Colorado Court Records

Accessing Colorado Court Records

Districts courts in Colorado have general jurisdiction over most criminal and civil cases, while the County and Municipal courts have limited jurisdiction over some criminal and civil cases. If you are trying to access some records from the court, you should know which court to approach precisely, because there are several of them in the state's judicial hierarchy.

Primarily courts have two functions. The first is of course to pass judgments to maintain law and order in the state, and the second is to preserve the records accurately and make them available to an applicant if the person is qualified to receive the record. It is because of this that the courts are often referred to as the custodians of both court records and personal records.

Why would someone want to access court records? These records are needed for many purposes. They are required for background checking, to get a document that is required to be submitted for some other purpose, and these records are also asked for to carry out genealogy research.

Accessing Colorado Court Records

Court records may be accessed in different ways. You may directly approach the Clerk of the appropriate courthouse and make an application requesting for the record. While making that application, do not forget to mention your relationship with the lawsuit or the people involved in it, and do always mention why you need the record. You must also submit the documents such as your photo ID proof. If you are visiting in person, you might have to stand in a queue, because often there is a lot of demand for these reports.

If you are unwilling to stand, then you can send a mail asking for it, and may also consider placing your request over the telephone. Yes, this will cost you some money, but you will save both in terms of time and hassles.

You may also find the records on the Internet. The state maintains a website where it uploads all the court records. You can search the website – but remember, the document you get here is not an official copy. But an online search is convenient. If you just need to see the record to get some information, then this might be the right thing for you. To search online, you are required to furnish the social security number of the person, and must mention the type of record you want. If you do not have the social security number, and cannot visit the Clerk's office, then you can do the search at the public library; this is one more option for you.

Information You Will Find in the Court Record

There are different types of records that the court maintains. And so the information you will find in these records will vary a lot too. For instance, you can access birth records, marriage records, divorce records, death records and the like. You can access the documents for each case and learn about the petitions, arguments and the judgments passed. You can also check the military and police records, criminal records, and will also be able to find out whether a business has ever been sued or not. There is a lot more information too.