Case Dismissals in Colorado: Steps and Requirements

How a Criminal Case Gets Dismissed in Colorado

Criminal dismissal does not work like the civil version. There is no plaintiff in a criminal case, a defendant cannot file a notice of dismissal, and there is no filing fee. What follows is how a criminal case actually gets dismissed once the People have charged you.

1. The prosecution moves to dismiss. This is by far the most common route. Under Colorado Rule of Criminal Procedure 48(a), the prosecuting attorney may move to dismiss, and the court may dismiss, with a statement of the reasons on the record. Prosecutors do this when a witness becomes unavailable, when evidence does not hold up, when a case is resolved through a plea in another matter, or when a diversion or deferred agreement is completed. A defendant does not file this motion; the defense persuades the prosecutor to file it, which is a very different kind of work.

2. Speedy trial. Under C.R.S. 18-1-405(1), if a defendant is not brought to trial within six months from the date a not guilty plea is entered, “the pending charges shall be dismissed,” and the defendant may not be charged again for the same offense or another offense based on the same acts. The remainder of the section lists the periods that are excluded from the six months, and a defense continuance resets the clock. Tracking that date accurately is the whole value of the rule.

3. The court dismisses for a legal defect. Charges can be dismissed where the charging document fails to state an offense, where the evidence at a preliminary hearing does not establish probable cause, or where the court grants a motion that leaves the prosecution without admissible evidence, most often a motion to suppress.

4. Dismissal as part of a resolution. Counts are routinely dismissed as part of a plea to other counts, and charges are dismissed on completion of a deferred judgment or a diversion agreement.

With or without prejudice matters here too, but not in the civil sense described below. A dismissal without prejudice generally leaves the prosecution free to refile within the limitations period; a speedy trial dismissal under C.R.S. 18-1-405 bars refiling outright.

Sealing after a dismissal is automatic in Colorado, and you do not have to ask for it. Under C.R.S. 24-72-705(1)(a), when a case is completely dismissed the court shall order the records sealed on its own motion. Subsection (1)(a.5) goes further: the court “shall not require a written motion or any other written pleadings,” and must enter the sealing order at the time of disposition and serve it within twenty-eight days. See the section below for the detail.

What Happens to Your Record: Sealing Is Automatic

This is the part most people get wrong, and the law changed to make it simpler.

C.R.S. 24-72-705(1)(a) requires the court, on its own motion, to seal your criminal justice records when any of the following happens:

• the case against you is completely dismissed;
• you are acquitted of all counts;
• you complete a diversion agreement under C.R.S. 18-1.3-101 after a case was filed; or
• you complete a deferred judgment and sentence under C.R.S. 18-1.3-102 and all counts are dismissed.

You do not file anything. Subsection (1)(a.5) states that the court “shall not require a written motion or any other written pleadings” for this sealing. The court is to enter the order at the time of disposition and serve it no later than twenty-eight days after that date.

If the court misses it, the state does it anyway. Under subsection (1)(b), where the court did not order sealing at the time of the dismissal or acquittal, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation shall automatically seal the record on receiving the disposition, subject to a narrow exception for deferred judgments that are ineligible.

It reaches back. Subsection (1)(c) provides that sealing under this section applies retroactively to all eligible cases that were completely dismissed or ended in acquittal on all counts, in state or municipal court.

Two cautions. “Completely dismissed” means the whole case. A dismissal of some counts as part of a plea to others is not a complete dismissal, and the case is a conviction, which is governed by different sections. And sealing is not the same as the record never having existed: sealed records remain accessible to a limited set of agencies under the statute.

The word to use is sealing, not expungement. In Colorado, expungement is a separate process that generally applies to juvenile records. Adult criminal records are sealed.

What Dismissal Does Not Do

• It is not an acquittal or a finding of innocence. A dismissal without prejudice generally leaves the prosecution free to refile within the limitations period, which for most felonies is three years and for misdemeanors eighteen months.
• It does not automatically end related consequences. A protection order entered in the case, a driver’s licence action, immigration consequences, and any professional licensing matter each run on their own track and may need separate attention.
• It does not refund what the case cost you. Bond is returned according to its own rules; fees already paid to third parties are not.

What Actually Moves a Prosecutor Toward Dismissal

Since the most common route is the prosecution’s own motion, the practical question is what persuades them to file it. In Colorado practice, the recurring answers are:

• Evidence that does not hold up on inspection. A witness who will not or cannot testify, a identification that weakens under scrutiny, forensic work that was never completed.
• A suppression issue the prosecution would rather not litigate. If the stop, the search, or the statement is vulnerable, dismissal can be preferable to an adverse ruling.
• Information the prosecution does not have. Records, messages, medical documentation, or witnesses supplied by the defence before charges harden.
• A diversion or deferred agreement, which resolves the case with dismissal at the end.
• The speedy trial calendar. A case approaching the C.R.S. 18-1-405 deadline that the prosecution is not ready to try.

None of these happen because a defendant files a form. There is no “motion to dismiss” a defendant files that ends a criminal case in the way the civil form of that motion sometimes ends a lawsuit. The work is investigative and negotiated, and it happens early.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does a dismissal take in Colorado?

There is no standard timeline, because dismissal is an event rather than a process. A prosecution motion under Crim. P. 48(a) can end a case at any appearance. A dismissal following a diversion agreement or deferred judgment comes at the end of the agreed period, commonly one to two years. A speedy trial dismissal cannot occur before the six-month deadline in C.R.S. 18-1-405(1) has run.

Can charges be refiled after a dismissal?

Usually yes, if the dismissal was without prejudice and the limitations period has not expired. The important exception is a speedy trial dismissal: C.R.S. 18-1-405(1) provides that the defendant “shall not again be indicted, informed against, or committed for the same offense, or for another offense based upon the same act or series of acts arising out of the same criminal episode.”

Will a dismissal show up on my record?

Not once it is sealed, and sealing is automatic. Under C.R.S. 24-72-705(1)(a) the court must order sealing on its own motion when a case is completely dismissed, and under (1)(a.5) it cannot require you to file a written motion. If the court does not do it at disposition, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation seals the record on receiving the disposition. Private background check companies that copied the record before sealing are a separate practical problem worth raising with a lawyer.

Are there fees to have a criminal case dismissed?

No. A criminal defendant does not pay a filing fee to file motions, and the automatic sealing described above requires no motion and no fee. Filing fees and fee waivers belong to civil cases, not criminal ones.

Can I represent myself?

You can, but the routes to dismissal above are mostly not self-service. The prosecution’s motion is persuaded, not filed by you; suppression and speedy trial issues turn on the record and on deadlines that are easy to miss; and diversion and deferred judgments are negotiated. A lawyer is worth consulting before a first appearance rather than after.