The Colorado Bureau of Investigation describes its own name search in plain terms on the terms page of the Internet Criminal History Check: the State of Colorado is an open records state by statute, which allows anyone to obtain Colorado arrest information, with sealed records not releasable and juvenile records generally not accessible. A non refundable $6 is charged for every search whatever the result, and if more than one record matches the name and date of birth the user picks at least one to view at $6 each. The bureau recommends searching maiden and alias names and other dates of birth separately, each at $6, and warns that a suffix such as Jr. or Sr. should be left out. Before the search runs, the user affirms under C.R.S. 24-72-305.5 that the records will not be used to solicit business for financial gain.
The CBI page on the system lists what the public does not see: juvenile arrests of people 17 and younger unless adjudicated as adults, traffic arrests of people 15 and younger, and arrests sealed by court order. Law enforcement sees all of it. Only currently registered sex offenders are flagged, each downloaded result is a separate fee, and an ICHC report cannot be notarized; a notarized copy means ordering a Criminal History Record Information request from the Biometric Identification and Records Unit instead. The search site itself stresses that the database holds Colorado records only, that arrests not supported by fingerprints are not in it, and that warrants, sealed records and juvenile records are unavailable. Every county sheriff feeding that file is on the Colorado county pages.
- $6 and $13: the Internet Criminal History Check per search and per extra matched record, and the staff processed CHRI request, which can be notarized.
- Never deleted: the CBI keeps every arrest in the Colorado Crime Information Center indefinitely, even when the police or court purge their own file.
- $0 since July 1, 2024: the CBI no longer charges to process a court order to seal, though court fees still apply.
- Defendant only: the Judicial Branch sealed case search confirms automatic sealing under 13-3-117 and may be used by no one but the defendant.
Written by SearchSystems.net from Colorado's own systems: the Internet Criminal History Check system of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, the terms and limitations of the Internet Criminal History Check, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation page on the Internet Criminal History Check, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation fees and forms page, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation page on court order sealing of arrests, the Colorado Judicial Branch sealed case search, the Colorado Judicial Branch docket search, the Colorado Department of Corrections offender search, the Colorado Judicial Department policy governing the production of administrative records under P.A.I.R.R. 2, each read on October 15, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
The $13 request and the fingerprint route
For a document an agency or embassy will accept, the fees and forms page prices a name based Criminal History Record Information request at $13, processed by the Biometric Identification and Records Unit at 690 Kipling Street, Suite 4000, Lakewood, CO 80215, and notarized on request. The CHRI form and a credit card authorization can be emailed to the unit, and the authorization needs a handwritten signature, since a typed name is refused and card details are not taken over the phone.
Checks must be pre printed business checks, and cash is accepted in person in bills no larger than $20. Fingerprint based checks run through the two Colorado Applicant Background Services vendors, IdentoGO and Colorado Fingerprinting, at $16.50 to $19.50 for a state check and $38.50 to $39.50 for state and FBI, plus the vendor's own fingerprinting fee; the state and FBI option exists only for employment checks that Colorado law mandates, and a personal FBI check goes through the FBI directly.
The Colorado background check guide lists the mandated employment categories and their fees.
Reading the result and fixing an error
Everything on a CBI report rests on fingerprints taken at arrest or ordered by a court, which is why a ticket or summons that never produced prints will not appear. The bureau recommends searching with first name, last name and date of birth, noting that adding a Social Security number narrows the results. Someone who finds an arrest without a disposition does not get it removed; the CBI can add disposition and sentencing information when the court supplies it, and where no record of the outcome exists anywhere the arrest can be marked Disposition Record Purged, known as DRP.
That label requires official letters from the arresting agency, the municipal court if a police department made the arrest, and the district court for the county, each on letterhead, signed and dated, listing every name and date of birth on the CBI report and, where they give a date range, covering at least five years before the arrest. The bureau cautions that a DRP entry may not satisfy a firearms or employment check. A record challenge form for disputed entries is on the fees and forms page and is mailed to the bureau.
