Colorado no longer has a crime called defrauding an innkeeper. The statute that created it, C.R.S. 6-25-103, was repealed by Senate Bill 21-271, effective March 1, 2022, and the Colorado Revised Statutes now list that section only as repealed. If you have been accused of leaving a hotel, motel, or restaurant without paying, the statute to look at now is the general theft statute.

Theft of Services

Under C.R.S. 18-4-401(1), a person commits theft when he or she knowingly obtains, retains, or exercises control over anything of value of another without authorization or by threat or deception, and the statute adds a required purpose or result, such as intending to deprive the other person permanently of its use or benefit. C.R.S. 18-1-901(3)(r) defines “thing of value” to include services, which is how an unpaid room or meal can fit the statute.

Nonpayment alone does not complete the offense. The prosecution must also prove the knowing conduct and one of the purposes or results listed in subsection (1).

How Theft Is Graded

Theft is graded by the value of what was taken, under C.R.S. 18-4-401(2):

  • Less than $300: a petty offense.
  • $300 or more but less than $1,000: a class 2 misdemeanor.
  • $1,000 or more but less than $2,000: a class 1 misdemeanor.
  • $2,000 or more but less than $5,000: a class 6 felony.
  • $5,000 or more but less than $20,000: a class 5 felony.

Higher values carry higher felony grades, up to a class 2 felony at one million dollars or more. Under subsection (4), two or more thefts within six months, or thefts from the same person under one scheme or course of conduct, may be aggregated and charged as a single offense graded on the combined value.

For theft charges more generally, see our theft page.