§ 13-3-117. State Court Administrator – Automatic Drug Conviction Sealing

1. 1. The state court administrator shall compile a list of drug convictions pursuant to article 18 of title 18:
      1. That are eligible for sealing pursuant to sections 24-72-703 and 24-72-706; and
      2. 1. If the drug conviction is for a petty offense or misdemeanor, that seven years have passed since the disposition of the case; or
         2. If the drug conviction is for a felony, that at least ten years have passed since the disposition of the case.
   2. The state court administrator shall use the state conviction database and the conviction databases of entities that do not report convictions to the state database to compile the list. The state court administrator shall compile the list based on a name-based review with sufficient points of reference for identification validation as determined by the state court administrator. The state court administrator must only include convictions on the list if sufficient points of validation, as determined by the state court administrator, are present. The state court administrator shall sort the list by judicial district of conviction.
   3. The state court administrator shall compile the initial list pursuant to this subsection (1) by February 1, 2024, and the court shall seal all conviction records eligible for sealing pursuant to the final list compiled pursuant to subsection (3)(a) of this section based on the initial list by July 1, 2024.
   4. Beginning July 1, 2024, the state court administrator shall compile the list pursuant to this subsection (1) on the first Monday of every month and the Colorado bureau of investigation and district attorneys shall complete their review within thirty-five days of receiving a new list. The court shall seal all conviction records eligible for sealing pursuant to the list compiled pursuant to subsection (3)(a) of this section within fourteen days of receipt of the amended list from each district attorney.
2. The state court administrator shall forward the list compiled pursuant to subsection (1) of this section to the Colorado bureau of investigation. The Colorado bureau of investigation shall compare the list with criminal history reports. The Colorado bureau of investigation shall complete the comparison based on a fingerprint-based review with sufficient points of reference for identification validation as determined by the Colorado bureau of investigation. The Colorado bureau of investigation shall remove any convictions from the list from the state court administrator in which sufficient identification validation cannot be made by the Colorado bureau of investigation and any convictions for which the defendant has an intervening conviction during the seven-year waiting period if the conviction is for a petty offense or misdemeanor or during the ten-year waiting period if the conviction is for a felony. The Colorado bureau of investigation shall forward each amended list to each district attorney.
3. 1. Upon receipt of the list from the Colorado bureau of investigation, each district attorney shall remove convictions from the list in which a condition of plea was that the defendant agreed to not have the conviction record sealed and convictions in which the defendant has a pending criminal charge. Each district attorney shall send its amended list to the state court administrator. The state court administrator shall compile each of the lists into one final list and sort the convictions by judicial district.
   2. The district attorney shall send the final list compiled pursuant to subsection (3)(a) of this section to the chief judge for the judicial district, and the courts of that judicial district shall enter sealing orders based on the list received. The district court shall send a copy of the sealing order to the Colorado bureau of investigation, the law enforcement agency that investigated the case, and the district attorney’s office that prosecuted the case to facilitate sealing of the records held by those entities. The court shall also send a copy to the defendant if the contact information for the defendant is available and to the state court administrator for purposes of subsection (3)(c) of this section.
   3. The state court administrator shall develop a website that allows a defendant to confidentially determine whether his or her conviction has been sealed pursuant to this section and information about how to receive a copy of the sealing order.

Source: L. 2021: Entire section added, (HB 21-1214), ch. 455, p. 3037, § 11, effective September 7.