Search Weld County Traffic Court Records

How to Search Weld County Traffic Court Records

Weld County traffic court records live on the Colorado Judicial Branch docket search. The tool covers state Weld County Court and District Court hearings and is pre-filtered to county code 62. Traffic infractions and traffic misdemeanors carry the case-class code T. The form returns hearing date, time, courtroom, judge or magistrate, case number, party name, and hearing type. The docket is free to view. The page does not display full PDFs of citations, pleas, or sentencing orders. Those are ordered through the online record/document request form.

A user needs a few details before starting. A citation number is best. A driver name and a rough date range also work. The Colorado County Court traffic case number runs as YY-T-NNNN, with the two-digit year, the letter T for traffic, and a four to six digit sequence. Municipal court traffic citations are not in this docket. Those cases must be looked up through the city court that wrote the ticket.

A look at the Colorado Judicial Branch Weld docket search shows the live filter set used for traffic lookups. The form needs at least one filter besides the date range, so a name or a case number is required to return results.

1. Open the Weld docket search at coloradojudicial.gov and confirm county code 62 is set.
2. Enter the case number in YY-T-NNNN form or type the driver's last name and first name.
3. Narrow by court type (County for most traffic) and case class T, then pick a date range.
4. Review the hearing list. Click a case to see case number, party, hearing type, courtroom, and judge.
5. For a paid copy, plea form, or certified disposition, file the online record/document request form with the case number.

Which Courts Handle Traffic Cases in Weld County

Weld County splits traffic work across three court tiers. Most state moving-violation tickets land in Weld County Court. Serious felony traffic cases move up to Weld District Court. Local ordinance traffic stays in the city's municipal court. The choice of court depends on the citing agency and the statute or city code cited on the ticket. State troopers, the Weld Sheriff, and many town officers write state-statute citations. Greeley, Frederick, Evans, and Milliken city officers often write municipal ordinance citations.

The Weld County 19th Judicial District page lists the courthouse buildings used for state traffic work. The main clerk window is at the Centennial Center at 915 10th Street, Greeley, which is where the County Court holds traffic dockets.

Types of Traffic Cases on Record

Weld County traffic court records cover a wide span of driving conduct. Most state filings are minor moving infractions. A smaller share are misdemeanor traffic cases that carry possible jail. Photo enforcement cases run as civil municipal matters. Commercial driver cases follow federal CDL rules layered on top of state law. The case-class code on the docket points to the tier.

• Moving violations - speeding, failure to yield, careless driving, unsafe lane change, following too closely, running a red light.
• Non-moving violations - expired registration, no proof of insurance, equipment defects, no driver's license on person.
• Parking - city ordinance violations handled by the city court that wrote the ticket, not the state docket.
• Commercial vehicle and CDL - state traffic charges that trigger federal disqualification rules under 49 C.F.R. Part 383.
• Photo enforcement - red light and speed camera tickets adjudicated as civil penalties at the city level under HB 24-1014.
• Felony traffic - vehicular homicide, vehicular assault, felony DUI with three priors, and leaving the scene of a fatal crash.

What Weld County Traffic Court Records Show

A Weld County traffic court record is the case file held by the Combined Courts clerk. It tracks the case from citation through disposition. The docket entry on the Judicial Branch site is the public summary. The full file may contain the citation copy, motions, plea agreements, sentencing orders, and proof of payment. Restricted items inside an open file are redacted before release.

Searching by Citation Number vs by Name

A citation number is the fastest way in. The Colorado County Court traffic case number prints on the ticket and on any later court notice. A driver who has the ticket in hand should type the full case number into the docket search. A user who is looking for a relative or a friend has to search by name, and a common name in Weld County can return hundreds of hits. Add a date range, a court type of County, and case class T to narrow it down.

Note: the docket search needs at least one filter beyond date, so a name or case number is required for any traffic lookup.

Paying or Contesting a Weld County Traffic Ticket

Most state Weld County Court traffic infractions can be paid online without a court appearance. The state pay-online portal at courts.state.co.us accepts Visa, MasterCard, and Discover. The portal charges a service fee on top of the fine. In-person and mail payment go to the Weld County Court Clerk's Office at the Centennial Center, 915 10th Street, Greeley, CO 80631; main phone (970) 475-2400. Money order or check should be made payable to Clerk of Court.

Contesting a ticket starts at the arraignment date and courtroom printed on the citation. The driver appears, enters a not-guilty plea, and asks for a pretrial conference or a trial date. Failure to appear can convert a traffic infraction into an outstanding warrant under C.R.S. § 16-2-110. A no-contest plea waives trial without admitting guilt and counts as a conviction for purposes of the Colorado driver record. The plea options available also vary by charge and by whether the defendant holds a CDL.

1. Read the citation. Note the case number, the court date, and whether a court appearance is required.
2. For an eligible infraction, pay online at the state portal before the court date to close the case.
3. To plead not guilty, appear at the listed Weld County Court courtroom at the listed time.
4. At arraignment, request a pretrial conference and ask the prosecutor about a plea to a lesser charge.
5. If a deal is reached, sign the plea form. If not, set a trial date and prepare to subpoena witnesses.
6. After disposition, request a certified copy of the order through the Colorado Judicial Branch record/document request form.

