Checking Criminal History in La Plata County
No one database supplies a complete La Plata County criminal record. Start with a full name, exact date of birth when lawfully available, name variants, the event date, and any case or report number. The desired fact determines the source: court for filed charges and disposition, the arresting agency for its report, detention for recent custody, and CBI for a Colorado name-based repository history.
Use this order to avoid paying for a broad search when a direct office can answer the question.
- Search the Colorado Judicial Branch docket for a La Plata District or County Court appearance during its one-week window.
- Call the clerk at 970-247-2304 for an older case, register of actions, document inspection, or certified disposition.
- Check the La Plata detention channel for current county custody, then use CDOC after a transfer to state custody.
- Request the incident or arrest report from the agency that created it, not from CBI.
- Use CBI ICHC for a paid Colorado name-based history, and check the proper municipal court for a city citation.
The route runs from event to custodian: arresting agency › jail booking, when any › prosecutor filing › court disposition › CBI update. Each step creates a separate record.
Four La Plata County Arrest Records
A La Plata County arrest can produce four files that look related but answer different questions. The police or sheriff report describes the alleged event. La Plata Detention records custody intake. District or County Court records the charges a prosecutor files and the result. CBI links a qualifying fingerprint-supported arrest cycle to dispositions later reported by courts.
- Incident or arrest report
- The creating agency holds the officer narrative and event facts.
- Booking record
- La Plata Detention holds intake, bond, release, and current custody facts.
- Criminal case file
- The court clerk holds filed charges, hearings, disposition, and sentence.
- Repository history
- CBI holds Colorado arrest cycles and outcomes reported to it.
A booking charge can change at filing. An arrest is not a conviction. For the filed case and final result, use the La Plata County criminal court case search.
Colorado Official Background Checks
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation operates the Internet Criminal History Check. ICHC is an instant, Colorado-only name search. A one-time user needs no account. The search uses first name, last name, and exact date of birth; Social Security number is optional. Each viewed result costs $6, and each extra selected match costs another $6. Alternate names or dates require separate paid searches.
The public result excludes sealed records, juvenile arrests, warrants, unsupported arrests, and some young-person traffic arrests. It is digitally signed but not notarized. A mailed manual notarized search costs $13 and can take up to three business days. Fingerprint-based checks run through approved Colorado Fingerprinting or IdentoGO channels, with a CBI component and vendor fees. For self-review, fingerprints reduce same-name errors.
The CBI records and background-check source shows the official choices.
That state overview helps a La Plata County reader choose between name, fingerprint, manual, and challenge routes.
Searching CBI for La Plata County Records
Common names require care. Match the date of birth and other permitted identifiers before buying an added result. A “no record” response does not clear the La Plata County clerk, jail, municipal court, federal court, or an agency report. It only describes the ICHC search and its exclusions.
| ICHC field | Use | Note |
|---|---|---|
| First name | Identity search | Required |
| Last name | Identity search | Required; do not enter suffix |
| Date of birth | Match control | Exact date required |
| Social Security number | Narrow a match | Optional |
| Aliases or former names | Separate identity searches | Each query is separately paid |
The official ICHC interface is the source for the live search.
The interface is a state repository check, not a La Plata County police-report or court-document portal.
Criminal Record Types
La Plata County criminal records are defined by who made them and why. The distinctions prevent a docket entry from being mistaken for a report or a custody result from being read as a judgment.
- Arrest and booking records: the arresting agency writes the report; detention creates the custody intake file.
- Court case files: the clerk keeps complaints, motions, hearings, outcomes, sentence orders, and financial entries.
- Warrants: the issuing court and law enforcement track status; sealed warrants may not be public.
- Supervision and custody: Sixth Judicial District Probation handles local probation, while CDOC handles prison and parole data.
- Registry records: local registration feeds the CBI Colorado Sex Offender Registry, whose public view is intentionally limited.
