Just a few words on timing... 

This record-sealing roadmap provides the steps required to get a conviction sealed.   The process of compiling the information can be extensive.   It's important to set realistic goals and build out a written timeline that can be followed.  Some things are time sensitive and may require some back tracking. For example, a copy of a criminal history report(see step 1) needs to be no older than 20 days when it is filed with the court.  This means that from the date of the report you would have 20 days to file your motion/petition.  This may or may not be realistic.

There are 3 main data sources which may require waiting.  

• -The criminal history report(needs to be verified for accuracy)
• -Police records(accurate arrest/case records)
• -Court records (accurate court records)

We recommend budgeting a minimum of 10 business days each to obtain and verify the accuracy of arrest, case, and, court records.  Much, if not all, of this work can be done online.

Take your time and verify that all of the information is accurate.  Mistakes can substantially delay the record-sealing process.      

A good place to start gathering information is your criminal history report.  This report can be used to identify arrest dates and charges.  Sometimes it will also have court disposition information(though not always).  Additionally, arrests without convictions will also show up on this report. This report basically tells you where to look to find arrest information.  It provides the following information for each arrest:

• 1. Arrest Date
• 2. Arresting Agency
• 3. Arrest Number
• 4. Charges

The key information from this report is the "arresting agency".  You will use this information to get your arrest records from the city/county of the arrest.

To get your Internet Criminal History Check (ICHC) report follow this link: https://www.cbirecordscheck.com/

Select "Individual" for the report type.  You'll need to enter your name, birthdate, and social security number.  The cost of the report is $4.00 and it can be downloaded, emailed, or both.  

Sometimes the report will have arresting and court information.  

IT IS IMPORTANT TO VERIFY ALL OF THE INFORMATION ON THE REPORT THROUGH THE ARRESTING AGENCY AND THE COURT(see Step 2 & Step 3).  

Finally, hold on to the Criminal History Report.  You'll need to file that with your motion/petition to have a record sealed.

Obtaining accurate arrest information is a critical step in the record-sealing process.  Arrest records can come from multiple locations.  

Four common locations of arrest records are:

-Municipal/City Arrest Records

-County Sheriff Arrest Records

- State Police Arrest Records

-State Park (Rangers) Arrest Records

The information needed from the arresting agency is the agency arrest number,  case number, and arresting agency address. 

A list of potential arrest records resources is provided here. If you don't find the records resource you're looking for contact the agency directly.

The Internet Criminal History Check (ICHC) in step 1 is a good place to start for arrest information.  However, it is imperative that you confirm the information through the arresting agency before filing with the court.  If the information on the arresting agency report does not match the information on the CBI report it needs to be corrected or the case may not be properly sealed.    

Once you have the arresting agency address, arrest number, and case number for the record you want to have sealed you can move forward in the process.

Obtaining accurate court case information is the next step in the record- sealing process.  Court records can come from multiple locations.  

The information needed from the court is:

• The offense or offenses (if sealing multiple convictions in one court).  
• The case numbers
• Division
• Court room
• The court address.
• The sentence date.
• Length of supervision (in some cases)

Four common locations of court records are:

-District courts

-County courts

- Municipal/City courts

-Appellate courts

Most records departments for major counties in Colorado are listed under the "counties" tab on this site.  Information on how to request a record is on the top of each county page.   It is important to note that not all counties/districts have the same processes/documentation for requesting records.  Some counties/districts require forms to be filled out whereas in other counties/districts records can be requested online.  If a form is required, in may be available in the forms section on the lower half of the county page.  Contact information for the records department in each county/district is also provided.

Court documents where this information can be found includes:

The Disposition/Sentence Order (charge(s), disposition(s), sentence) 

The Register of Actions (ROA) - a sequential outline of case-related documentation 

There also may be a fee for records requests.

