How to Find Colorado Court Records (2026)

Colorado court records at a glance
Statewide case search	Colorado Judicial Branch Docket Search
Criminal history check	Internet Criminal History Check (ICHC) — Colorado Bureau of Investigation
Appellate opinions	Colorado Case Law Search
Federal cases	PACER (1 district)
Plain copy fee	$0.25 per page ($0.50 if double-sided), per Chief Justice Directive 06-01
Certified copy fee	$20.00 per certified document, per Chief Justice Directive 06-01
Who keeps trial records	Clerk of the Supreme Court (Colorado Judicial Branch); Clerk of the Court of Appeals (Colorado Judicial Branch)

Colorado runs a single, unified court system rather than 64 independent county systems. Every county has a district court (general jurisdiction) and a county court (limited jurisdiction), and in most counties both are staffed by the same Clerk of Court, an employee of the state Judicial Branch, not an elected county official. Denver is the exception: Denver District Court is part of the state system, but Denver County Court is a separate court operated by the City and County of Denver with its own clerk and case-search system.

Because the trial courts are state-run, Colorado has one statewide way to look for a case: the Judicial Branch's free docket search, which lets you filter by county, court type, case class, and party name to see scheduled hearings and basic case information. It does not show full case histories or documents. For a fuller register of actions, including older or closed cases, the Judicial Branch's commercial partner CoCourts charges a per-search fee. Neither tool includes Denver County Court, which has its own free case-number lookup, or federal cases, which are on PACER through the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.

The most common mistake is assuming one search covers everything. A search on the docket tool or CoCourts will not surface a Denver County Court traffic ticket or a federal case, and none of these tools return sealed or expunged records, juvenile cases, or most family-law filings involving minors.

How Colorado courts are organized

Which court heard a case decides who keeps the file. Use this table to pick the right clerk before you search, and see the guides to criminal, civil, family, and probate records for what each court's file contains.

Court	Handles	Who holds the records
Supreme Court of Colorado	Discretionary review of Court of Appeals decisions Original jurisdiction in water law and certain election matters Attorney discipline and admission Direct appeals of death-penalty and some class 1 felony cases	Clerk of the Supreme Court (Colorado Judicial Branch) Colorado does not split civil and criminal supreme courts the way Texas does; one court hears both.
Colorado Court of Appeals	Civil and criminal appeals from district courts Appeals from most administrative agencies Workers' compensation appeals	Clerk of the Court of Appeals (Colorado Judicial Branch) Intermediate appellate court; most appeals from district court go here first.
District Courts (22 judicial districts)	Felony criminal cases Civil claims of any dollar amount Divorce, custody, and other domestic relations Probate, mental health, and juvenile matters Water rights (7 designated water divisions)	Clerk of Court for the judicial district (Colorado Judicial Branch) Judicial districts usually span several counties; only Denver, El Paso, Jefferson, and a few others are their own district.
County Courts	Misdemeanors and petty offenses Traffic infractions Civil claims up to $25,000 Small claims Protection orders Felony complaints (bound over to district court)	Clerk of Court for the county (same office as the district clerk in most counties) County court appeals go to the district court in that judicial district.
Denver County Court	Denver municipal ordinance violations Traffic tickets issued in Denver State misdemeanors filed in Denver Civil claims up to $25,000 and small claims in Denver	Denver County Court Clerk (City and County of Denver, not the state Judicial Branch) Denver is a consolidated city-county, so its county court is a separate municipal system with its own website and case search, unlike every other county.
Municipal Courts	City ordinance violations Traffic tickets issued by city police	Municipal court clerk for that city Not part of the state Judicial Branch or its docket search; contact the city directly.

Search Colorado court records online

Statewide case search

Colorado Judicial Branch Docket Search

Official Free search

Cost: Free
Coverage: Scheduled hearings and basic case information for district and county courts statewide, filterable by judicial district, county, courthouse, court type, case class, date range, and party or attorney name
Records: Civil, Criminal, Family, Probate, Traffic

At least one filter besides date is required. Shows docket entries and settings, not full case histories or filed documents; does not include Denver County Court.

