Record Sealings
Generally speaking, Colorado law enforcement and court records on adults are public records—that is, the records may be searched and viewed by any member of the public, including prospective employers, landlords and anyone else. The availability of these records could cause serious consequences for a person with a criminal history who, for example, is looking for a new job or apartment. In many situations, these consequences may be prevented by having arrest and/or criminal records sealed.
If eligible, law enforcement, prosecution, court and other related records may be sealed under Colorado law. Sealing your records does not make them go away, but sealing does take away the public's access to the records. In most instances, sealing also allows you to legally say that the records do not exist.
Your records may be eligible for a record sealing if there was an arrest, but no charges were filed; if charges were filed, but the criminal case against you was later dismissed or you were acquitted at trial; or if you have a conviction for underage possession of alcohol. As of July 1, 2008, records of convictions for offenses involving controlled substances may also be eligible for sealing. Unfortunately, records related to convictions for other criminal offenses and records related to most traffic offenses are not eligible for sealing under Colorado law.
For a record to be sealed in Colorado, a petition and other documents must be completed and filed in the county where the law enforcement contact occurred and charges (if any) were filed. While some people attempt to seal their records without the help of an experienced lawyer, that can be a mistake. The process of petitioning for the court for sealing involves a series of rules that must be followed exactly before an order to seal will be entered, and often those rules vary considerably from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In addition, it is generally the responsibility of the person requesting the sealing to identify and notify the proper agencies of the petition and the records to be sealed and, if entered by the court, the sealing order. In short, if a records sealing is not done properly, it may as well not be done at all.