A division within the Secretary of State’s office determined that a pro-wolf advocate who lobbied state lawmakers during the 2024 session violated the state’s lobbying laws.

The state ordered Stephen Capra to pay a $250 fine, part of a settlement reached with the office.

Capra was also ordered to register and file the disclosure statements required of a lobbyist.

The settlement, dated June 11, noted that Capra admitted he violated Colorado law by failing to register as a lobbyist and file disclosure documents. The settlement said the complaint will be dismissed.

Capra previously told Colorado Politics he is not a professional lobbyist but has lobbied in other states, such as Idaho, Montana and New Mexico — as well as at the federal level — on wildlife issues. He disputed that wolves are killing livestock in Colorado, despite verification by Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

The bill Capra lobbied on was House Bill 1375, which Rep. Tammy Story, D-Evergreen, sponsored. It failed on a 4-9 vote in the House Agriculture, Water & Natural Resources Committee on April 1.

The Elections Division noted “mitigating factors,” that the violation was not extensive and occurred for only a few hours over a two-day period, and it was only on one House bill that did not pass. The division also noted that Capra was cooperative.

The meeting at issue in the decision included Capra and and an Evergreen resident, Rhonda Dern, and involved Story, Democratic Reps. Brianna Titone of Arvada, Mandy Lindsay of Aurora, Julia Marvin of Thornton, Elizabeth Velasco of Glenwood Springs and Karen McCormick of Longmont, who chairs the House Ag committee.

The other lawmakers are all members of the agriculture committee. McCormick and Titone voted against the bill; Story, Lindsay, Marvin and Velasco voted for it.

Capra posted a video on Feb. 14, in which he called Dern “a rockstar lobbyist.” The pair also distributed a flyer that didn’t identify the organization who produced it. A complaint against Dern was dismissed.

Capra is the only paid employee of Bold Visions Conservation, which is based in Missoula, Montana, according to Elections Division information. He told Colorado Politics he came to Colorado “at my expense, my organization’s expense.”

The complaints were filed in March by John Michael Williams, who operates Colorado Wolf Tracker.

“I’m glad to see the process for receiving a complaint, investigating it and coming to a judgment was handled correctly,” Williams said Tuesday. “It appeared the process worked; the state did say there was lobbying done that wasn’t done legally and there was a sanction placed on Mr. Capra.”

“I hope he’s learned his lesson,” Williams said, adding he hopes others can also learn from the episode — notably that people can’t just go into the Capitol and lobby legislators without going through the registration process.

The process for registering as a lobbyist is straightforward. It requires a $40 annual registration fee and disclosure statements that identify the client, the legislation and how much the lobbyist is being paid.

Capra has not yet responded to a request for comment.