for not more than ninety days may file a late renewal application upon the payment of a nonrefundable late application fee of five hundred dollars each to the state and local licensing authorities. A licensee who files a late renewal application and pays the requisite fees may continue to operate until both state and local licensing authorities have taken final action to approve or deny the licensee's late renewal application.
   2. A state or local licensing authority shall not accept a late renewal application more than ninety days after the expiration of a licensee's permanent annual license. Any licensee whose permanent annual license has been expired for more than ninety days must apply for a new license pursuant to section 44-3-311 or a reissued license pursuant to subsection (2)(d) of this section.
   3. Notwithstanding the amount specified for the fee in subsection (2)(a) of this section, the state licensing authority by rule or as otherwise provided by law may reduce the amount of the fee if necessary pursuant to section 24-75-402 (3) to reduce the uncommitted reserves of the fund to which all or any portion of the fee is credited. After the uncommitted reserves of the fund are sufficiently reduced, the state licensing authority by rule or as otherwise provided by law may increase the amount of the fee as provided in section 24-75-402 (4).
   4. 1. Notwithstanding subsection (2)(b) of this section, with the permission of the licensing authority, a licensee whose permanent annual license has been expired for more than ninety days but less than one hundred eighty days may submit to the local licensing authority, or to the state licensing authority in the case of a licensee whose alcohol beverage license is not subject to issuance or approval by a local licensing authority, an application for a reissued license. The licensing authority has the sole discretion to determine whether to allow a licensee to apply for a reissued license.
      2. If the licensing authority does not allow the licensee's application, then the licensee must apply for a new license pursuant to section 44-3-311. A person who has applied for a new license shall not sell, or possess for sale in public view, any alcohol beverage until all required licenses have been obtained.
      3. For licensees subject to issuance or approval by a local licensing authority, if the local licensing authority allows the licensee to apply for a reissuance of the expired license, the licensee must submit to the local licensing authority:
         1. An application for a reissued license;
         2. Payment of a five-hundred-dollar late application fee; and
         3. Payment of a fine of twenty-five dollars per day for each day the license has been expired beyond ninety days.

      4. After the local licensing authority accepts the application, late application fee, and fine, the licensee may continue to operate and sell alcohol beverages until the state licensing authority and local licensing authority have each taken final action on the licensee's application for license reissuance.
      5. If the local licensing authority approves the reissuance of the licensee's license, the local licensing authority shall forward the approved application to the state licensing authority for review. In addition to the late application fee and fine imposed by the local licensing authority, the state licensing authority shall impose a five-hundred-dollar late application fee and a fine of twenty-five dollars per day for each day the license has been expired beyond ninety days.
      6. For licensees who are not subject to issuance or approval by a local licensing authority, if the state licensing authority allows the licensee to apply for a reissuance of the expired license, the licensee must submit to the state licensing authority:
         1. An application for a reissued license;
         2. Payment of a five-hundred-dollar late application fee; and
         3. Payment of a fine of twenty-five dollars per day for each day the license has been expired beyond ninety days.

      7. After the state licensing authority accepts the application, late application fee, and fine, the licensee may continue to operate and sell alcohol beverages until the state licensing authority takes final action on the licensee's application for license reissuance.
      8. If the state licensing authority approves the reissuance, the licensee will maintain the same license period dates as if the license had been renewed prior to the expiration date.
      9. If either the local or state licensing authority denies the licensee's application for reissuance of the expired license, then the licensee may apply for a new license pursuant to section 44-3-311.
      10. Neither the state nor local licensing authority may grant a licensee's application for license reissuance more than three times in any five-year period.

Source: L. 2018: Entire article added with relocations, (HB 18-1025), ch. 152, p. 972, § 2, effective October 1. L. 2020: (1) amended, (SB 20-086), ch. 67, p. 269, § 1, effective September 14.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 12-47-302 as it existed prior to 2018.