Colorado grades state offenses as felonies, misdemeanors, petty offenses, and drug classifications, with numbered classes inside several groups. The class affects the possible penalty, but the filed statute and final disposition matter more than a broad label. District Court hears La Plata County felonies. County Court handles state misdemeanors, many traffic matters, and preliminary felony proceedings. Municipal courts hear their own ordinance cases.
Police reports remain agency-specific. Durango, Bayfield, Ignacio, the Sheriff, State Patrol, campus police, and tribal authorities do not share one public report counter.
La Plata County Docket Shows One Week
The Colorado Judicial Branch public docket is a scheduling aid, not a full case database. Select La Plata County and the court, then use a case number or party name. Leaving optional fields blank can display the selected court's full one-week docket. A row may show case number, division, hearing date and time, party, event type, and counsel.
Older files, pleadings, full charge history, sentence terms, and certified dispositions require the clerk. The La Plata County Courthouse is at 1060 East Second Avenue, Room 106, Durango, CO 81301. The clerk is reached at 970-247-2304 or laplataclerk@judicial.state.co.us.
The Sixth Judicial District listing identifies the courthouse and clerk channel.
The courthouse source confirms where La Plata County state case copies and dispositions are obtained.
Inside a La Plata County Criminal Record
A repository history can show identity information, aliases, a state identifier, arrest date and agency, arrest-cycle charges, court identifiers, disposition, sentence, DOC entries, and a current registered-offender notation. A court file adds pleadings, hearings, judge, counsel, financial ledger, and sentence orders. A booking entry adds intake, booking number, bond, and custody site.
| Name & Identifiers | Reported name, aliases, birth details, state or fingerprint identifiers where released |
|---|---|
| Arrest / Booking Data | Agency, date, booking number, custody site, presented charges, bond, release |
| Charges & Statutes | Arrest-cycle allegations or charges later filed by the prosecutor |
| Disposition | Dismissal, acquittal, deferred judgment, conviction, or another charge-level result |
| Sentence | Custody, probation, fines, costs, restitution, and court conditions when public |
| Custody / Supervision | County jail, CDOC custody, judicial probation, or qualifying parole status |
- Disposition
- The final result for one charge.
- Docket
- The court's ordered list of events, not every filed document.
- Deferred judgment
- A plea with judgment delayed while stated terms are completed.
- Arrest cycle
- One fingerprint-linked arrest and its charges in the state history.
Two La Plata County Records Buildings
The courthouse and Sheriff campus answer different questions. State case files and certified dispositions come from the clerk at 1060 East Second Avenue. The Sheriff and Detention Center operate at 742 Turner Drive, but Sheriff Records administration is at 283 Girard Street. A requester seeking a deputy report should not assume the jail counter is the records office.
La Plata County Court Clerk
1060 E. Second Ave., Room 106
Durango, CO 81301
970-247-2304
State court files and certified copies
Sheriff Records
283 Girard St.
Durango, CO 81303
970-247-1157
Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sheriff Records accepts the designated online form, written requests, mail, and counter requests. Phone contact helps confirm the custodian, but a call may not produce a certified record.
Public Access Laws in Colorado
La Plata County police and sheriff records follow the Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act. Court files follow Judicial Branch access policy. Records of official action are broadly open, while other criminal justice records can be redacted or withheld under stated grounds. Ask the creating agency, describe the item, distinguish inspection from copies, and request a written legal basis for a denial.
Key Statutes:
C.R.S. §24-72-303 opens records of official action subject to statutory limits.
C.R.S. §24-72-304 governs inspection and the criminal justice custodian's role.
C.R.S. §24-72-305 lists mandatory or permitted denial grounds.
C.R.S. §24-72-305.5 permits an affirmation against direct pecuniary solicitation.
C.R.S. §§24-72-701 through 710 govern adult sealing and automatic sealing.
Active investigations, juvenile facts, victim identities, medical details, security material, sealed records, and facts protected by court order may be restricted.
