Judicial Notice — Rule 201

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

Judicial Notice — Rule 201

SUMMARY OF RULE 201

• A fact to be judicially noticed must not be subject to reasonable dispute because it is either:

○ Generally well-known within the jurisdiction; or
○ Capable of accurate and ready determination by sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned.

• The court may take judicial notice of an appropriate fact on its own motion.
• Judicial notice is mandatory if it is requested by a party and the information is supplied.
• Judicial notice may be taken at any stage of the proceeding.

LEGAL AUTHORITIES

Items Subject to Judicial Notice

• Calendar days and dates. Sierra Mining Co. v. Lucero, 118 Colo. 180, 194 P.2d 302 (1948).
• Court file, findings of fact, and conclusions of law. Sakal v. Donnelly, 494 P.2d 1316 (Colo. App. 1972). Attaching documents to a pleading that are part of the court file does not make the contents of the attached documents subject to judicial notice. One Hour Cleaners v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office, 914 P.2d 501 (Colo. App. 1995).
• Dependency and neglect (prior proceedings). People in Interest of O.J.S., 844 P.2d 1230 (Colo. App. 1992). The court may take judicial notice of the existence of documents in court files but can only take judicial notice of the truth of facts asserted in the documents, such as orders, findings of fact, conclusions of law, and judgments.
• Economic trends. In re Marriage of Wildin, 563 P.2d 384 (Colo. App. 1977) (inflation trend).
• Guardian ad litem reports filed in a proceeding. People ex rel. A.L.B., 994 P.2d 476 (Colo. App. 1999).
• In a termination of parental rights proceeding, the court may not take judicial notice of the guardian ad litem reports from the dissolution case, as there is no opportunity to cross-examine. In re C.A.B.L., 221 P.3d 433 (Colo. App. 2009). The court may take judicial notice of its own records and findings in a previous case involving the same parents and the same issue.
• Jobs in the area. People v. Romero, 559 P.2d 1101 (Colo. 1976), superseded for other reasons, People v. Roletto, 370 P.3d 190 (Colo. App. 2015).
• Laws of other jurisdictions. C.R.S. § 13-25-106.
• Mortality tables. C.R.S. § 13-25-102.
• Prison sentence and the date a crime was committed. People in Interest of E.I.C., 958 P.2d 511 (Colo. App. 1998).
• Public record, history of statutes in the legislative reference service, and the governor's proclamation. In re Interrogatory Propounded by Governor Roy Romer on HB 91S-1005, 814 P.2d 875 (Colo. 1991).
•

...