Colorado is sealing more than 100,000 criminal records

Colorado is sealing more than 100,000 court records, the result of a new law that applies to nonviolent offenses and is intended to help people with criminal pasts pass background checks for jobs and housing.

Most of the crimes are misdemeanors and petty offenses, and many involved drugs or theft. 

Colorado for years has allowed people to petition to seal their arrests and convictions, a process that requires legal guidance and possibly a hearing before a judge. But the new Clean the Slate Act directs the state judicial system to automatically seal records that are eligible.

The Colorado Judicial Department’s first data scrape required under the law, which went into effect July 1, identified more than 140,000 cases that were eligible. 

While the government, including prosecutors, can still see the records, they will no longer appear in the background checks that are required by landlords, businesses and schools.

Who is eligible 

Nonviolent crimes, including some felonies, are eligible — with lots of exceptions. A small fraction — 1.4% — of the more than 140,000 identified records were felonies; the rest were misdemeanors and petty offenses. Arrests that did not result in charges are also eligible. 

Misdemeanors and petty offenses must be at least seven years old. Felonies must be 10 years in the past.

Crimes cannot involve domestic violence, child abuse, sexual violence or sexual exploitation. 

The exemptions are complex, and under the previous system of petitioning to get records sealed, typically require the help of a lawyer.  

The worst kinds of felonies, those rated Class 1, 2 or 3, are not eligible. That includes murder, kidnapping, sexual assault, aggravated robbery, trafficking children and many others.

Other exemptions include traffic offenses, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, bodily injury, animal cruelty, identity theft, selling drugs, assault, menacing, indecent exposure, robbery and some burglaries.

How it works

The law requires that the Colorado Judicial Department produce a list four times per year of all records that are eligible to be automatically sealed, then pass that list along to district attorneys across the state. 

District attorneys in Colorado’s 22 judicial districts have 45 days to object to records in their regions. The first round, which began in February, had some bumps — the state computer system included thousands of domestic violence records, even though those are not eligible. The fixed the error and created a new list in March. 

The list of eligible crimes dropped to about 141,000 from 148,000 after objections from district attorneys and the removal of domestic violence cases. 

After the records are sealed in the judicial system, which is still in process, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation has to remove them from background checks. 

If a person whose record is sealed commits another crime, the record is unsealed and prosecutors can use it in court. 

The law replaces a petition system that was complex, time-consuming, and for some clients, traumatic, said Abbey Moffitt, a criminal defense attorney and co-founder of Expunge Colorado, a nonprofit that helps people seal their records. 

“This is a huge deal,” she said. “It allows people to move on, to have that redemption and restore their dignity, remove the stigma and contribute to society again.” 

Moffitt in 2018 helped start Expunge Colorado, which has helped more than 600 people who have attended annual clinics to ask if they can seal their records. So far, the nonprofit has sealed more than 200 records. Many people come to clinics and find out their criminal cases are not eligible.

At The Sun’s request, Moffitt researched 45 conviction records that Expunge Colorado helped seal and found that 16 were felonies. Of those, 11 were drug offenses. 

The nonprofit’s 15 attorneys most often are able to seal drug charges, as well as theft and trespassing records. Services are free and Expunge covers the court fees. 

Despite the new law, Moffitt expects people will still seek out the nonprofit because they want their cases sealed as soon as possible. People can petition a court to seal records after three years, or wait seven to 10 years from the day they were convicted for the state to seal them automatically under the new law. 

“A lot of people need the relief right away,” Moffitt said. “They want to apply for this job now. They need housing now.” 

The legislation in 2022 had bipartisan support, including from some in the business community who saw it as a way to widen the eligible workforce. 

Why it matters 

Marcus Weaver’s criminal past kept him from filling out the application to volunteer at his daughter’s private school, even though he wanted to pitch in like other parents. He just didn’t want school officials to run a background check and discover that in 2008 he spent time locked up for conspiracy to commit theft. 

“When you look at me you would never think I was ever in trouble,” said Weaver, who since then has started a nonprofit that provides job training for people in jail and prison. 

Weaver also opened a pickle company and hires people who are on parole. After they help him deliver pickles for a while, he helps them get hired by other businesses. “I work with guys getting out and they don’t know they got stuff on their record that won’t let them get a job, even though they paid their time,” he said. 

Employers, meanwhile, often just want someone dependable, but aren’t allowed to hire them if they can’t pass the background check. “I don’t know how many times I’ve heard that,” Weaver said. 

For years, he has advocated for a change in state law that would help people who messed up in the past rebuild their lives, as he has done.

“The whole time I was in jail I was helping people with their resumes,” he said. “I was listening to guys talk about the fears of restarting their lives.” 

Three out of 10 Colorado residents have an arrest or conviction on their record, according to the Clean Slate Colorado coalition. When Colorado passed the law in 2022, it was the seventh state to do so since 2018, after Pennsylvania, Utah, Michigan, Connecticut, Delaware and Oklahoma.