(1) A defendant shall file his answer or other response within 21 days after the service of the summons and complaint, except as otherwise provided by rule or statute. The filing of a motion permitted under this Rule alters these periods of time, as follows:
(A) if the court denies the motion or postpones its disposition until the trial on the merits, the responsive pleadings shall be filed within 14 days after notice of the court's action;
(B) if the court grants a motion for a more definite statement, or for a statement in separate counts or defenses, the responsive pleadings shall be filed within 14 days after the service of the more definite statement or amended pleading.
(2) If, pursuant to special order, a copy of the complaint is not served with the summons, or if the summons is served outside of Colorado or by publication, the time limit for filings under subsections (a)(1) and (e) of this Rule shall be within 35 days after the service thereof.
(3) A party served with a pleading stating a cross-claim against that party shall file an answer thereto within 21 days after the service thereof.
(4) The plaintiff shall file a reply to a counterclaim in the answer within 21 days after the service of the answer.
(5) If a reply is made to any affirmative defense, such reply shall be filed within 21 days after service of the pleading containing such affirmative defense.
(6) If a pleading is ordered by the court, it shall be filed within 21 days after the entry of the order, unless the order otherwise directs. Rule 12. Defenses and Objections—When and How Presented—By Pleading or Motion—Motion for..., CO ST RCP Rule 12
(b) How Presented. Every defense, in law or in fact, to a claim for relief in any pleading, whether a claim, counterclaim, cross-claim, or third-party claim, shall be asserted in the responsive pleading thereto if one is required, except that the following defenses may at the option of the pleader be made by separate motion filed on or before the date the answer or reply to a pleading under C.R.C.P. 12(a) is due:
(1) lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter;
(2) lack of jurisdiction over the person;
(3) insufficiency of process;
(4) insufficiency of service of process;
(5) failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted; or
(6) failure to join a party under C.R.C.P. 19. No defense or objection is waived by being joined with one or more other defenses or objections in a responsive pleading or with any other motion permitted under this Rule or C.R.C.P. 98. If a pleading sets forth a claim for relief to which the adverse party is not required to file a responsive pleading, the adverse party may assert at the trial any defense in law or fact to that claim for relief. If, on a motion asserting the defense numbered (5) to dismiss for failure of the pleading to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, matters outside the pleading are presented to and not excluded by the court, the motion shall be treated as one for summary judgment and disposed of as provided in C.R.C.P. 56, and all parties shall be given reasonable opportunity to present all material made pertinent to such a motion by C.R.C.P. 56.
(c) Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings. After the pleadings are closed but within such time as not to delay the trial, any party may move for judgment on the pleadings. If, on a motion for judgment on the pleadings, matters outside the pleadings are presented to and not excluded by the court, the motion shall be treated as one for summary judgment and disposed of as provided in Rule 56, and all parties shall be given reasonable opportunity to present all material made pertinent to such a motion by Rule 56.
(d) Preliminary Hearings. The defenses specifically enumerated in subsections (1)-(6) of section (b) of this Rule, whether made in a pleading or by motion, and the motion for judgment mentioned in section (c) of this Rule, shall be heard and determined before trial on application of any party, unless the court orders that the hearing and determination thereof be deferred until the trial.
(e) Motion for Separate Statement or for More Definite Statement. Within the time limits for filings under subsections (a)
(1) and (a)(2) of this Rule, the party may file a motion for a statement in separate counts or defenses or for a more definite statement of any matter that is not averred with sufficient definiteness or particularity to enable the party properly to prepare a responsive pleading. If the motion is granted and the order of the court is not obeyed within 14 days after notice of the order or within such other time as the court may fix, the court may strike the pleading to which the motion was directed or make such order as it deems just. Rule 12. Defenses and Objections—When and How Presented—By Pleading or Motion—Motion for..., CO ST RCP Rule 12
(f) Motion to Strike. Upon motion filed by a party within the time for responding to a pleading or, if no responsive pleading is permitted by these rules, upon motion filed by a party within 21 days after the service of any pleading, motion, or other paper, or upon the court's own initiative at any time, the court may order any redundant, immaterial, impertinent, or scandalous matter stricken from any pleading, motion, or other paper. The objection that a responsive pleading or separate defense therein fails to state a legal defense may be raised by motion filed under this section (f).
(g) Consolidation of Defenses in Motion. A party who makes a motion under this Rule may join with it any other motions herein provided for and then available to that party. If a party makes a motion under this Rule but omits therefrom any defense or objection then available to that party which this Rule permits to be raised by motion, that party shall not thereafter make a motion based on the defense or objection so omitted, except a motion as provided in section (h)(2) of this Rule on any of the grounds there stated.
(h) Waiver or Preservation of Certain Defenses.
(1) A defense of lack of jurisdiction over the person, insufficiency of process, or insufficiency of service of process is waived:
(A) If omitted from a motion in the circumstances described in section (g); or (B) if it is neither made by motion under this Rule nor included in a responsive pleading or an amendment thereof permitted by Rule 15(a) to be made as a matter of course.
(2) A defense of failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, a defense of failure to join a party under Rule 19, and an objection of failure to state a legal defense to a claim may be made in any pleading permitted or ordered under Rule 7(a), or by motion for judgment on the pleadings, or at the trial on the merits.
(3) Whenever it appears by suggestion of the parties or otherwise that the court lacks jurisdiction of the subject matter, the court shall dismiss the action.
Amended effective January 1, 2012; July 1, 2015; May 2, 2024.
Rule 12 controls the timing and mechanics of responding to a pleading. A defendant generally must answer or otherwise respond within 21 days of being served with the summons and complaint; that clock resets to 14 days after the court rules on a motion that delayed the response, and extends to 35 days when the complaint was not served with the summons or when service was made outside Colorado or by publication. A cross-claim answer, a reply to a counterclaim, and a reply to an affirmative defense are each due 21 days after service of the pleading that triggered them.
Instead of answering right away, a party can raise certain defenses by separate motion: lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter or the person, insufficiency of process or of service of process, failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, and failure to join a necessary party. Colorado numbers the failure-to-state-a-claim defense as subsection (b)(5) — one number lower than its federal counterpart — but it works the same way people expect from a motion to dismiss, and if the court looks at evidence outside the pleadings when deciding it, the motion converts into a summary judgment motion under Rule 56. Rule 12 also covers motions for judgment on the pleadings, motions for a more definite statement, and motions to strike improper material, and it spells out which defenses are lost if a party leaves them out of an early motion or answer versus which ones can be raised as late as trial.