Colorado Criminal Records

Colorado Criminal Records

The State central of repository of Colorado criminal records is the Colorado Bureau of
Investigation. As a division of the Colorado Department of Public Safety, it is in charge of all
Colorado criminal records checks. The computerized Colorado criminal records or computerized
criminal history (CCH) database contains detailed information of arrest records based upon
fingerprints provided by Colorado law enforcement agencies.

The State database of Colorado criminal records can only contain records of arrests which are
supported or accompanied by fingerprint cards. As mandated by law, criminal justice agencies or
law enforcement authorities are required to create fingerprint cards for every criminal arrest that
they make. Then, along with the fingerprints, these records are sent to the central repository to be
stored among the rest of the Colorado criminal records. Arrests that do not have accompanying
fingerprint cards are not included in the database. Furthermore, warrant information, sealed
records, and juvenile records are not available to the public.

What Information can you get from Colorado Criminal Records?

Colorado criminal records data is based on fingerprint submissions from law enforcement
agencies within the State of Colorado. Therefore, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation cannot
contain or disclose any information from other state or federal databases. As per State policy,
sealed records are confidential and are not released to the public. The same can also be said of
warrant information. Warrant information and criminal arrest information regarding juveniles is not
released to the public by the CBI. However, there are cases wherein the CBI is allowed to release
juvenile Colorado criminal records to the public by the arresting agency, the agency that filed the
case, or the court.

Some Information you need to conduct a Colorado Criminal Records Check

In order to conduct a Colorado criminal records check, you need a few pieces of information
about your subject. This shouldn't pose a problem for you if you're merely doing a self-check of
your Colorado criminal records. However, if you're employer trying to conduct a pre-employment
background check, then you would need to get the following information from your subject:

- First and last name of the subject is mandatory. Names are important since all Colorado
criminal records stored in the CBI database are indexed in alphabetical order by last
name.
- Date of birth is mandatory. The date of birth is provided in order to narrow down the
Colorado criminal records results. This could also help minimize cases of mistaken
identity.
- Social security number is optional. SSNs are unique for each individual therefore they are
considered of high value. Providing the SSN of your subject is helpful in your search for
Colorado criminal records.
- Additional identifiers such as gender and race of individual are helpful.

Colorado Criminal Records and Dispositions

When the Colorado Criminal Investigation database was first created, its original intention was
only to include Colorado criminal records of fingerprint-based arrests. Then around 1998, most
courts in the State of Colorado began providing dispositions where known. Thus, the CBI
database began to incorporate court dispositions into its index of Colorado criminal records. Still,
many CBI records do not show a final disposition. This may due to the fact that CBI has not
received official information from the court if charges were filed. Or if charges were reviewed and
declined, CBI has not received word of it from the District Attorney. Also, it may be because no
official information was sent by the arresting agency to CBI.