How much does it cost to seal your record in Colorado?

Colorado courts charge no fee to seal a criminal record for a case that results in a dismissal or acquittal. The fee to seal convictions is $65. In addition, you will end up spending up to $20 on retrieving your criminal record (the first step of getting a seal) and about $5 on postage when you mail out the “order to seal” (the final step of getting a seal). Note there is no court fee for expunging juvenile records or underage DUIs. There is also no court fee if you wait for the state to seal your records automatically, but this can take several extra years. It is worth paying for a seal as soon as you are eligible.¹

Fee Waivers

For a record seal fee waiver in Colorado, fill out court form JDF 205 and file it with the court. If they find that you are indigent, any filing fees should be waived or reduced.

Record Seal Procedure

Getting a Colorado record seal is a five-step process:

1. Obtain a copy of your criminal record from the police agency that arrested or cited you.
2. Obtain a copy of your criminal history from the Colorado Bureau of Investigations (CBI).
3. Fill out the appropriate petition to seal form (listed in the table below) and file it with the court that your case was in.
4. Wait for the court to accept or deny the petition. In rare cases, the court will require a hearing before deciding whether to order a seal.
5. If the court grants you an order to seal, mail a copy of the order to all the state agencies that have your record on file (such as the CBI and police department).

Colorado Record to be Sealed or Expunged	Form and Filing Cost
Arrest records with no charges	JDF 417 – Free
Dismissals or acquittals	JDF 477 – Free
One conviction	JDF 612 – $65
Multiple convictions	JDF 641 – $65
Underage DUI convictions (UDD) with a BAL of .02% to .05%.	JDF 305 – Free
Juvenile records	JDF 302 – Free

Sealing vs. Expunging

In Colorado, expunging records is physically destroying the record as if it never existed. Sealing is simply making the record invisible to most databases, but it still exists. Ultimately, sealing and expunging serve the same purpose: to ensure a clean background check. Colorado law permits eligible people to seal – but not expunge – their criminal records. The only records that can be expunged are juvenile records and underage drinking and driving.²

Waiting Period to Seal

The waiting period to seal Colorado criminal records depends on the case:

Colorado Conviction	Record Seal/Expungement Waiting Period
Dismissals or acquittals (no conviction)	Right away
Civil infraction Petty offense Petty drug offense	1 year after the case ends
Multiple eligible petty offenses and/or petty drug offenses Class 2 misdemeanor or class 3 misdemeanor Drug misdemeanor Level 4 drug felony pursuant to CRS 18-18-403.5	2 years after the last case ends
Class 4 felony, class 5 felony, or class 6 felony Class 1 misdemeanor Level 3 drug felony or level 4 drug felony (not including those pursuant to CRS 18-18-403.5)	3 years after the case ends
Multiple eligible misdemeanors, misdemeanor drug offenses, and/or level 4 drug felonies Level 2 drug felony or any other eligible offense	5 years after the last case ends
Multiple eligible felonies and/or drug felonies	10 years after the last case ends
Most municipal and misdemeanor crimes by victims of human trafficking	Immediately
Underage DUI convictions (UDD) with a BAL of .02 to .05.	Right away after age 21
Most juvenile records	Up to 5 years depending on the case (dismissals and acquittals can be expunged right away)

Meanwhile, the following convictions can never be sealed and must remain on your record forever:

• Sex crimes
• DUIs
• Class 1 felonies, class 2 felonies, and class 3 felonies
• Level 1 drug felonies
• Domestic violence convictions (including domestic violence harassment)
• Class 1 misdemeanor traffic offenses and class 2 misdemeanor traffic offenses
• Class A traffic infractions and class B traffic infractions
• Crimes involving a commercial driver’s license

Courts can grant your request to seal a normally unsealable misdemeanor conviction in extenuating cases.³

Automatic Record Seals

If you do not petition to seal your Colorado criminal records yourself, the state will eventually seal them for free. The more serious the case, the longer the waiting period:

• Arrests with no charges: 1 year and 60 days after the arrest.
• Non-convictions: Immediately upon the dismissal or acquittal.
• Civil infractions: 4 years after the case closes.
• Petty offense convictions: 7 years after the case closes.
• Misdemeanor convictions: 7 years after the case closes.
• Felony convictions: 10 years after the case closes.⁴

Hire an Attorney

It is very easy to make mistakes on the record-sealing petition that will set back the entire process to square one. Plus, state agencies are much more likely to comply quickly with an “order to seal” if they see it is mailed from an attorney. Hiring an experienced Colorado criminal defense attorney maximizes the odds of getting your record sealed on the first try and as soon as possible.

Additional Reading

For more information, see our related articles:

• Expunge vs. Seal criminal records in Colorado – An explanation of how sealing compares to expunging.
• Colorado Criminal Records – 5 key things to know – Overview of how record sealing works.
• Who can see a sealed record in Colorado? – Discussion of who can see sealed records and when.
• Collateral relief in Colorado– Guide to how courts can order collateral relief – including record seals – to help defendants reintegrate into society.

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Legal References