O'Malley Law Office, P.C. > Fort Collins Colorado Criminal Defense Attorney Blog > Police Involved Crimes > False Reporting > False Reporting of Identifying Information Vs. Attempt to Influence a Public Servant in Fort Collins: New Clarification in the Law

False Reporting of Identifying Information Vs. Attempt to Influence a Public Servant in Fort Collins: New Clarification in the Law

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Recently, a new law False Reporting of Identifying Information to specifically address the cross over with Attempt to Influence a Public Servant.

Often, Colorado laws are vague to allow for some interpretation when the Larimer County DA or Fort Collins Police are determining charges. This was something we saw a lot when it came to False Reporting and Attempt to Influence a Public Servant. There are VERY specific subsection that address providing false information to a law enforcement officer in the False Reporting statute. However, because the Attempt to Influence a Public Servant was so vague, it could be applied to the same situation. What’s the difference? Well, False Reporting is a class 3 misdemeanor and Attempt to Influence a Public Servant is a class 4 felony – so, a BIG difference. With the recent law updates that went into effect on March 1, 2022, it looks like some very specific language was added to address this issue. Let’s take a closer look.

New False Reporting of Identifying Information to Law Enforcement Authorities Law in Larimer County

Effective March 1, 2022, there are now two False Reporting charges:

  1. False Reporting of an Emergency – C.R.S. 18-8-111

  2. False Reporting of Identifying Information to Law Enforcement Authorities – C.R.S. 18-8-111.5

The new False Reporting of Identifying Information to Law Enforcement Authorities is defined as:

A person commits false reporting of identifying information if the person knowingly provides false identifying information to law enforcement authorities.

That definition seems simple enough. You can face these charges for giving a law enforcement officer a fake ID or providing the wrong name when asked for identifying information. The new sentencing guidelines for this charge are:

False reporting of identifying information is a class 2 misdemeanor; except that it is a class 6 felony if providing the false identifying information results in substantially impeding the investigation or arrest of a person for the commission of a crime as defined in section 24-4.1-302 (1) that is a felony.

What used to be a class 3 misdemeanor is now a class 2 misdemeanor. Plus, now it can be charged as a class 6 felony if you provided the false information to get out of getting arrested for a felony or it impedes a felony investigation.

Fort Collins Attempt to Influence a Public Servant Language Changes

The Larimer County, Colorado law definition of Attempt to Influence a Public Servant – C.R.S. 18-8-306 – is:

Any person who attempts to influence any public servant by means of deceit or by threat of violence or economic reprisal against any person or property, with the intent thereby to alter or affect the public servant’s decision, vote, opinion, or action concerning any matter which is to be considered or performed by the public servant or the agency or body of which the public servant is a member, commits a class 4 felony. A violation of this section does not include providing false identifying information to law enforcement authorities pursuant to section 18-8-111.5, and a person who commits the offense of providing false identifying information to law enforcement authorities shall not be convicted for a violation of this section.

The italicized language above was added to specifically address the issue that False Reporting cases were being charged as Attempt to Influence a Public Servant.

If you or someone you love has been charged with False Reporting or Attempt to Influence a Public Servant, be smart, exercise your right to remain silent, and contact the best criminal defense attorney from the O’Malley Law Office at 970-658-0007 to schedule a free initial consultation. Together, we can protect your future.

Photo by Kevin Malik from Pexels

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