Your criminal case is over. You finished probation, paid what you owed, and moved on. Then you apply for a job or an apartment, and the old case shows up on a background check.
Sometimes there was no conviction at all. The prosecutor dismissed the charges, or a jury found you not guilty. The arrest still creates a problem.
Colorado law allows many criminal records to be sealed. Some qualify for automatic sealing. Others require a motion, notice to the prosecutor, and sometimes a hearing. The answer depends on what happened in your case, when it ended, and what else is on your record.
As a former El Paso County prosecutor and a Colorado Springs criminal defense attorney, I approach this by looking at the actual court records. The charge listed on a background check rarely tells the whole story.
Quick Summary: Who Is Eligible to Seal a Criminal Record in Colorado?
- Dismissed cases and acquittals: If all charges are dismissed or you are found not guilty of every count, your record may qualify for automatic sealing. Eligible completed diversion agreements and deferred judgments may also qualify, subject to statutory exceptions.
- Arrests without charges: You may qualify to seal arrest records if no charges were filed and the applicable legal requirements are met, such as the end of the investigation or expiration of the statute of limitations.
- Eligible criminal convictions: Many petty offenses, misdemeanors, and certain felony convictions may qualify for sealing after a waiting period. Depending on the offense, the general period for filing a motion is 1, 2, 3, or 5 years after the later of final disposition or release from supervision.
- Automatic sealing under Colorado’s Clean Slate process: Certain eligible convictions may be sealed automatically after 4 years for civil infractions, 7 years for eligible petty offenses and misdemeanors, or 10 years for eligible felonies. Eligibility and starting dates vary by record type.
- Offenses with restrictions: DUI/DWAI convictions, crimes of violence, certain sex offenses, child abuse offenses, and other excluded convictions generally cannot be sealed through the ordinary conviction-sealing process. Some otherwise excluded misdemeanors may qualify with prosecutor consent or a court’s specific findings.
- Other eligibility requirements: Outstanding restitution can prevent conviction sealing, and later convictions may affect eligibility. Multiple convictions may require a separate legal process. Check the applicable statute and your court records before filing.
Colorado’s sealing rules depend on the offense, case outcome, and applicable statutory exceptions. Review the current Colorado Judicial Branch sealing forms and eligibility guidance or consult a Colorado attorney to determine whether your record qualifies.
What Does Sealing a Criminal Record Actually Do?
Sealing restricts public access to the record. It does not destroy the record, overturn the conviction, or act as a pardon.
For ordinary employment and housing applications covered by Colorado’s sealing law, you generally do not have to disclose the sealed record. You may deny the sealed conviction as the statute allows. That does not permit you to deny other convictions that remain public.
There are exceptions. Courts, prosecutors, law enforcement, and certain parties or agencies legally required to conduct criminal history checks can still access and use sealed records. Professional licensing can involve separate disclosure requirements.
Sealing and expungement are also different legal processes. Most adult criminal cases involve sealing. Expungement applies in narrower circumstances, including qualifying mistaken-identity arrests under C.R.S. § 24-72-702. Juvenile records follow separate rules. [1]
Can You Seal a Dismissed Case or a Not-Guilty Verdict?
Generally, eligible cases should be sealed without a separate written request when the entire case is dismissed, you are acquitted of every count, you complete diversion after charges were filed, or you successfully complete a deferred judgment and all counts are dismissed.
Those rules come from C.R.S. § 24-72-705. They did not first begin in July 2025. The separate July 2025 provision directed the courts to identify and seal qualifying older deferred judgments, acquittals, and diversion cases resolved before August 2022. [1][2]
There are exceptions. A charge dismissed in exchange for a conviction in another case does not necessarily qualify for immediate sealing. A case containing both a completed deferred judgment and a conviction also requires closer review. Certain traffic-only cases, specified deferred judgments, and dismissals under particular competency statutes face additional restrictions.
The practical point is simple: a dismissal is a reason to check eligibility, not proof that every record has already been sealed.
A criminal charge being dismissed in Colorado does not automatically mean the record is sealed, so knowing how criminal charges can be dismissed in Colorado can help you understand what happens to your record next.
If automatic sealing should have occurred but did not, the law provides a way to request it without the usual filing charges. Confirm the order with the court and check which agencies received it.