Sealing: the court orders it, the CBI applies it
The court order sealing page explains that a person petitions the district, county or municipal court where the arrest or case is filed, that C.R.S. 24-72-703 sets who qualifies, and that the Judicial Branch publishes the instructions and forms under the Criminal Matters category and Seal My Case subcategory of its self help forms. Each case tied to an arrest needs its own motion. The bureau suggests running yourself through the ICHC first so the court paperwork matches what is actually on file.
Once a judge signs an Order to Seal, the petitioner sends it to the CBI at cdps_cbi_ident_seal@state.co.us or by fax to 303-239-4405, and effective July 1, 2024 the bureau takes no fee for the sealing; court fees are unchanged.
A sealed record is hidden, not destroyed. The CBI is the repository for arrest and criminal records from Colorado agencies and courts, retained in the Colorado Crime Information Center indefinitely, and the page states that the bureau never removes or deletes criminal records from the database even if the police or court purge theirs. A person who wants to see their own sealed entries, or non expunged juvenile records, writes to the unit's managers at cdps_cbi_ident_managers@state.co.us, is fingerprinted for identity verification with Sealed Record Release written in the reason box, and pays a $16.50 processing fee on top of whatever the vendor or police department charges to take the prints.
Automatic sealing and the defendant only search
Some Colorado convictions are sealed by the court without a petition under statute 13-3-117. The Judicial Branch's sealed case search exists to confirm whether that has happened to a conviction record, one case at a time, and it answers only for that statute: it will not confirm a sealing granted on a petition, an automatic sealing of an eligible non conviction, or the sealing of a first minor in possession conviction under 18-13-122.
The page limits the tool to the defendant in the case; no other person or entity is authorized to use it. Anyone else, or a defendant who cannot complete the form, files a research request with the court, which may ask for proof of identity and may be unable to release anything if the case is sealed. The glossary defines an eligible non conviction as a criminal case that did not end in a conviction and was eligible to be sealed automatically, which is the category most arrest records fall into.
Dockets, Denver and the prison search
The Judicial Branch's docket search lists court dockets by judicial district, county, courthouse, court type and division, by case number or by party or attorney, and it requires at least one filter besides a date. It is a calendar of hearings rather than a criminal history. Denver's County Court keeps a records system separate from the rest of the state, so a traffic or misdemeanor case inside Denver city limits may appear only on the Denver County Court's own search, a point the sealed case page makes for people who cannot find a Denver case elsewhere.
The Department of Corrections offender search finds people in state custody by DOC number, name, date of birth within six months, race, gender, county, current offense or facility, with photographs optional; the Colorado inmate search guide walks through it and the county jail rosters.
What the sheriff holds that the CBI does not
The CBI file is a summary: charges, dispositions where reported, identifiers and fingerprints. The arrest report, the booking photograph, body camera footage and the jail record are kept by the sheriff or police department that made the arrest and are requested from that agency under the Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act, whose rules the Colorado public records law guide sets out. Those local files are the ones a sealing order must also reach, and the CBI page tells the petitioner to send the signed order to the bureau itself.
The sex offenders flagged on an ICHC result are listed separately and publicly, as the Colorado sex offender registry guide describes.
Asking the courts for their own records
Requests for the Judicial Department's administrative records, as opposed to case files, follow Public Access to Information and Records Rule 2, under a policy revised in 2026. The department's policy requires a written request to the custodian with the date, the records sought and contact details, refuses telephone and social media requests, and treats a request citing the federal Freedom of Information Act or the Colorado Open Records Act as made under the rule.
Paper copies cost 25 cents a page, 50 cents double sided, and research, retrieval or redaction is billed at $41.37 an hour after the first free hour, with a cost estimate and possibly a deposit before work starts. A requester has 15 business days to answer a clarification, approve an estimate or pay, or the request is closed as abandoned.
Questions about Colorado arrest records
Related Colorado records
Colorado's neighboring guides on this site are the Colorado background check guide for fingerprint checks through the CABS vendors, the Colorado inmate search guide for state and county custody, the Colorado sex offender registry guide, the Colorado public records law guide for police reports under the Criminal Justice Records Act, and the Colorado county pages for every sheriff and clerk.