Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site on September 23, 2026.
La Plata County, Colorado, has about 57,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). In Colorado the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the clerk of the combined court; the statewide criminal history kept by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation is open to anyone who asks. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from La Plata County is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, the prosecutor, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: La Plata County public records, La Plata County arrest records, La Plata County warrants, La Plata County inmate search, La Plata County court records, Colorado arrest records and Colorado inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the La Plata County District Court
A criminal case from La Plata County is filed in the La Plata County District Court or the County Court, which takes misdemeanors, traffic cases and civil cases up to $25,000, and the court file, kept by the clerk of the combined court, is the record of it that the public may see.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at coloradojudicial.gov/courts/trial-courts/la-plata-county (page title: La Plata County | Colorado Judicial Branch), phone 970-247-2304, 1060 East Second Ave Suite 106 Durango, CO 81301, Monday-Friday: 7:30 am - 5:00 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
Colorado has no single public index of every trial court case; each court's records are looked up through that court.
The Colorado Criminal History and Your Own Copy
Colorado is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: the state runs an online name-based criminal history check open to the public, through the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. The result is the repository record, what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
To see your own record, the route is a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. The state page SearchSystems verified for it is at cbi.colorado.gov/records-background-checks/internet-criminal-histor....
Arrest Records Kept Locally in La Plata County
The La Plata County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Durango, Bayfield and Ignacio keep the arrest records in La Plata County: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in La Plata County: Fort Lewis College (campus police); Southwest Drug Task Force (other agency); each keeps the records of its own arrests.
Together, the three agencies in La Plata County with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 1,912 arrests to the FBI that year; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in La Plata County arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: La Plata County in 2024
The three agencies in La Plata County with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 95 violent and 831 property crimes to the FBI that year; the two of them with both 2024 and 2023 complete reported 767 crimes in 2024 against 647 in 2023. Each reported crime is a report on file with the agency that took it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The full crime section, agency by agency, is on the La Plata County public records guide.
The District Attorney for La Plata County
The District Attorney decides which arrests in La Plata County become charges and files them in the La Plata County District Court or the County Court; the office answers questions about pending prosecutions, and the case files themselves are court records.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at lpcgov.org/departments/district_attorney_s_office/index.php, phone (970) 247-8850, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for La Plata County
Registered sex offenders living in La Plata County are listed on the Colorado Sex Offender Registry, run by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation at apps.colorado.gov/apps/dps/sor. Only sexually violent predators, multiple offenders and adults convicted of felony sex offenses appear on the statewide site; local police and sheriffs hold the full list.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in La Plata County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the Colorado Open Records Act a county office must answer a request within 3 working days, extendable to 7 when there are extenuating circumstances, and it may charge research and retrieval time after the first hour, plus copying.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal records public in La Plata County?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation: the state runs an online name-based criminal history check open to the public. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Colorado Open Records Act.
Can I search La Plata County criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at coloradojudicial.gov (page title: La Plata County | Colorado Judicial Branch).
How do I get my own Colorado criminal history?
Through a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
Who prosecutes crimes in La Plata County?
The District Attorney, reached at (970) 247-8850, which files its cases in the La Plata County District Court or the County Court.
Is this the official La Plata County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.