What If You Were Arrested but Never Charged?
For arrests on or after January 1, 2022, CBI generally must seal an arrest record in its custody when no charges have been filed within one year. The statute allows another 60 days to complete that sealing.
That rule concerns CBI’s records. It does not, by itself, establish that every police report or record held elsewhere has been sealed. CBI must also unseal its record if it later receives notice that charges were filed.
Older arrests follow different schedules. A court petition may also be available when the statute of limitations has expired, the investigation has ended without charges, or you completed qualifying diversion without a filed case. C.R.S. § 24-72-704 governs these situations. [1]
How Long Do You Have to Wait to Seal a Conviction?
For the ordinary single-case process under C.R.S. § 24-72-706, these are the general waiting periods:
| Eligible offense | General wait before filing |
|---|---|
| Civil infraction, petty offense, or drug petty offense | 1 year |
| Class 2 or older class 3 misdemeanor; drug misdemeanor | 2 years |
| Level 4 drug felony under C.R.S. § 18-18-403.5(2.5) | 2 years |
| Class 1 misdemeanor; class 4, 5, or 6 felony; level 3 or other level 4 drug felony | 3 years |
| Other offenses eligible under the statute | 5 years |
For these general categories, the clock starts at the later of final disposition of the proceedings or release from supervision. Specific offenses and other sealing statutes have different rules.
Suppose your eligible class 1 misdemeanor case ended in October 2022, but probation continued until October 2023. The ordinary three-year waiting period would run from the end of probation, making October 2026 the relevant date.
The table does not mean every offense in those classifications qualifies. A class 4 felony, for example, may still fall within an exclusion. [1]
Understanding how long a criminal charge stays on your record depends on the offense, the case’s final disposition, and when supervision ends, as these factors can affect the waiting period for record sealing.
What Else Affects Eligibility?
Outstanding restitution generally prevents conviction sealing unless the restitution order has been vacated. Unpaid fines, court costs, late fees, and other court fees are treated differently. The court cannot use those unpaid amounts to deny sealing under the general provisions.
Your later criminal history matters, too. The ordinary single-case process generally requires no intervening conviction during the applicable period. But a later conviction does not always end the inquiry.
C.R.S. § 24-72-709 provides a separate process for some people with multiple convictions who cannot qualify because of an intervening conviction. It has its own waiting periods, offense restrictions, and limits on the number of convictions. It is more than a way to combine several motions into one filing.
Older plea agreements also need review. Current law prohibits requiring a waiver of the right to file a sealing motion as a plea condition, but an older waiver may still affect eligibility. [1]
Will Colorado Seal Your Conviction Automatically?
Colorado’s Clean Slate process can seal eligible convictions without an individual motion. The general automatic waiting periods are:
| Eligible record | General automatic waiting period |
|---|---|
| Civil infraction | 4 years |
| Petty offense or misdemeanor, including eligible drug offenses | 7 years |
| Eligible felony, including eligible drug felonies | 10 years |
The starting date is not identical for every category. Civil infractions and petty or misdemeanor cases generally use final disposition. Eligible non-drug felonies use the later of final disposition or release from supervision. The drug-conviction provision uses disposition of the case.
Automatic sealing also has narrower eligibility rules than an individual motion. For example, the non-drug automatic process excludes offenses covered by the Victim Rights Act, including misdemeanors that might qualify through a court motion.
Pending charges, intervening convictions, other statutory exclusions, and some older plea agreements can prevent automatic sealing. For eligible non-drug felonies, the district attorney can also raise a supported public-interest or public-safety objection.
You do not have to wait seven or ten years if you already qualify to file a motion. Filing may allow you to seal the record years earlier. [2]
How Do You Check Whether Your Record Is Sealed?
The Colorado Judicial Branch offers a Sealed Case Search. Read its limits before relying on the result.
The search is intended to confirm convictions automatically sealed under C.R.S. § 13-3-117. It does not confirm every sealing order. The Judicial Branch specifically excludes cases sealed through an individual motion and eligible non-conviction cases sealed automatically.
A missing result does not establish that your case remains public. You may need to contact the court and obtain the sealing order.
The tool is also restricted to the defendant. If you are checking your own record, follow the site’s identity requirements. Automatic conviction sealing orders are not routinely mailed to defendants, so checking can matter. [2][3]
Which Convictions Are Excluded?