Statewide case search

CoCourts (Colorado Courts Data Access)

Official Paid Account required

Cost: $5 per search for Denver County or the rest of the state; $10 for a combined statewide search
Coverage: Registers of action for Colorado district and county court cases, including many closed and older cases (coverage from the 1970s in some counties, the 1990s in rural counties)
Records: Civil, Criminal, Family, Probate

Run by LexisNexis Risk Solutions as the Judicial Branch's designated public-access vendor. Criminal entries may reflect arrest filings rather than final dispositions; does not include documents, which must be requested from the court.

Criminal history (convictions)

Internet Criminal History Check (ICHC) — Colorado Bureau of Investigation

Official Paid

Cost: $6.00 per search, non-refundable regardless of result; an additional $6.00 for each additional matched record viewed
Coverage: Colorado-only criminal history record information (arrests supported by fingerprints) by name and date of birth
Records: Criminal

Name-based search of CBI's own database only; warrants, sealed records, and juvenile records are excluded. A one-time search needs no account; frequent users can open a prepaid account.

Appellate courts

Colorado Case Law Search

Official Free search

Cost: Free
Coverage: Published opinions of the Colorado Supreme Court and Colorado Court of Appeals, searchable by case name, citation, docket number, or keyword
Records: Appeals

Linked from the Judicial Branch's Supreme Court and Court of Appeals opinions pages; does not include unpublished orders or appellate case dockets.

Federal court records in Colorado

Federal cases (bankruptcy, federal crimes, lawsuits under federal law) are not in state portals. They live in PACER, organized by district. Colorado has 1 federal judicial district.

District	Main courthouse	Court website
District of Colorado	Denver	www.cod.uscourts.gov

Read our PACER guide for registration, the per-page fee, and the quarterly fee waiver.

Colorado county court records

Trial-court records are kept by the clerk in the county where the case was filed. These are the largest counties in Colorado; each guide covers the clerk of court (district court) and other court offices, their addresses, and what is searchable online.

Request records in person or by mail

In person. Go to the Clerk of Court's office for the judicial district where the case was filed — for most counties this is the county's combined district/county courthouse. Denver has two separate clerk's offices: the state Judicial Branch's Denver District Court clerk for district-court files, and the City and County of Denver's Denver County Court clerk for county-court files. Public terminals are generally available to search the index; certified and plain copies are paid at the counter.

By mail. Write to the clerk of the court that heard the case with the case number if you have it, or the full names of the parties and the approximate filing date; which documents you need; whether you need certified copies; and payment or a request for a fee quote. Chief Justice Directive 06-01 sets the statewide copy fee for state Judicial Branch courts.

Online. The free docket search at coloradojudicial.gov/dockets shows scheduled hearings and basic case data for district and county courts statewide. CoCourts, the Judicial Branch's paid vendor, provides a fuller register of actions for a per-search fee. Neither tool provides copies of filed documents — those must be requested from the clerk. Denver County Court has its own free case-number lookup on its own website, separate from the state system.

Records not yet online. Many counties' online indexes only go back a decade or two. Older files may be on paper, microfilm, or in the State Archives, and the clerk may charge a retrieval fee to pull a case from off-site storage.

Fees

Item	Typical cost
Plain copy	$0.25 per page ($0.50 if double-sided), per Chief Justice Directive 06-01
Certified copy	$20.00 per certified document, per Chief Justice Directive 06-01

Fees set by Chief Justice Directive 06-01 as listed on the Judicial Branch's Record/Document Request Form: $0.25 per page for plain copies (parties and their attorneys are capped at $15 per request), $20.00 per certified document, $25.00 for a transcript of judgment, and $30.00 per hour for research or redaction time after the first hour, billed in 15-minute increments. Denver County Court and municipal courts set their own fee schedules.

