1. (1) After a trial by court-martial, the military judge who presided over the court-martial shall forward the record of the court-martial to the convening authority. Upon receipt of the record of the court-martial, the convening authority shall forward the record to the staff judge advocate designated by the state judge advocate general.

2. (2) The staff judge advocate shall review the record and submit a written opinion to the convening authority. The staff judge advocate's opinion must include:

   1. (a) Conclusions about whether:

      1. (I) The court-martial had jurisdiction over the accused;
      2. (II) The charge and specification stated an offense; and
      3. (III) The sentence was within the limits prescribed as a matter of law;
   2. (b) If the accused makes allegations in writing, a response to each allegation of error made in writing by the accused; and
   3. (c) In an opinion about the findings of a summary court-martial, advice to the convening authority on the sufficiency of the evidence as to each finding made by the summary court-martial.
3. (3) A convening authority shall not act on the findings of or sentence imposed by a court-martial before the staff judge advocate review.

4. (4)

   1. (a) After receiving the staff judge advocate's written opinion described in subsection (2) of this section, the convening authority of a general court-martial or a special court-martial:

      1. (I) Shall not act on the findings of the court-martial; and

      2. (II) May act as described in subsection (4)(b) of this section on the sentence of the court-martial if:

         1. (A) The total period of a sentence to confinement imposed for all offenses involved, running consecutively, is less than one hundred eighty days; and
         2. (B) The court-martial did not impose a sentence of dismissal or dishonorable discharge.

   2. (b) A convening authority acting on a sentence imposed by a court-martial pursuant to subsection (4)(a)(II) of this section may:

      1. (I) Approve the court-martial's sentence;
      2. (II) Disapprove, commute, or suspend the court-martial's sentence, in whole or in part; or
      3. (III) Disapprove the court-martial's sentence and order a rehearing on the sentence.

   3. (c) After appropriate staff judge advocate review, the convening authority of a summary court-martial may:

      1. (I) Approve the court-martial's findings and sentence;
      2. (II) Dismiss any charge or specification by setting aside the finding of guilty;
      3. (III) Change the court-martial's finding of guilty of the charge or specification to a finding of guilty of a lesser included offense;
      4. (IV) Disapprove the court-martial's findings and sentence and dismiss the charge and specification;
      5. (V) Disapprove the court-martial's findings and sentence and order a rehearing on the findings and sentence;
      6. (VI) Disapprove, commute, or suspend the court-martial's sentence, in whole or in part; or
      7. (VII) Disapprove the court-martial's sentence and order a rehearing as to the sentence.
5. (5) If, pursuant to this section, the convening authority reduces, commutes, or suspends the sentence, the decision of the convening authority must include a written explanation of the reasons for the action.
6. (6) The convening authority shall forward its final decision to the military judge who presided over the court-martial and provide copies of the decision to the accused and to any victim of the offense. The military judge shall incorporate the convening authority's final decision into the record.

Source: L. 83: Entire article added, p. 1182, § 1, effective June 10. L. 2002: Entire section amended, p. 613, § 88, effective May 24. L. 2025: Entire section amended, (SB 25-279), ch. 411, p. 2338, § 13, effective September 1.

Editor's note: Section 18(2) of chapter 411 (SB 25-279), Session Laws of Colorado 2025, provides that the act changing this section applies to offenses committed on or after September 1, 2025.