The ordinary conviction-sealing statute excludes several categories, including DUI and DWAI convictions, specified traffic offenses and infractions, offenses involving unlawful sexual behavior, child abuse, and convictions whose underlying facts involve domestic violence.
It also excludes crimes of violence, specified aggravated or extraordinary-risk felony sentences, felony Victim Rights Act offenses, and most class 1, 2, and 3 felonies and level 1 drug felonies. Other exclusions apply. The complete statute matters more than a short online list. [1]
There is a potential exception for otherwise excluded misdemeanor and petty offenses under C.R.S. § 24-72-706(2)(b). Relief may be available if the district attorney consents or the judge finds, by clear and convincing evidence, that your need for sealing is significant and substantial, enough time has passed that you are no longer a public-safety threat, and public disclosure is no longer needed to protect or inform the public.
That exception can matter in a misdemeanor domestic violence case. It requires a case-specific review and does not override every separate statutory restriction, including restrictions governing traffic-only cases. It is not a reason to assume a DUI conviction can be sealed.
For a contested request, documentation of denied employment, housing problems, or licensing consequences can help explain why sealing matters.
What Happens When You File a Motion?
For an ordinary state conviction in El Paso County, you generally file in the existing criminal case. Colorado Springs Municipal Court convictions use a separate statute, C.R.S. § 24-72-708, with different requirements.
Start by confirming eligibility and obtaining a current criminal history. For the ordinary conviction process, the report must be current through at least 20 days before filing. The Judicial Branch’s instructions tell applicants to begin filing within 20 days of obtaining the report.
Use the current Seal My Case forms, including JDF 612 for a single county or district court conviction case. Identify the agencies holding your records and provide accurate addresses. Send the prosecutor a copy.
The statutory processing fee under § 24-72-706 is $65. The court must waive it if you qualify as indigent or establish that the records should already have been automatically sealed. Criminal-history and other applicable costs may be separate.
A hearing is not required in every case. The offense, the prosecutor’s position, and applicable victim rights affect the procedure. When the judge must weigh the competing interests, the question is whether the harm to your privacy or the danger of unwarranted adverse consequences outweighs the public interest in access.
If the request is granted, the court sends the order to the listed custodians. Keep a copy and follow up if records continue to appear. [1][4]
Does Sealing Remove Old Background-Check Reports?
An order does not make every previously collected copy disappear immediately.
Colorado law allows you to provide the sealing order to a private records custodian. A private custodian receiving the order must remove the covered records from its database and keep any retained records confidential as the statute requires.
If a background-check company continues reporting a sealed case, obtain the report, identify the source, and provide the order. The court’s order and compliance with that order are separate things.
Sealed conviction records can also be unsealed. Under the general rule, a new criminal conviction requires the court to unseal previously sealed conviction records. That is not a blanket rule for every sealed arrest or dismissal. Special provisions also create exceptions, including records sealed because a statutory change made the conduct lawful. [1]
Talk with a Colorado Springs Record-Sealing Attorney
Before you pay to file anything, find out whether your case is already sealed, whether it qualifies now, and which process applies.
We can review the charges, final disposition, supervision dates, restitution, and later criminal history. If a hearing is needed, we can explain the evidence the court will consider and prepare the request.
An old case may be eligible even if someone told you years ago that it could never be sealed. Colorado’s law has changed. The current rules and your actual record should determine the answer.
Contact McDowell Law Firm at 719-227-0022 to discuss sealing a criminal record in Colorado Springs or El Paso County.
Sources
[1] Colorado Revised Statutes 2026, Title 24, §§ 24-72-702 through 24-72-711. See especially § 24-72-703 for disclosure, access, exclusions, and unsealing; § 24-72-704 for uncharged arrests; § 24-72-705 for non-convictions; § 24-72-706 for single-case convictions; and §§ 24-72-708 and 24-72-709 for municipal and multiple-conviction cases.
[2] Colorado Revised Statutes 2026, Title 13, § 13-3-117.
[3] Colorado Judicial Branch, Sealed Case Search.
[4] Colorado Judicial Branch, JDF 611: Guide to Sealing Conviction Records, revised July 1, 2025.
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