State Law Summary

The Colorado Second Chance Sealing Gap


Disclaimer

The following is a summary of the law prepared by law students under the supervision of a professor based on consulting multiple sources. It is only up to date as of the dates shown below and in many cases we had to make judgment calls. Therefore we encourage you to also consult the sources below, as well as the Restoration of Rights Project that include summaries of the law for all 50 states and US territories.

Summary of the Law

CONVICTIONS: CRS Section 24-72-706

  1. Misdemeanors and Petty offenses:
    1. Sealing if the conviction is a petty offense or drug petty offense, upon a 1-year waiting-period after the date of final disposition or release from supervision, whichever is later. Examples of drug petty offenses are:
      1. Possession of drug paraphernalia (§ 18-18-428).
      2. Unauthorized possession of prescribed controlled substance (§ 18-18-413).
      3. Possession of 12 marijuana plants or more as a first offense; public consumption or display of marijuana up to 2 ounces; transferring or dispensing up to 2 ounces without consideration (§ 18-18-406).
    2. Sealing if the conviction is class 2 or 3 misdemeanors or a drug misdemeanor, upon a 2-year waiting-period after the date of final disposition or release from supervision, whichever is later.
  2. Felonies:
    1. Sealing if the conviction is a class 4, 5, or 6 felony, a level 3 or 4 drug felony, or a class 1 misdemeanor, upon a 3-year waiting-period after the date of final disposition or release from supervision, whichever is later.
    2. Sealing if any other eligible offense upon a 5-year waiting period after the date of final disposition or release from supervision, whichever is later.
  3. Subsequent Convictions: A person may seal a conviction when he/she has multiple convictions only under the following circumstances ( CRS 24-72-709 (effective as of Sept 2021)):
    1. If the highest offense is an eligible petty offense or petty drug offense, upon 2 years from the most recent conviction IF the defendant has no more than 5 convictions in separate cases.
    2. If the highest offense is an eligible misdemeanor, misdemeanor drug offense, or a level 4 drug felony, upon 5 years after the latest conviction IF the defendant has no more than 4 convictions in separate cases.
    3. If the highest offense is an eligible felony or drug felony, upon 10 years after the most recent conviction IF the defendant has no more than 3 previous convictions in separate cases.
  4. Not eligible (CRS § 24-72-706(2) [see also Colorado Defenders]:

    1. Crimes not eligible are class 1 or 2 misdemeanor traffic offenses
    2. Class A or B traffic infraction
    3. DUIs and DWAIs
    4. Domestic violence
    5. Cruelty to animals
    6. Child abuse
    7. A crime listed under the Victim Rights Act (see § 24-4.1-302(1)), except that VRA misdemeanors can be sealed in judge's discretion through hearing.
    8. Level 1, 2, and 3 felonies and level 1 drug felony (except class 3 felonies in § 18-18-106(8)(a)(II)(B) before July 1, 1992, § 18-18-406(8)(a)(II)(B) before August 11, 2010, and § 18-18-406(6)(a)(II)(B) before October 1, 2013)
    9. Sexual offenses
    10. Identity theft
    11. Pandering
    12. Crimes of violence, special offenders, extraordinary risk and aggravating circumstances crimes, crimes against pregnant victims, or at-risk victims (youth and elderly). (CRS § 24-72-706(2)) (see list by A. Moffitt Law)
  5. Lifetime or other Limits
  6. Treatment of Multiple Convictions from the Same Incident: If it is a single incident with multiple convictions, look to the highest level conviction to determine whether the case is eligible for sealing.
  7. Outstanding payments: Conviction records may not be sealed if the defendant owes fines and court fees unless vacated by the court (CRS § 24-72-706(1)(e)).
  8. Other Unmodeled Criteria or details:
    1. Disqualification of a felony while out on bond, bail, parole, or incarcerated, if the sentence exceeds our assumption of 3.5 years; disposition for sentence completion.

SEALING NON-CONVICTIONS THROUGH PETITIONS:CRS § 24-72-705

  1. Sealing for dismissals, acquittals, deferred judgment, and diversion upon the date of judgment.
  2. Sealing for deferred judgment and sentence completion if the conduct does not involve unlawful sexual behavior

AUTOMATED RECORD SEALING: CRS § 13-3-117 (enacted as HB21-1214)

  1. Drug convictions in article 18 of title 18 that are eligible for sealing will be automatically sealed, by Feb 1, 2024, IF:
    1. 7 years have passed since disposition of drug petty offenses and misdemeanors.
    2. 10 years have passed since disposition of level 3 or 4 drug felonies.
  2. Automatic sealing for arrests (CRS § 24-72-704(2))

    1. Arrest records with no charges filed must be sealed within 60 days after a year has passed, starting Jan 2022.

PROPOSED SCOPE OF CLEAN SLATE AUTOMATED SEALING (SB22-099, proposed)

  1. Expansion of automated record sealing in CRS § 13-3-117. All convictions, except for crimes as defined in VRA (24-4.1-302) and 24-72-706(2), are eligible, IF:
    1. 4 years have passed since the disposition of civil infractions defined in SB21-271.
    2. 7 years have passed since the disposition of misdemeanors and petty offenses with no intervening convictions, starting in 2024.
    3. 10 years have passed since the end of the sentence for felonies with no intervening convictions, starting in 2025.



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