Colorado is an open record state. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation says all Colorado criminal history record information is accessible to the public, with three exceptions: juvenile arrests at 17 and younger unless adjudicated as an adult, traffic arrests under 16, and arrests sealed by court order. Anyone can run a name based check on anyone, and the CBI's Internet Criminal History Check returns it on screen at once.
The check is Colorado only and name based, built from arrests supported by fingerprints; an arrest never fingerprinted is not in it, warrants are not shown, and a common name can produce several matches, each a separate charge. A staff processed version of the same record, the CHRI request, costs more and can be notarized, and fingerprint based checks are reserved for the employment screenings the state mandates.
- Instant online: the Internet Criminal History Check, $6.00 per search result downloaded, one time by credit card or through an account with batch requests and prepaid funds; the report carries a digital signature against tampering and cannot be notarized.
- Mailed, notarized: the Criminal History Record Information request, $13.00, processed by the CBI Biometric Identification and Records Unit and notarized on request, filed by email, fax or mail with the credit card authorization form.
- Fingerprint based: through the Colorado Applicant Background Service, with a vendor surcharge, $16.50 to $19.50 for the CBI state check and $38.50 to $39.50 for the state and FBI check, only for the employment checks Colorado law requires.
- Not public: juvenile arrests, traffic arrests under 16, sealed arrests and warrants; only currently registered sex offenders are noted.
Written by SearchSystems.net from Colorado's own systems: the CBI Internet Criminal History Check page, the Internet Criminal History Check system, the CBI fees and forms information page, the CBI local government entity ordinance review page, each read on October 14, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
What the Colorado record holds and withholds
The CBI's page describes the Internet Criminal History Check as a Colorado only, name based search of criminal history record information, available instantaneously from any computing device. Law enforcement sees the complete record; the public sees everything except the three exceptions above. The check system itself adds that the database holds criminal history arrest records for Colorado only, that arrests not supported by fingerprints are not included, and that warrants, sealed records and juvenile records are not available to the public. Only currently registered sex offenders are noted on a record.
The Internet Criminal History Check: $6 a result
The online system is run for the CBI as an official state service and offers two ways in: a one time search with no account, one person at a time, paid by credit card; or an account for businesses, agencies and frequent users with individual or batch requests, a history of searches, payments and reports, several users and payment by prepaid account or card. Each search result downloaded incurs its own fee, $6.00 per the CBI fee schedule, and because results depend on how common the name and date of birth are, a search may return multiple matches, each billed when downloaded. Every report carries a secure digital signature so that its authenticity can be verified and tampering detected. A report from the online check cannot be notarized; when a notarized copy is needed the CBI points to the individual public request by name and date of birth on its employment and background checks page, which is the CHRI request below.
The CHRI request: $13, notarized on request
The Criminal History Record Information request is the same Colorado name based record processed by the staff of the Biometric Identification and Records Unit, BIRU, and notarized when the requester asks. It costs $13.00 and is filed on the CHRI form with the credit card authorization form, both published in English and Spanish on the fees and forms page, by email to the unit's dissemination address, by fax or by mail to the Biometric Identification and Records Unit, Colorado Bureau of Investigation, 690 Kipling St., Ste. 4000, Lakewood, CO 80215. Payment is in U.S. dollars to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation by Visa, MasterCard, Discover or American Express on the authorization form, which needs a handwritten signature rather than a typed name; the CBI takes no card payments over the phone. A signed pre printed business check is accepted for six months from issue, and cash is taken in person in bills no larger than $20.
Fingerprint checks through CABS
Fingerprint based background checks run through the Colorado Applicant Background Service, CABS, whose vendors charge a surcharge per fingerprinting on top of the CBI fees: $16.50 to $19.50 for the CBI state check and $38.50 to $39.50 for the CBI and FBI nationwide check. The CBI states that the CBI and FBI option exists only for the specified employment background checks mandated by the State of Colorado, with the fee for each specified check listed on its employment and background check page; a person who wants their own FBI record goes to the FBI's Identity History Summary Check instead. A minor without a state photo ID or other primary identity document is fingerprinted with the parent's photo ID waiver form, and the unit's FAQ defines what counts as a primary identity document. The FBI Privacy Act statement, applicant rights and agency requirements for non criminal justice fingerprinting, and the CBI notice to applicants, are published alongside the fees.
Local ordinances: SB25-146
Since Senate Bill 25-146 created Colorado Revised Statute 24-33.5-424.5, approved by the FBI, a local government entity that requires a fingerprint based criminal history check by ordinance or resolution submits the applicant's or licensee's prints to the CBI for the state and national check. The CBI calls it an umbrella statute: a county or municipality may enact an ordinance for any profession or occupation it wants checked, submit it in draft to the CBI, which forwards it to the FBI, and begin submitting fingerprints once approved, with a separate account for each approved ordinance. The ordinance must meet the FBI's six criteria under Public Law 92-544, including a legislative enactment, a fingerprint requirement, express or implied authority to use FBI records, a specific category of applicants and no receipt of the record by a private entity. The same bill rewrote CRS 30-15-401.4 for massage facility owners, operators and employees after the FBI declined to approve the earlier version in House Bill 24-1371; existing staff were to be checked by July 1, 2026 or an earlier local date, prospective employees before starting work and prospective owners at least thirty days before licensing or taking an ownership interest. Questions on drafting go to the CBI ordinance review address at 690 Kipling Street, Suite 3000, Denver, CO 80215.
Challenging, updating and sealing a record
A person who disputes an entry files the CBI's record challenge information form by mail. The unit also processes disposition updates of an arrest record and court ordered sealing of arrests; orders to seal, with the credit card authorization form, are emailed to the unit's sealing address, and the CBI's records section separately handles marijuana and natural medicine pardons. Once an arrest is sealed by court order it drops out of the public record the online check returns.
Reading a Colorado result
A Colorado check answers one question: what fingerprint supported arrests does the state hold under this name and date of birth. It does not show warrants, juvenile matters or sealed cases, says nothing about other states or federal courts, and may return more than one person for a common name. The instant report is for a quick look and carries a digital signature; the $13 CHRI with a notary is the version to present; and a fingerprint check belongs to the employers the law names, not to a member of the public.
Questions about background checks in Colorado
Related Colorado records
The CBI record is one of the Colorado records this site covers: the Colorado court records guide explains the judicial branch's own case files behind each arrest, the arrest records guide covers what a booking makes public, the sex offender registry guide covers the CBI's registry, and the Colorado county pages list each sheriff and clerk of court.