Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. 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). A traffic ticket written in La Plata County is a court case in the County Court; a city with a municipal court tries its own, and the conviction it ends in goes on the driving record kept by the Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles. This guide says which court takes the ticket, who writes them and where the driving record lives.
This guide covers where tickets go, who writes them, the driving record, cities 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 criminal records, Colorado arrest records and Colorado inmate search.
Where a Ticket Written in La Plata County Goes
Tickets in La Plata County are split by who wrote them: the County Court for deputies and troopers, the municipal courts for city officers in the cities that run one. A paid ticket, a dismissal and a trial all end up in that court's records.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at coloradojudicial.gov/courts/trial-courts/la-plata-county, phone 970-247-2304.
Colorado has no single public index of every trial court case; each court's records are looked up through that court.
Who Writes the Tickets in La Plata County
The La Plata County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Durango, Bayfield and Ignacio write the traffic tickets in La Plata County.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in La Plata County: Fort Lewis College (campus police); Southwest Drug Task Force (other agency).
The Driving Record and the Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles
The driving record is a separate document from the court file. It is kept by the Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles, which adds each conviction the court reports and handles suspensions; the court does not issue driving records.
Paying a ticket is a conviction, reported to the Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles like any other; contesting it means a plea of not guilty entered with the court by the date on the ticket.
A DUI is a criminal charge rather than a ticket, with its own license case before the Division of Motor Vehicles (see La Plata County DUI).
Cities in La Plata County
A ticket written inside a city goes to the County Court, or to the city's municipal court where it has one.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in La Plata County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own traffic tickets guide opens there:
- Durango (19,811)
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do I pay a traffic ticket from La Plata County?
With the County Court; a ticket from city police goes to the city's municipal court where it has one.
Who keeps my driving record in Colorado?
The Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles. The court reports each conviction to it, and paying a ticket counts as one.
Which court handles traffic tickets in La Plata County?
The County Court, which takes misdemeanors, traffic cases and civil cases up to $25,000. A city with a municipal court of its own tries the tickets under its ordinances.
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.