A key requirement for completing a motion/petition to seal a record(s)  is the end-of-supervision date.  Supervision may include one or more of the following:

• Probation
• Parole
• Jail
• Prison

This end of supervision date may be when one of the following has occurred:

• Jail sentence complete but no probation
• Prison sentence complete but no parole
• Jail sentence complete and probation complete
• Prison sentence complete and parole complete
• Probation complete (no jail or prison sentence)

Court documentation that includes sentencing information (such as the disposition/sentence order) may provide the information however, we recommend contacting the supervising agency directly to confirm the end-of-supervision date.  There are circumstances where the the end-of-supervision date may have changed following sentencing (such as an extension of probation/parole).   It's imperative that the end-of-supervision date entered on the motion/petition to seal a record(s) reflects the actual date that supervision ended.    

Once you have the exact date that supervision ended you can move to the next step.  

You're almost ready to begin filling out the motion/petition to seal a conviction record(s).

The final step in the information gathering phase is to confirm that you have all of the information required to complete the documentation and that the information is error-free.

We recommend re-running the CBI report at this time.  This should give you the time needed to complete the documentation.   The CBI report has to be attached to the filing.      

It's time to confirm that you have the following information:

1. Court county/district address.
2. Case #, division, court room
3. Arresting agency case #'s and arrest #s.
4. Arresting agency address
5. Offense(s) to be sealed
6. Case # of offense(s)
7. Sentence date(s)
8. End-of-supervision date(s)
9. Appeal information(case, court, result, date)

You will also have to provide your mailing address, date of birth, and phone number.  If you anticipate any of your contact information changing during the record sealing process we recommend using contact information that is more permanent.  

Finally, before you file your motion(s), petition(s), and order(s) there are some cost considerations.  The cost to file a motion to have a single case sealed in a single county is $65.00.  The cost to have multiple cases sealed in a single county is $224.00.  It might make more sense to file 3 motions instead of one petition if you have 3 or fewer cases in a county.  However, if you do this you'll have 3 x the paperwork and will need to file copies of your motions with all the motions you file.  It might make sense to review the procedures below for both options before you make a decision on how you want to approach the filings.      

Filing is actually a fairly simple process.  You should already have the court(county, district, municipal) information.  Each court should have a clerks office.  Often the district and county court clerks office is combined.  You'll probably want to file the motion/petition with the prosecuting attorney before you file with the clerk.

When you file you'll provide the clerk with four documents:

• The motion/petition to seal
• The order granting the motion/petition
• The order denying the motion/petition
• The notice of a hearing

If you are filing motions or petitions in multiple districts/counties, you will want to make sure to provide copies of all motions/petitions to all courts and prosecuting attorneys.

If you are filing a fee waiver(s), you will want to file that at the same time you file the other paperwork mentioned above(motion/petition, orders, etc.).  Remember to check with the court on what supporting income documentation is required to be filed with the fee waiver.  

Once you've filed all of the paperwork,, there will be a wait time as things get processed by the court and through the prosecuting attorneys office.

Once you file the motion/petition the prosecuting attorney has roughly 35 days to object before the court can make a ruling on the case.  The amount of time that it will take for the court to rule will vary based on how full the court docket is.    However, once the court rules there will also be a wait time for getting the record sealed.  The court will direct the clerk to send the order to all of the record custodians listed on the motion/petition.  

If the prosecuting attorney objects or the court orders a hearing the amount of time could be significantly longer.  

If your motion is granted the court will notify you and you will receive a signed copy of the order to seal record(s) via mail.  Congratulations!  You're almost there.  There are some steps you will need to take to ensure that you get your records sealed.  

Records need to be sealed in a minimum of three different places and possibly more.  Records should be sealed in the following places:

1. County/district/municipal court
2. Arresting agency (police/sheriff, etc.)
3. Colorado Bureau of Investigation

Once your motion/petition is granted the court will order the clerk to seal the court records. That takes care of those. At the same time, the clerk will send a copy of the order to all of the agencies/locations you listed on the petition.

It's recommended that you follow up with all of the records custodians(police, sheriff, CBI, etc.) about two weeks after the order is signed to ensure they received the order.  If they did not, you can send it to them as well.  

Finally, you'll need to contact the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and pay their fee to have your records sealed.  

The process post-order could take between 30 and 60 days before everything is sealed.

