Colorado Warrant Search – Outstanding & Active Warrants in CO

The Colorado Court Rule no. 3 lays down the law for the issue of arrest warrants in response to a felony complaint. It states that all complaints made against felonious crimes must be in writing and they should mention the essential details about the matter constituting the crime with which the accused is being charged and the evidence found by the investigating agency.

Rule 4 goes on to add to the process which has to be followed for the issue of active warrants in criminal cases. It states that once a felony complaint has been filed in court, the prosecution will request the magistrate to issue an arrest warrant. In lieu of a warrant, a summons may also be requested.

The requirements to be fulfilled to procure a warrant

If the prosecution is going after a warrant, a sworn statement must accompany the complaint which should be enough to establish probable cause to believe that a crime did occur and it was in fact committed by the accused. If a sworn complaint cannot be filed, witness testimonies in a transcribed format may be attached to the complaint or these may be used to supplement the affidavit.

Except for class 1, 2 and 3 felonies and those felonious crimes in which the penalty term exceeds 10 years, the judge will have the authority, with the consent of the prosecution, to issue a summons against the defendant instead of ordering his arrest through a warrant. In fact, given the burden exerted by an active warrant on the justice and law enforcement system of the state, issuing summons instead of an arrest warrant is the generally favored policy.

Information required for the issue of an active warrant in Colorado

The court approached for the warrant will require that the prosecution and the investigating law enforcement agency offer the following information that can be included in the order.

• The residential address of the defendant
• His/her name with any aliases
• Information about his employment
• Details about the defendants family relationships
• Past history of responding to legal processes
• Past criminal record

The form of the warrant will contain most of the information given above along with details on the crime that the alleged offender is being accused of, statement of the order from the judiciary to arrest the individual in question, signature of the magistrate and the name of the state, county and date on which the warrant was issued. A copy of the police affidavit will also be attached to the arrest warrant.

If summons have been issued ordering the presence of the accused in court and the defendant fails to obey the directive, a warrant will then be issued for his arrest. Such a legal provision can also be used by civil tribunals and these orders for detention are known as bench warrants.

Unlike search warrants and active orders for arrests where the police file a petition for the judicial directive, in case of bench warrants, the magistrate takes the call on issuing these orders without any part played by the local police in the process.

Finding information on arrest records and outstanding warrants in Colorado

Because Colorado is a free records state anybody can request criminal history information through the Colorado Bureau of Investigations (CBI). This is a division of the Department of Public safety and it is charged with maintaining crime records from all over the state. The database hosted by this agency is fed information on arrest records, warrants, case dispositions, etc by justice agencies including sheriffs’ offices, county clerk’s departments and courthouses from all over the state.

There are two ways to initiate a warrant search through the CBI, you can use their online search tool or you could mail in your inquiry. In both cases, the applicant is charged a fee for every name based inquiry. To avail the benefits of their internet based warrant search program, go to https://www.cbirecordscheck.com, you will have to pay $6.85 for every search that you initiate. To mail in your request, download the background report form from http://cbi.state.co.us/id/CHRI%20REQUEST_FORM.pdf and send it to:

CBI690 Kipling Street #3000Denver, CO 80215(303) 239-4208For generic crime information, you can get in touch with the office of the Attorney general at the Department of Law , 1525 Sherman St,5th Floor, Denver, CO 80203; phone no: 303-866-4500 or you can find crime statistics online at https://www.colorado.gov/dcj-ors. For a most wanted list, you may want to refer to the website of the county sheriff.

You can also get in touch with the clerk of court for a warrant search. Because the court dockets contain a mention of all legal process issues, you can easily find information pertaining to active orders for arrest, bench warrants and more by browsing through the court records.

The Colorado sex offender registry can be scoured by visiting http://sor.state.co.us/or you could get in touch with the department that keeps these records by visiting them at SOR Unit, 690 Kipling St, Suite 3000, Denver, CO 80215.