Colorado Case Number Lookup: Format, Search, and Records

A Colorado case number lookup starts at the Judicial Branch’s free Docket Search at coloradojudicial.gov, which covers county, district, and appellate courts across all 22 judicial districts. Enter the case number, or a party name plus a county or district, and the system returns the case’s register of actions: the chronological log of filings, hearings, and orders. It does not return copies of the filed documents themselves.

What a Colorado Case Number Looks Like

Case numbers in Colorado follow a consistent pattern: a two- or four-digit filing year, a letter code identifying the case type, and a sequence number. A criminal case might read 16CR01234, where “16” is the filing year and “CR” flags it as criminal. A misdemeanor could appear as 17M1234, and a juvenile delinquency case as 15JD7891. Other common letter codes include CV for civil, DR for domestic relations, and GS for general sessions.¹

The sequence number’s length is not uniform between counties or case types, so type it exactly as it appears on any paperwork you already have. A leading zero matters.

Running the Search

Open the Docket Search page on coloradojudicial.gov.² The form has dropdown menus for judicial district and county alongside fields for case number and party name. The system requires at least one filter beyond a date range before it will run the query.

With a case number in hand, drop it into the case number field and search. This is the most reliable method and usually returns a single match. Without one, search by party name using the person’s full legal name, spelled correctly. Selecting the county or judicial district where the case was filed cuts down noise from statewide results; the portal covers 64 counties from Adams to Yuma, plus separate listings for Denver District, Denver Juvenile, and Denver Probate courts.²

Click any result to open the case view, which lists the parties, case type, presiding judge, current status, and the logged events.

Reading the Results

What you’re looking at is called the register of actions, a chronological list of everything filed or ordered in the case. You’ll see entries such as motions, scheduled hearings, orders, and judgments, along with the parties’ names and the case status.

A few status terms come up often:

Open or Active: the case is still being litigated.
Closed: the case has been resolved through judgment, dismissal, or settlement.
Stayed: a court order has temporarily paused the proceedings.³

Here is the point that trips people up. The docket is a log of what happened, not a file cabinet. You will see an entry like “Motion to Dismiss filed,” but the brief itself is not available for download through the free portal.⁴ To read the actual filings, you have to request them separately.

Third-Party Vendors for a Fuller View

For a more detailed register of actions, the Judicial Branch’s Access Guide points to three authorized commercial vendors that pull real-time data from the state’s electronic database: Background Information Services, LexisNexis (through cocourts.com), and Tessera Data.⁴ Each sets its own access fees. Their coverage includes civil, small claims, domestic, felony, misdemeanor, and traffic cases in county and district courts. Even these vendors show docket entries and case summaries only, not document images.

Getting Copies of the Actual Documents

Two routes work.

The first is the Judicial Branch’s online records request form, linked from its Access Guide to Public Records page. It handles requests for divorce decrees, case dispositions, and other case-specific records. Once you submit, the relevant court contacts you with instructions and any fees.⁴

The second is contacting the clerk of court directly at the courthouse where the case was filed. That is often the faster path for straightforward requests, and it’s the only option for records that require in-person verification. Statutory copy fees:

Certified copies: $20 per document.
Uncertified single-sided copies: $0.25 per page.
Uncertified double-sided copies: $0.50 per page.
Parties to the case: $15 maximum for copy fees.⁵

Many court filing fees increased on January 1, 2025, under House Bill 2024-1286, so confirm the current amount with the specific court before submitting a large request.⁵

Older Cases

Cases filed before the court’s electronic system went live are not in the database. For those, contact the clerk of court in the county where the case was filed. Staff search time for non-digitized records is an additional cost that varies by courthouse.

Cases and Data That Won’t Show Up

Some records are sealed, suppressed, or excluded from public view under Colorado’s Chief Justice Directive 05-01.⁶ A sealed record is accessible only to judges and authorized court staff; anyone else needs a court order. A suppressed record is accessible to the parties and their attorneys, but no one else without a court order.

Entire case types are excluded from public access:

Juvenile delinquency cases
Dependency and neglect cases
Truancy cases
Mental health cases
Judicial bypass proceedings

For those, court staff can disclose only the case number and next court date in response to a name inquiry.⁶

Domestic relations cases are publicly listed, but financial statements, affidavits, and detailed account data inside them are suppressed and blocked from remote electronic access. You may still be able to view that financial material in paper form at the courthouse.⁶

Criminal records can be sealed after a case closes. Colorado allows sealing of many conviction records, but a substantial list of offenses cannot be sealed, including DUIs, domestic violence offenses, sexual offenses, crimes of violence, and felonies covered by the Victim Rights Act.⁷

Even when a record is public, certain personal identifiers are redacted from any copy you receive: Social Security numbers (including partial SSNs), financial account numbers (unless only the last four digits appear), tax identification numbers, driver’s license numbers, and other personal identification numbers such as passport or state ID numbers.⁶

Municipal Cases Are a Separate System

City-level cases such as ordinance violations, minor traffic offenses, and low-level criminal matters handled by a municipal court are generally not in the statewide Docket Search or the vendor databases. The Colorado General Assembly has encouraged cities to integrate their records into the state system, but participation is not universal.⁸

To find a municipal case, go to the specific city’s court. Some larger cities run their own portals. Denver County Court, for example, has a public case search that accepts a case number, arrest booking number, or party name, though name searches return only cases with active future court dates.⁹ For smaller cities, call or visit the municipal court clerk.

Federal Cases Filed in Colorado

If the case is federal (a federal criminal prosecution, a bankruptcy, a civil rights lawsuit, or any matter under federal law) it will not appear in the state Docket Search. Federal cases filed in the U.S. District Court of Colorado live in PACER, the separate system run by the federal judiciary.¹⁰

PACER does something the state system does not: it provides downloadable document images, not just docket entries. Access costs $0.10 per page, capped at the equivalent of 30 pages per document. If your total charges stay at $30 or less in a quarterly billing cycle, the fees are waived automatically.¹¹ Parties and their attorneys of record also get one free look at each electronically filed document. You’ll need to register at pacer.uscourts.gov before searching.¹⁰

1
Denver DA. Find My Courtroom or Case
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Colorado Judicial Branch. Docket Search
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Colorado Judicial Branch. Glossary of Legal Terms
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Colorado Judicial Branch. Access Guide to Public Records
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Colorado Judicial Branch. List of Fees
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Colorado Judicial Branch. Chief Justice Directive 05-01 Concerning Access to Court Records
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Colorado Judicial Branch. Sealing Criminal Records – April 2025
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Justia Law. Colorado Code Title 16 – Integrated Court Online Network
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Denver County Court. Quick Search – Public Portal
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U.S. District Court of Colorado. Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER)
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United States Courts. Electronic Public Access Fee Schedule