Need a copy an agency will accept? See how to get certified copies of court records.

Sealed, expunged, and restricted records

Colorado court records are open to the public by default, but several categories are removed from public view:

Sealed criminal justice records. Under the Criminal Justice Record Sealing statute (C.R.S. Title 24, Article 72, Part 7), a court can seal arrest records, records of cases that did not result in conviction, and many conviction records after a waiting period. Once sealed, the Judicial Branch and other criminal justice agencies must respond that no public record exists.
Juvenile records. Delinquency and dependency-and-neglect cases are confidential, with access limited to the parties, their attorneys, and specified agencies.
Domestic relations and family cases involving minors. Case files can be more restricted than the general civil docket, and identifying information about children is limited even where a case is otherwise public.
Adoption records. Adoption case files are sealed by statute.
Mental health and some protective-order records. Access is restricted to protect the subject of the proceeding.

Colorado's Chief Justice Directive 05-01 governs public access to court records generally and lists the categories of records excluded from public access at the Judicial Branch's discretion, separate from the statutory sealing process.

To remove your own record from public view, read how to expunge or seal a criminal record.

Frequently asked questions

Is there one website to search Colorado court records?

Not one free, complete site. The Judicial Branch's free docket search covers district and county courts statewide but only shows scheduled hearings and basic data. CoCourts, a paid vendor, gives a fuller register of actions for a per-search fee. Denver County Court and federal courts are not included in either and have their own separate search tools.

How much does CoCourts cost?

A search of Denver County alone or the rest of the state costs $5; a combined statewide search costs $10. You have 24 hours to review your results again at no extra charge.

How do I check someone's criminal history in Colorado?

Use the CBI's Internet Criminal History Check at cbirecordscheck.com, a $6 name-and-date-of-birth search of Colorado arrest records supported by fingerprints. It does not include sealed, juvenile, or out-of-state records, or warrants.

Why isn't a Denver traffic ticket showing up in the statewide search?

Denver County Court is run by the City and County of Denver, not the state Judicial Branch, so it is not part of the statewide docket search or CoCourts. Search Denver County Court's own case lookup instead.

Which clerk has my divorce or custody case?

District courts hear domestic relations cases, so the Clerk of Court for the judicial district where the case was filed keeps the file. In most counties that clerk also handles county-court matters; in Denver, district and county files are in two different offices.

How do I get a certified copy of a Colorado court record?

Request it from the clerk of the court that heard the case, in person, by mail, or through the Judicial Branch's online Record/Document Request Form. Under Chief Justice Directive 06-01 plain copies are $0.25 per page and certified copies $20.00 per document; research beyond the first hour is $30 per hour.

Sources

Colorado Judicial Branch — Trial Courts by County — https://www.coloradojudicial.gov/trial-courts-county
Colorado Judicial Branch — Docket Search — https://www.coloradojudicial.gov/dockets
Colorado Judicial Branch — Access Guide to Public Records — https://www.coloradojudicial.gov/access-guide-public-records
CoCourts (Colorado Courts Data Access, LexisNexis) — https://www.cocourts.com/cocourts/
Colorado Bureau of Investigation — Records and Background Checks — https://cbi.colorado.gov/records-and-background-checks
Internet Criminal History Check (CBI) — https://www.cbirecordscheck.com/
Colorado Case Law Search — https://research.coloradojudicial.gov/
Chief Justice Directive 06-01 — Fees and Costs — https://www.coloradojudicial.gov/sites/default/files/2023-08/CJD%2006-01%20Signed%20%20effective%20July%201,%202022%20WEB.pdf
Colorado Judicial Branch — Record/Document Request Form (copy and certification fees) — https://www.coloradojudicial.gov/recorddocument-request-form
Colorado Revised Statutes, Title 24, Article 72, Part 7 — Criminal Justice Record Sealing — https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-24.pdf
U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado — https://www.cod.uscourts.gov/