Colorado Bureau of Investigation at a Glance
The full repository chain sits within the Colorado Department of Public Safety, Colorado Bureau of Investigation, Biometric Identification and Records Unit. BIRU maintains the Multimodal Biometric Identification System for fingerprint identity and the Colorado Crime Information Center for fingerprint-based Colorado criminal history record information. CBI is also Colorado's FBI-designated CJIS Systems Agency and connects authorized agencies to CCIC, NCIC, Nlets, and federal systems.
The CBI records and background-check overview shows how the bureau organizes its record products. BIRU is one part of CBI. The bureau also supports crime reporting, forensic laboratories, investigations, the sex offender registry, and firearms checks. Those functions may contribute information to justice agencies, but the public criminal history products described here come through BIRU.
How Colorado Bureau of Investigation Systems Differ
CCIC and MBIS perform connected but different jobs. MBIS resolves biometric identity. CCIC stores the fingerprint-backed Colorado criminal history. The state identification number follows the fingerprint identity, while an arrest number, agency case number, transaction control number, and court case number identify separate events. Substituting one identifier for another can slow a correction.
- MBIS
- The Multimodal Biometric Identification System used to compare and identify fingerprints.
- CCIC
- The Colorado Crime Information Center, which holds state criminal history and other restricted justice data.
- CHRI
- Criminal history record information that connects reported arrests with reported outcomes.
- SID
- The state identification number tied to a fingerprint identity.
ICON is the Judicial Branch case-management source, while CICJIS exchanges selected justice data among agencies. Members of the public do not directly search the restricted versions of these systems. They use ICHC, a fingerprint review route, or the correct source office.
What Checks Colorado Bureau of Investigation Offers
CBI offers several products because one search cannot answer every question. The Colorado Internet Criminal History Check is a public name-and-date-of-birth search. A manual name request supports a mailed or notarized response. Colorado Applicant Background Services provides an identity-matched route through approved fingerprint vendors. A record subject can also use specific correction, challenge, sealed-record, and FBI self-review channels.
| Product | Who May Order | What It Returns | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| CBI ICHC | Any public user | Colorado public CHRI matched by name and birth date | $6 per downloaded result |
| Manual name/DOB request | Requester following CBI form rules | Mailed Colorado CHRI; notarized route available | $13 per name |
| Fingerprint personal review | The record subject | Identity-matched Colorado CHRI | $16.50 state component plus vendor charge |
| CABS statutory check | Person using an authorized program code | Colorado and, when authorized, FBI result to the designated recipient | Varies by program and vendor |
| FBI Identity History Summary | The record subject | FBI-maintained identity history | $18 plus fingerprint costs |
ICHC is not fingerprint-confirmed and does not include other states or the FBI. Public output excludes sealed arrests, most juvenile arrests, and traffic arrests below age 16. Each possible match that a user chooses to download has a separate charge.
Colorado Bureau of Investigation ICHC Fields
The official CBI ICHC guide defines the search scope and warns about multiple matches.
Users register or sign in, enter an accurate first name, last name, and birth date, then review the number of possible candidates before buying a result. An optional Social Security number helps only if CBI already has it. The IDT field is for a CBI-issued mistaken-identity indicator, not a general identity number. Common names can produce several candidates.
| First and Last Name | Required legal spelling for the main name search |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | Required and important for narrowing common-name matches |
| Social Security Number | Optional where shown; it cannot make a name result fingerprint-confirmed |
| IDT Number | Conditional field for a verified identity-theft or mistaken-identity indicator |
| Download Result | Paid action that incurs the $6 charge for each selected result |
An ICHC result may show aliases, physical details, arrest contributor, arrest date and number, charge information, court number, disposition, sentence, a CDOC entry, or current registry notation. “Unknown” means the outcome was not linked, not that the charge remained pending forever.
Path Into Colorado Bureau of Investigation Repository
An arresting agency begins the cycle and transmits fingerprints. A prosecutor and court create the filed charge and final result. CBI connects those reported events under biometric identity. C.R.S. §16-21-103 requires courts to report each charge's case number and final disposition electronically within 72 hours, excluding weekends and legal holidays.
Data flow: County Arrest › Fingerprint Submission › Colorado Bureau of Investigation › Court Disposition Reporting › Rap Sheet
Reporting does not erase the source files. The police report remains with the arresting agency. The booking record remains with the sheriff or jail. The complaint, orders, register of actions, and certified disposition remain with the court. CBI keeps the compiled statewide history received from those agencies.
Most electronic court dispositions began reaching CBI around 1998. Older records are more likely to lack a linked outcome. A 2003 audit found about 2.5 million CCIC arrest entries without dispositions. A later state measure reached a 96.42 percent match rate for the year ending May 2020, while a FY2024 improvement project still identified about 200,000 incomplete pre-1990 histories. These are dated measures, not a guarantee for any record.
Colorado Bureau of Investigation Fingerprint Networks
Colorado Applicant Background Services uses two CBI-approved vendors: IdentoGO and Colorado Fingerprinting. Both operate fixed and mobile locations. The purpose code controls the search, price, and recipient, so CBI warns users not to guess a code. IdentoGO enrollment generally uses a six-character Service Code. Colorado Fingerprinting uses an eight-character Unique ID.
The IdentoGO Colorado location finder shows one approved appointment network.
This live finder is preferable to a fixed office list because sites and hours change. The person should preserve the confirmation and personal control number for a rejected print or missing result.
The Colorado Fingerprinting CABS channel is CBI's second approved vendor route.
Vendor capture cost is separate from CBI and FBI components. A person reviewing their own record should confirm the personal-review code with CBI first. A lost result letter may be regenerated only within the stated 30-day window; later replacement can require a new paid submission.
