Records & Data Requests
Where the Denver County Court is the custodian of the record or data, the release of that information is governed by various Colorado State Statutes regarding open records, public records, and criminal justice records; as well as the Denver Revised Municipal Code, and Chief Justice Directive 05-01 as issued by the Colorado Supreme Court. Certain information in the court’s possession is confidential or otherwise restricted by law, rule, or directive, and cannot be disclosed. Record and data requests are processed in the order in which they are received.
Criminal Justice Records and Public Records have different definitions, are available to different types of groups, and have different response times allowed by law for fulfilling those requests.
Record Requests
Public Records Search
For information on public court records, please access the Public Portal – Court Services
Copy Request
In general, paper copies of a document or case are assessed at a cost of $0.25 cents per page and certified copies of a document are assessed an additional $20.00 per document for the certification. Electronic copies are provided free of charge in most cases. General information, copies of documents and certified copies can be obtained by contacting the appropriate Clerk’s office for your case:
- Criminal & Municipal Divisions – Lindsey-Flanigan Courthouse
- Traffic & Civil Divisions – City & County Building
Sealed Records
Records and cases that are sealed are generally not available to the public or many government agencies, but remain available to the parties to the case, their attorneys, and in criminal matters, remain available to criminal justice agencies. Data that has been deidentified and aggregated may also be available to a requesting party. In civil evictions and criminal cases, current Colorado law also allows for an attorney who is not the current attorney on these sealed cases, to be granted access to a sealed case by providing proof that the relevant party to the case wishes to grant them that access.
Transcript Requests
To request a transcript please complete our online Transcript Request Form.
Your transcript request will be assigned to the next available transcriber, who will review the length of the hearing(s) you requested and calculate an estimated cost. Payment for a transcript must be made directly to the transcriber as they are an independent organization, and the court cannot accept or waive fees on their behalf.
Transcript requests are processed in the order in which they are received.
Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) & Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act (CCJRA)
The Denver County Court (DCC) is committed to transparency and open government. The following policy was developed in order to implement the Colorado Open Records Act (“CORA”) (sections 24‐72‐201 to 206, C.R.S.) and the Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act (“CCJRA”) (sections 24-72-301 to 309, C.R.S.), and the Supreme Court of Colorado Office of the Chief Justice Directive Concerning Access to Court Records (Chief Justice Directive 05-01) in a uniform manner and better serve the people of Colorado.
This policy is designed to help DCC balance the above requirements and DCC’S constitutional and statutory obligations. This policy helps ensure DCC complies in all respects with the CORA, the CCJRA, and Chief Justice Directive and meets all of its constitutional and statutory duties to the People of Denver in an orderly and expeditious manner. This policy does not apply to records requests when the custodian of records is not DCC.
Since the Denver County Court is a criminal justice agency, many of its records will be criminal justice records, and therefore record requests will generally fall under the provisions of the CCJRA. The recommended response times in CORA are not applicable to records covered by the CCJRA. Further, under CCJRA, with the exception of records of “official action,” as defined by statute, the disclosure of other criminal justice records is at the discretion of the custodian, and may be denied where the custodian believes disclosure would be contrary to the public interest.
Procedure for Submitting Records & Data Requests
Denver County Court will only accept record requests made in writing which can be submitted: by email coradatarequests@denvercountycourt.org, in person at the Lindsey-Flanigan Courthouse or the City & County Building, or via U.S. Mail to 1437 Bannock Street, Attention: Record Request, Denver, CO 80202. DCC will not accept record requests made over the telephone or via social media. Records requests that cite the federal Freedom of Information Act will be treated as though they were made pursuant to the CORA or the CCJRA (depending on the nature of the records being requested).
The Denver County Court receives a large number of criminal justice records annually, and many of these requests require time-consuming computer retrieval work, review, and many require redactions. Depending upon the amount and complexity of records requested, some requests may take weeks and even months to process and may have a cost associated with them as broad, general requests consume more staff time to fulfill the request.
The Denver County Court is not required to, nor will it create custom reports or compilations of computerized data, nor will it modify existing records in order to create a new record in response to a records request.
The Denver County Court is authorized by law to charge for the cost of producing records, which includes a charge per hour; and an additional fee per page for printed material. The court provides cost estimates to the requesting party prior to performing the work, and requires payment in full prior to releasing the records and data. Payments made my U.S. Mail can be tendered by check or money order only. Payments made in person can be made by cash, check, money order, or credit card.
Due to various compliance laws, the court can only accept credit card payments tendered in person.
Fees
Under sections 24‐72‐205(5)(a),(6) and -306(1), C.R.S., DCC is authorized to charge for the cost of producing records. DCC will provide up to 25 pages of printed materials for free, after which it will charge $0.25 per printed page. It similarly will charge $33.50 per hour for any request that takes more than one hour to fulfill — including time for locating, retrieving, reviewing, redacting, and copying materials.
In unusual cases, DCC may employ a third-party contractor. Should that be necessary, the Court will contact the requesting party to discuss the costs. Costs must be paid in full before DCC will release the records. Payment may be made by check or money order, made out to the (MANAGER OF FINANCE) – Denver County Court. DCC also accepts most major credit cards, however, we do not accept payment from services like PayPal, Venmo or ApplePay. Payment can be delivered through mail or in person. Credit cards can only be accepted if paid in-person.
Abandoned Records & Data Requests
Record and data requests are deemed to be abandoned if a party does not respond to the court’s request for clarification or scope of data within 10 days; or if a party fails to pay for a record request or fails to pick up a record request within 10 days. Once a request is abandoned, the party will need to file a new record request if they wish to obtain the records or data.
Additional Information
Denver County Court does not provide legal advice to the general public, nor does it have the authority to determine if another agency or office has improperly denied a CORA or CCJRA request, or to require another agency to release records.