Colorado Public Records: How to Perform a Colorado Public Records Search

The state of Colorado operates an easy accessibility approach to the subject of access to public records, for the most part. 

They make Colorado public records open to the collection by government sources, third parties, and persons authorized by court orders.

In this article, we discuss the process that is obtainable as regards searching for public records in Colorado. 

You should learn about where to look for some of the most commonly sought-after public records in Colorado and how to go about finding them.

How to Find Colorado Public Records?

As mentioned above, you can use the services of authorized authorities to find public records in Colorado. 

If you need to find a particular record, like a birth certificate, this is the recommended approach. 

However, if you want to perform a complete search on an individual, a public records search directory is the way to go. 

You can perform a Colorado free public records search with bakcgroundcheck.co to get a complete Colorado public records profile. 

Colorado Public Records Search: Criminal Records in Colorado

A host of public agencies such as the courts, the office of the Sheriff, the police department, and other law enforcement agencies will most often serve as the best places to find criminal records. 

Most of the aforementioned sources provide online means by which people can search their criminal history and then copy their criminal records.

Then there's the Colorado Bureau of Investigation whose official website features a Criminal History Check System where people can run personal background checks mostly through name-based or offender number-based searches. 

There, you can find arrest information, important criminal case information, warrants, and personal information of the search subject.

You can obtain a copy of your criminal record for a $6.85 fee after providing your first and last name, and birth date and then proving tangible interest in the record in question. 

Colorado Public Records Search: Court Records

Court records are primarily domiciled in the custody of the court clerk in whose courts a case was heard. 

They keep copies of the judgment along with other relevant information in case records that are incorporated into both print and electronic archives as applicable. 

The Colorado Judicial Branch runs a website where you can find a Court Docket Search tool, helpful in finding cases heard at the County and District level. You can run a case search against your case number, first and last name, attorney bar number, etc.

You may find its online Record/Document Request form page come in handy for finding court records and transcripts of court judgments, with the latter going for $25. 

Case records from District and county courts can also be found in the Colorado State Archives by providing the case numbers and copy fees in mailed requests, online requests, and in-person requests, with the latter not requiring a fee. 

Colorado Public Records Search: Vital Records

The term "Vital Records" is used to broadly classify birth records, death records, marriage records, and divorce records as obtainable in the US. 

In Colorado, in particular, these vital records are maintained by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, as specified by the Colorado Vital Statistics Regulation.

Request for access to these Colorado public records is assented to and ratified by the aforementioned government agency, as you'll find out shortly. 

However, only a certain set of people can be granted access to these vital records. 

This is discussed next, along with what it takes to obtain these records in Colorado. 

Colorado Public Records Search: Marriage & Divorce Records

While the overall custodian of marriage records in Colorado is the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, these records are primarily kept in the possession of the county clerk/recorder responsible for issuing the marriage license. 

It is best advised to contact the county in question to book an appointment with the clerk before visiting their office.

You may only have to send in a mailed request with the application packet, the necessary payments, and all relevant documents required for your request to be granted. 

Requesters must come along with a government-issued ID to prove them eligible for viewing the record. 

It must present you as a family member or a legal representative of the record holder, a person named in the record, or a person bearing a court order that grants them access to view the affected record.

For divorce records, requesters must also tow this same path while making their case. 

They get to contact the courthouse responsible for issuing the divorce decree, submit their request application form along with their identification details, and then pay the fees as applicable. 

The application form will have entries for providing the parties to the divorce, the county where the divorce record was issued, and a few dates. 

If the courthouse in question maintains an online database of the records in their custody, you may search for the sought-after divorce records by providing your case number and other requested details in the search fields. 

Colorado Public Records Search: Birth & Death Records

The Vital Records office keeps birth records that have been issued since 1905. 

They allow eligible persons to view and obtain these public records as well as contain a replacement birth certificate. 

The request can be delivered by mail or via phone, or in person at the Vital Records office.

In all of these cases, they must be accompanied by the presentation of a valid government-issued ID and the payment of the applicable fees—$20 for the first copy and an extra $13 for each extra copy, as long as the extra copy was obtained in concert with each other.

These same fees typically apply to request for death records-based requests and the process involved in filing them.

 However, only death records post-1964 are available for pickup. The death record request form must contain the requester's identification details.