Can you seal a felony record in Colorado?

Whether you can seal a felony conviction from your criminal record in Colorado depends on the type of crime it was.

Colorado felony convictions that can never be sealed – and therefore remain on your record forever – include:

• DUI,
• Domestic violence,
• Sex crimes,
• Class 1 felonies,
• Class 2 felonies,
• Class 3 felonies, and
• Level 1 drug felonies.

Other than those, all other felony convictions are sealable after a three- or five-year waiting period, as the following table shows:

Note that any charge that gets dismissed can be sealed right away. It does not matter if the charge would have been unsealable had you been convicted of it.¹

How to Seal Felony Records in Colorado

Once your case is eligible for sealing in Colorado, follow these six steps:

1. Obtain a copy of your criminal records from the police department.
2. Get a verified copy of your criminal history from the Colorado Bureau of Investigations (CBI).
3. Fill out the appropriate forms:  JDF 417 Form (for a petition to seal arrest records) or JDF 612 Form (for a petition to seal conviction records).
4. File the form with the Colorado court where your case occurred, which involves also paying court costs and filing fees.
5. Wait for the court to accept or deny the petition. This may take several weeks. Sometimes, the court may schedule a hearing.
6. If the court issues an order to seal, send copies to all the agencies that have the conviction on file. This includes the CBI and the police department. The agencies usually seal the records within a few weeks.

Note that there is no such thing as partial record seals. If you have one unsealable conviction, then nothing else on your criminal record may be sealed. In short, record sealing is all or nothing.

Also note that if you do nothing, your felony conviction will automatically seal 10 years after the case closes. However, you are advised to get a seal as soon as you are eligible.²

Sealing Non-Felonies in Colorado

The processes for sealing felonies and non-felonies are the same in Colorado. Though like certain felony convictions, certain non-felony convictions are unsealable. These include:

• Misdemeanor DUIs,
• Misdemeanor sex crimes,
• Misdemeanor domestic violence convictions (including domestic violence harassment),
• Class 1 misdemeanor traffic offenses,
• Class 2 misdemeanor traffic offenses,
• Class A traffic infractions,
• Class B traffic infractions, and
• Crimes involving a commercial driver’s license.

Otherwise, there is a one-to-three year waiting period to seal your non-felony record, as the following table shows:

If you do not do anything, convictions will be automatically sealed seven years after the case closes. As with felonies, non-felony charges that get dismissed can be sealed right away.³

Why Records Seals are Important

Your criminal record is visible to anyone who runs a background check. This can hurt your ability to get jobs, housing, scholarships, loans, credit, and professional licenses.

What record sealing does is mask your criminal records so they no longer appear on background checks. Then once the record is sealed, you can lawfully deny under oath or during job interviews that you ever had a criminal record (with some exceptions).

Sealed criminal records typically do not appear on background checks.

Sealing versus Expunging

Sealing is different from expunging, which is when records of criminal offenses are physically destroyed – not merely sealed.

In Colorado, adult criminal records typically cannot be expunged. The only exception is underage drinking and driving (UDD), which you get expunged once you turn 21.⁴

However, you may be able get your juvenile record expunged by completing and filing the JDF 302 Form.

As with adult criminal records, there is a waiting period to get juvi records expunged: One year after probation ends, and three years after parole supervision ends. Dismissed juvenile cases are expungeable right away.⁵

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.

Legal References