Public Access Laws for Traffic Court Records

Public access to a Weld County traffic court file runs through three layers of Colorado law. The Colorado Open Records Act covers most state and county administrative records. The Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act covers arrest, charging, disposition, and sentencing in criminal traffic matters. Chief Justice Directive 05-01 sets Judicial Branch policy on public access to court case files. A traffic infraction sits in the open court file unless a court order or a sealing statute closes it.

Court Traffic Records vs Colorado Driver Records

This is the most common source of confusion. The Weld County Court traffic file is the case record at the court of conviction. The Colorado driver record, called an MVR, is a separate state file kept by the Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles. Convictions reported by the court flow to the DMV under C.R.S. § 42-2-127, which is also the state's point system statute. The DMV record shows points, license status, suspensions, and an abstract of convictions. An error on the court file is corrected by motion at the court of conviction. An error on the DMV record is corrected through the Colorado DMV Driver Services unit.

CDL and Commercial Driver Records

Commercial drivers face a separate set of rules. Colorado follows the federal Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. Under C.R.S. § 42-2-405 and 49 C.F.R. Part 383, a CDL holder cannot accept a deferred judgment or deferred sentence for a moving violation in any vehicle. That rule applies even when the driver is in a personal car. A conviction stays on both the court file and the DMV driver record, and the federal Commercial Driver's License Information System receives the report.

Serious traffic violations stack quickly for CDL holders. The list includes excessive speeding at 15 mph over the limit, reckless driving, improper lane change, following too closely, a violation tied to a fatal accident, driving a CMV without a CDL, driving without the proper class CDL or endorsements, and texting or handheld phone use in a CMV. A second serious offense within three years triggers a 60-day CDL disqualification. A third triggers 120 days. Major offenses, including DUI, refusal to test, leaving the scene, a felony with a CMV, or driving a CMV with a suspended CDL, trigger a one-year disqualification, or three years if the CMV was carrying hazardous materials. A second qualifying major offense is a lifetime disqualification.

DUI / DWI Cases in Weld County

Colorado treats DUI, DUI per se at BAC 0.08 or higher, DUI marijuana, and DWAI for a BAC of 0.05 to 0.07 as criminal offenses under C.R.S. § 42-4-1301. Misdemeanor DUI cases stay in Weld County Court. A felony DUI under C.R.S. § 42-4-1301(1)(a), which is a fourth or later DUI or a DUI with three prior alcohol-related driving convictions, moves up to Weld District Court. The Express Consent license-revocation hearing is a separate Colorado DMV administrative case at the DOR Hearings Division, not in the court file.

For full Weld County DUI and DWAI case information, see Weld County criminal records. That page covers charge structure, the difference between DUI and DWAI, sealing rules under C.R.S. § 24-72-706, and the ignition interlock conditions that follow a conviction.

Deferred Adjudication and Defensive Driving Course

Colorado County Court traffic cases can sometimes close without a conviction on the court file. A deferred judgment under C.R.S. § 18-1.3-102 enters a plea, defers judgment, and dismisses the case when the defendant completes the conditions. The conviction is not entered on the court record. A CDL holder cannot use a deferred judgment for a moving violation. A plea to an amended non-moving charge is another route; the court file shows the amended charge and the DMV reflects whatever the court reports.

The defensive driving course is a DMV program, not a court program. A driver who has not used the four-point reduction within the same 12-month window can take a state-approved course to remove up to four points from the Colorado driver record. The course does not erase the court file. It only changes the DMV abstract. Course providers set the cost. The DMV publishes the approved provider list at the state DMV site. A driver who skips the course but pays the ticket still keeps the points on the DMV record.

Sealing or Expunging Traffic Records

Adult Weld County traffic infractions are eligible for sealing under C.R.S. § 24-72-706 once the case is closed and the waiting period has run. The general rule is a one-year wait for civil infractions, with longer waits for misdemeanor traffic. The petitioner cannot have been charged or convicted of a new offense during the waiting period. Sealing closes the court file from public docket search but does not delete the DMV driver-record entry, which follows separate retention rules. Felony traffic offenses generally cannot be sealed except under narrow paths in C.R.S. § 24-72-706(2). Juvenile traffic delinquency records may be expungeable under C.R.S. § 19-1-306. The Colorado General Assembly Legislative Council memorandum walks through the full framework.

Fees for Traffic Record Copies

Copy fees in Weld County follow the Chief Justice Directive 04-05 schedule used across the Colorado Judicial Branch. The online request form is free to submit, but staff respond with copy fees before the file is released. The state pay-online portal charges a vendor service fee on top of the fine. A Colorado MVR is a separate state-issued document with its own fee.

Note: photo enforcement penalties are civil city fines, not court copy fees, and the amount appears on the citation issued by the city.

Related Weld County Record Searches

A traffic case often pulls in other Weld County record types. For DUI and DWAI charge details, see Weld County criminal records. For broader case lookups across all classes, see court records and court dockets. To request a certified copy or pay at the counter, see Clerk of Court. For a failure-to-appear that produced an active warrant, see warrant records. For other county records routed through CORA, see public records. For top common questions, see the Weld County court records FAQ.