La Plata County Sheriff Record Fees
The current Sheriff Records page controls over older printable form text. A La Plata-only local record check costs $10. Copies are $0.25 per page. A substantial request, defined on the live page as more than 25 pages or more than one staff hour, is billed at $41.37 per hour after an estimate. Photo identification is required for releasable closed criminal-case reports.
| Service | Current amount |
|---|---|
| La Plata-only record check | $10 |
| Paper copy | $0.25 per page |
| Substantial research or production | $41.37 per hour, estimate first |
The Sheriff Records page provides the live office rules, while the online CCJRA form collects event, person, location, report, media, and delivery details.
Sealed, Expunged, and Restricted Records
Colorado generally calls the adult remedy record sealing. Expungement is used mainly for qualifying juvenile records. Eligibility differs for an unfiled arrest, a dismissal, a municipal conviction, and a state conviction. Waiting time and exclusions depend on every charge, later convictions, victim-rights coverage, restitution, and offense class. A sealed result is restricted from ordinary public systems but is not always destroyed.
La Plata County state cases use the appropriate Judicial Branch filing packet at the District or County Court clerk. A municipal matter goes to the municipal court that holds it. Obtain the case number and disposition first, list each agency that holds the record, serve the prosecutor as directed, and confirm that the sealing order reached every custodian.
Colorado also provides automatic sealing for specified records. HB21-1214 addresses qualifying uncharged arrests, and SB22-099 expanded automatic relief for eligible nonviolent matters. HB24-1432 removed the CBI sealing cost. Juvenile files, protected personal data, and investigation material can also be restricted without an adult sealing order.
La Plata County Jail or State Prison?
Use La Plata detention sources for recent pretrial or local county custody. The detention center is a 297-bed regional facility and creates booking, bond, release, communication, and visitation records. After a person enters state custody or qualifying CDOC supervision, switch to the Colorado Department of Corrections Offender Search.
The official CDOC locator shows the state search channel.
The CDOC form does not show current La Plata County jail bookings. Federal custody is separate again.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons locator is the proper federal source.
The federal locator cannot replace the county jail or CDOC search, even when the person has local ties.
La Plata County Warrant Search Fallbacks
No verified public La Plata County warrant-name portal was found. Contact the Sheriff for the correct warrant-information channel, check the state docket and clerk, and ask the proper municipal court about a city bench warrant. A bench warrant often follows nonappearance or noncompliance. An arrest warrant follows a judicial probable-cause process. An unexecuted or sealed warrant may not be public.
Do not rely on social media as proof that a La Plata County warrant is active. Court and agency data can lag after recall. A person resolving a possible warrant should obtain current court guidance or legal advice before appearing at a law enforcement counter.
Note: A docket absence does not prove that no sealed, unserved, municipal, or recently issued La Plata County warrant exists.
La Plata County Records Across Wide Terrain
La Plata County had an estimated 56,898 residents in 2025 and covers 1,689.68 square miles. The 2020 density was just 32.9 people per square mile. That broad landscape helps explain why criminal records often centralize in Durango even when an event occurs near Bayfield, Ignacio, a mountain corridor, or Southern Ute territory.
Jurisdiction matters more than distance. Municipal, county, state, campus, and tribal officers may create separate files within La Plata County. A precise location and the responding agency can save a trip to the wrong counter. Shared dispatch does not merge those records, and a county booking does not transfer ownership of the original agency report.
La Plata County Criminal Records by City
La Plata County has three incorporated municipalities. City police keep their own reports, and municipal courts keep local ordinance files. Durango, Bayfield, and Ignacio therefore add city-specific counters to the county and state layers.
Durango Criminal Records
Population 19,071 in 2020. Police Records offers a detailed CCJRA request process, and Municipal Court handles city summonses.
Bayfield Criminal Records
Population 2,838 in 2020. Police and Municipal Court share the Bayfield Parkway town location.
Ignacio Criminal Records
Population 852 in 2020. Direct police and Town Hall contact replace a verified online town case portal.