Colorado Bureau of Investigation Ordering Steps
Choose the channel by the question. ICHC is the quick Colorado public layer. Fingerprints are better for a person's own identity-assured Colorado review. The manual form is the CBI route for a mailed or notarized name response. FBI EDO is the subject-only national review route.
- Select ICHC, the manual form, CABS personal review, or FBI self-review.
- Gather the exact name, birth date, required identification, and correct service code or form.
- Submit online, by the form's approved delivery method, or through the chosen fingerprint vendor.
- Pay the stated agency and vendor charges, then preserve the report number, PCN, TCN, and receipt.
- Compare each result with the county court's official disposition when a line is incomplete or unclear.
The CBI ICHC portal is the live public account and name-search gateway.
Downloaded ICHC results are immediate, while the $13 manual form states three to five business days by mail. A notarized response can add up to three business days. Manual review and the final recipient's process can also extend fingerprint timing.
Why Colorado Bureau of Investigation Shows Unknown
An “unknown” disposition is a reporting gap. It may occur when an older event lacks an electronic outcome, identifiers did not match, or the court result never linked to the arrest cycle. It does not resolve whether the charge was dismissed, amended, tried, or sentenced. The county court file is the controlling place to obtain that answer.
Ask the clerk or district attorney for official outcome documents. Send the proof to CBI's disposition-update channel and identify the precise arrest cycle and charge. CBI may use “Disposition Record Purged” after required searches fail to reconstruct an old result, but the bureau warns that this label may not meet every official need.
Correction and sealing are different. Correction fixes inaccurate or missing data. Record sealing uses a court order to restrict an accurate, eligible entry.
Comparing Colorado Bureau of Investigation and Counties
A CBI rap sheet provides statewide Colorado coverage for reported arrest cycles and dispositions. County records provide the original documents and often reflect a case change first. Neither replaces the other. Use the directory of Colorado counties to reach the court, arresting agency, or jail that created the underlying record.
| Question | CBI Check | County Record |
|---|---|---|
| Coverage | Reported Colorado history across 64 counties | One county or source agency |
| Source | Compiled fingerprint-backed repository | Original case, police, booking, or jail file |
| Timing | Can wait for source reporting and matching | Changes as the local event or case moves |
| Detail | Arrest-cycle and disposition summary | Narratives, filings, orders, and certified copies |
| Best Use | Reviewing the statewide repository layer | Confirming one event, filing, or final outcome |
A city-police report does not move into ICHC in full. Likewise, a court case is not a rap sheet. Search each system for the record it actually holds.
Colorado Bureau of Investigation Milestones
CBI began on July 1, 1967, within the Colorado Department of Public Safety. Its role grew from fingerprint identification into the current MBIS and CCIC structure. Colorado joined the National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact in 2000. CABS legislation in 2017 moved much civil fingerprint capture to approved statewide vendors.
CBI says it now processes nearly 200,000 fingerprint checks each year across more than 70 regulated professions. That number measures annual work, not the count of distinct people in CCIC. No reliable current public total for distinct repository subjects was located.
In 2025, CBI reported that 264 mobile fingerprint devices had gone to 37 agencies since July 2024. Those tools query restricted systems in the field. They are not a public lookup and do not change the public ICHC identity limits.
How Colorado Bureau of Investigation Applies Sealing
CBI retains records received from Colorado agencies and courts indefinitely. A source agency's purge does not delete the CCIC copy. When a court seals an eligible record, the signed order must reach CBI before its repository entry is restricted from public dissemination. Authorized criminal-justice access may remain.
The CBI sealing-processing fee was eliminated on July 1, 2024, though court charges can still apply. Colorado's adult system uses “record sealing” as its normal term. Expungement is narrower, including certain mistaken-identity arrests and qualifying juvenile cases.
A sealing request is not an error challenge. First determine whether the entry is wrong or merely eligible for relief. For an error, use BIRU correction. For accurate eligible data, follow the court process and make sure every listed agency receives the signed order.
Colorado Bureau of Investigation Error Corrections
A disposition correction and an identity challenge follow different paths. A missing outcome needs official documentation from the court or district attorney. A mistaken identity claim uses a physical fingerprint card marked “Record Challenge,” the CBI information form, the disputed history, and BIRU's fingerprint comparison through MBIS.
- Order and mark the disputed CBI criminal history line.
- For a missing result, obtain the official disposition from the filing county. For identity, pre-enroll for the required physical fingerprint card.
- Send the form, evidence, and correct identifiers to BIRU through the stated disposition or challenge route.
- Order a fresh record after processing and confirm that the corrected event now matches the source file.
CBI does not publish a separate challenge fee, though the fingerprint vendor may charge for a card. Keep the SID, TCN, arrest number, agency case number, and court number distinct. Those keys let BIRU reconcile the questioned event without relying on a name alone.
Colorado Bureau of Investigation Records Contacts
Product questions belong with BIRU rather than an individual officeholder. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation is at 690 Kipling Street, Suite 3000, Lakewood, CO 80215. Its main number is 303-239-4201, and the background-check desk is 303-239-4208. Published records desk hours are Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mountain.
The public CBI ICHC frequently asked questions source documents portal-specific rules and result limits.
Challenge and sealed-subject correspondence uses BIRU, Suite 4000, at the same street address. Confirm the current unit address before mailing fingerprints or certified orders. CBI-held agency records can also be requested under the Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act, but that request does not replace a rap sheet or a county court file.
The official CBI check-channel page provides the current manual and fingerprint routing instructions.
Use its current forms and delivery details before sending payment or personal documents. The portal, fingerprint vendor, and county office serve different record needs.