A Colorado court case number is built from three pieces: a four-digit filing year, a letter code identifying the type of case, and a sequential number showing the order it was filed within that category. Colorado court case codes are the letter portion, and they tell you what kind of matter the case is and, in most instances, which court is handling it. A case numbered 2024CR1025, for example, is a felony filed in 2024 and the 1,025th felony filing in that jurisdiction that year.
The sequential number resets each January, so within a single jurisdiction, year, and case type, no two numbers repeat. The Colorado Judicial Branch’s Docket Search uses the four-digit year format, and water court filings follow the same pattern (for example, 2009CW100).1Colorado Judicial Branch. Docket Search
The Full List of Colorado Case Type Codes
The letter portion is where most confusion happens, because Colorado’s abbreviations don’t always match general legal terminology. “CR” means felony, not any criminal case. Misdemeanors have their own code. Traffic matters split into two codes depending on whether they’re offenses or infractions.2Colorado Judicial Branch. Reference Guide
- CR — Felony criminal cases
- M — Misdemeanor and petty offenses
- CV — District-level civil cases
- C — County-level civil cases
- DR — Domestic relations (divorce, child custody, parental responsibilities)
- PR — Guardianships, conservatorships, and estates of deceased persons
- PW — Probate matters involving living persons
- JD — Juvenile delinquency
- JV — Juvenile non-criminal matters (dependency, neglect)
- JA — Adoption
- JR — Relinquishment of a child
- MH — Mental health proceedings
- CW — Water court cases
- S — Small claims
- T — Traffic offenses
- R — Traffic infractions
The Docket Search tool lists the currently active case classes as C, CR, CV, CW, DR, JD, JV, M, PR, R, S, and T.1Colorado Judicial Branch. Docket Search
The code isn’t just a label. It controls which procedural rules and timelines apply to the case. A juvenile delinquency case (JD) follows different hearing schedules and confidentiality protections than a district civil case (CV). Domestic relations cases (DR) carry mandatory mediation requirements and parenting-plan deadlines that don’t appear in other categories.
What the Code Tells You About the Court
Colorado runs two trial court levels, and the case type usually signals which one has the file. District courts handle felonies (CR), civil cases over $25,000 (CV), domestic relations (DR), probate (PR and PW), mental health (MH), and juvenile matters (JD, JV, JA, JR). County courts handle misdemeanors (M), traffic (T and R), small claims (S), and county civil disputes (C) where the amount at stake is $25,000 or less.3Justia. Colorado Code 13-6-104 – Original Civil Jurisdiction
County courts have no jurisdiction over probate, juvenile matters, or parental responsibilities. Those belong exclusively to district courts.4Justia. Colorado Code 13-6-105 – Specific Limits on Civil Jurisdiction Small claims in county court are capped at $7,500. Between $7,500 and $25,000, it’s a county civil case (C). Above $25,000, it moves up to district court as a CV.
Water cases are their own track. Colorado has seven water court divisions, and cases in those divisions use the CW code with sequential numbering by division.5Colorado Judicial Branch. Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure – Water Rules
Using the Code to Look Up a Case
The Colorado Judicial Branch runs a free Docket Search at coloradojudicial.gov/dockets. You can search by case number, party name, attorney name, or attorney bar number, and filter by judicial district, county, courthouse, date range, and case class.1Colorado Judicial Branch. Docket Search
If you have the full case number, enter the four-digit year, the case class letters, and the sequence number. If you only have a party’s name, the code becomes a filter that saves real time. Searching “John Smith” across every case class in every district can return hundreds of matches. Searching “John Smith” under case class DR in one judicial district narrows the results to domestic relations cases in that area.
Watch out for the misdemeanor-versus-felony split. Looking for a misdemeanor DUI under CR won’t find it — that’s an M case. A traffic infraction is R, not T. Picking the wrong letter is the most common reason a search comes up empty when the case actually exists.
Getting the Code Right When Filing
Every document filed with a Colorado court needs the correct case number, and clerks verify it before accepting the filing. An incorrect number can lead to rejection, delay, or a filing dropped into the wrong case entirely.
Colorado’s Electronic Filing System validates the case number when you file into an existing case.6Colorado Judicial Branch. E-Filing A mismatch stops the filing from going through. Self-represented litigants run into trouble here most often: transposed digits, a two-digit year instead of four, or the wrong case class letter will all trigger a rejection. Double-check the code against the caption on any existing document in the case before you file.
Cases You Won’t Find in the Search
Not every Colorado court record is publicly viewable. Judicial records operate under Chief Justice Directive 05-01, which restricts access when federal law, state law, court rule, court order, or the directive itself prohibits disclosure.7Colorado Judicial Branch. Chief Justice Directive 05-01 Commonly restricted materials include medical and mental health documents, drug and alcohol treatment records, paternity test results, credit reports, and birth and death certificates filed with the court. Juvenile records carry extra confidentiality protections.
Sealed cases are fully removed from public view. Under Colorado’s automated sealing process, qualifying conviction records are shielded, and the Judicial Branch provides a separate sealed-case search tool for individuals checking their own record.8Colorado Judicial Branch. Sealed Case A sealed case number won’t appear in the general Docket Search, even if you have it exactly right.