If you received a notice of hearing, that means that you will need to go to court and demonstrate to the judge that your record should be sealed.  

The challenge with going into court pro se(meaning you are representing yourself) is that you are bound to the same rules as the prosecuting attorney.  For this reason, you'll want to be prepared before you get into court. 

The three reasons for a court hearing:

 The District Attorney objects to the Motion.

The Defendant is seeking to seal an offense that is a crime enumerated in C.R.S. § 24- 4.1-302, and the District Attorney has informed the Court that the victim objects and requests a hearing;

For more information on this see here: 

The Defendant is seeking to seal an offense pursuant to § 24-72-706(1)(f)(IV), C.R.S., and a hearing is required by the applicable statute.   These could be convictions that are not naturally sealable under 24-72-706 to 709 (such as misdemeanors listed here)

Going to court can be a scary process.  Here are a couple of helpful tips that may be useful.  

1.  Remember that this is an opportunity.  You can show to the judge and the prosecuting attorney that your record warrants sealing.

This is what you need to demonstrate to the court through clear and convincing evidence: 

1. The need for sealing the record is significant.

2. Enough time has passed that you are no longer a threat to public safety.

3.  The record no longer needs to be made available to the public to inform the public.

If your motion/petition is denied the first thing you will want to do is determine why it was denied.  

The two possible outcomes on the order denying the motion are:

•  The motion, on its face, is insufficient. 

If the motion, on its face, is insufficient this might mean that you failed to complete the motion in a way that made it sufficient for a judge to even consider the motion.  

The second outcome:

After review of matters outside the motion, the Defendant is not entitled to relief under C.R.S. §§ 24-72-706 to 710.   

This could mean that the motion/petition was considered but that you failed to meet the requirements in C.R.S. §§ 24-72-706 to 710.  For example, maybe you had too many of a certain type of conviction that rendered your records not sealable.  Or possibly that you did not demonstrate at a hearing that the following are true:

1. The need for sealing the record is significant.

2. Enough time has passed that you are no longer a threat to public safety.

3.  The record no longer needs to be made available to the public.

     The order denying the record sealing will indicate why your record(s) were not sealed.  This will be important information if you choose to attempt to seal your record(s) at a later date.  

You can motion/petition the court every 12 months to have your record sealed unless the court indicates otherwise.

With multiple convictions(less than 4) can I file motions for each to save money instead of paying the $224.00 for the petition? 

Yes, you can file multiple motions instead of one petition.  It becomes more cost- effective to file a petition when you have 4 or more cases in a single county.  Otherwise, it makes more sense to file 3 or fewer motions.  It's more paperwork though, which may factor into your decision.  You also have to file copies of each motion/petition with all of the other motions/petitions you are filing.  

How long does it take to get a record sealed? 

This will vary significantly depending upon your individual circumstances.  An estimate could be 3-4 months.  This breaks down to about a month to complete the research and paperwork. A month for the prosecuting attorney to weigh in and a month for the court to rule.  Finally, figure about 45 days for the record custodians to seal your convictions.  If the prosecuting attorney objects or the court orders a hearing it could take longer.  

How do I know which court to file in?

For most Colorado counties the district court and the county courts are combined.  However, this is not the case for Denver County.  If you have cases in Denver County you will want to determine where they are.  Contacting the clerk of the court is probably the best route to go.  For information on Denver county click here.    

I have multiple convictions in multiple counties.  Can I file a motion in one and a petition in another? 

If you have a single conviction in one county and single or multiple convictions in other counties you will want to use the motion (for a single case) or a petition (for multiple cases) and file copies of each into every case that you are looking to have sealed,  

I have convictions in counties not listed here.  What do I do?

We will be adding additional counties as time permits.  In the mean-time, you could reach out to the county clerk in the county where the case resides and ask them for instructions on how to obtain case information.  The motions/petitions/orders shouldn't change and can be used for any county.

I cannot find the arrest number. What do I do?

You'll want to contact the arresting agency directly to determine what the arrest/incident number is.  For information on arresting agencies click here.