La Plata County Court Dockets
A docket is the schedule and event trail for a case. It can show when a hearing is set, what type of event is listed, which court is handling the matter, and whether the case has moved to a new stage. In La Plata County, state court docket information for District Court and County Court starts with the statewide Colorado Judicial Branch docket system. The docket is useful for confirming hearing dates, checking whether a case appears in a public schedule, and identifying the courthouse or court level.
A docket is not the full case record. It usually does not include every pleading, exhibit, proof of service, financial detail, or certified order. Colorado State Courts Data Access says it contains court data, not case documents. CoCourts provides Register of Action data within its public coverage, but sealed, juvenile, probate, and confidential material are excluded. For legal use, the Clerk of Court remains the source for official copies.
| Docket | Full Case Record | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Tracks dates, events, court, and status. | Shows filings, orders, pleadings, and certified court documents. |
| Common access | Colorado Docket Search or court calendar tools. | Clerk of Court, Data Access, CoCourts, or direct copy request. |
| Limits | May omit documents, sealed events, and full party detail. | May require fees, redaction, certification, or restricted access review. |
Search La Plata County Dockets
The official online source is the Colorado Judicial Branch Docket Search. For La Plata County, use the local filters tied to the Sixth Judicial District, La Plata County, or La Plata County Courthouse. The state page says at least one filter in addition to date is required. That rule matters because a broad date-only search may not run or may not narrow results enough to be useful.
- Open the Colorado Docket Search and enter the date required by the form.
- Select La Plata County, La Plata County Courthouse, or the Sixth Judicial District when the form offers those filters.
- Add the party, attorney, case, or other search field shown on the live docket form.
- Review the result for hearing date, courtroom, event type, and court level.
- Call the Clerk of Court before relying on a docket for travel, filing, or missed-court issues.
The statewide Colorado Docket Search is the main official docket tool for La Plata County state court dates.
The statewide form is preferable to unofficial calendar summaries because it is maintained by the Colorado Judicial Branch.
La Plata County Docket Fields
The research did not include a live sample docket entry, so the field inventory should be read as a practical inventory based on the Judicial Branch docket tool, Data Access notices, and CoCourts field descriptions. Public dockets and register entries commonly show enough to identify the court event, but not enough to replace the underlying case file. When the docket relates to a criminal or traffic matter, charges and dispositions may appear in related case data, while detailed filings require clerk access.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Date | The hearing or docket date used to locate scheduled events. |
| Court or Courthouse | District Court, County Court, La Plata County Courthouse, or another listed venue. |
| Case Number | The court identifier used for follow-up with the clerk. |
| Case Type | Civil, criminal, domestic, traffic, small claims, probate, or another public category when shown. |
| Event Type | Hearing, advisement, status conference, motions setting, trial, sentencing, or other scheduled event. |
| Parties or Attorneys | Public party or attorney names, with protected parties omitted when rules require it. |
| Status | Open, closed, pending, disposed, sealed, or other status wording when available. |
La Plata County Docket Sources
State District Court and County Court docket information routes through Colorado Judicial Branch systems. The District Court side covers felony criminal, domestic relations, civil cases in any amount, juvenile, probate, mental health, and water-related claims. The County Court side covers limited civil, small claims, evictions, misdemeanors, traffic citations, restraining orders, name changes, and early felony complaint stages. Both are located through the local state courthouse and clerk.
Durango Municipal Court is separate. It handles municipal-code summons issued by Durango Police, Fort Lewis College Police, and certain La Plata County Animal Protection matters within city limits. Citations from Colorado State Patrol and the La Plata County Sheriff’s Department go to the La Plata County combined courthouse, not Durango Municipal Court. For city matters, use the municipal court date on the citation or contact the city court clerk.
- District Court: felony, divorce, civil, probate, juvenile, mental health, and water-related state cases.
- County Court: misdemeanors, state traffic, small claims, evictions, protection orders, and limited civil cases.
- Durango Municipal Court: city ordinance, city traffic, parking, and municipal summons files.
- Federal court: District of Colorado matters and PACER dockets, separate from local state court.
Verify La Plata County Court Dates
Court dates can change. The courthouse security research notes that jurors should call 970-247-2376 or check the state courts website before arriving because trials may be canceled. A 2026 Colorado Judicial Branch notice also warned residents about fraudulent court appearance text messages. For La Plata County court dockets, the safer path is to verify dates through the official docket search or the Clerk of Court rather than through unexpected text links.
People with a possible bench warrant, failure-to-appear issue, or bond condition should use direct court contact. A docket can show a scheduled event, but it may not explain how to quash a warrant, reset a missed date, or clear a municipal matter. For state cases, contact the Clerk of Court at 970-247-2304. For Durango Municipal Court, contact 970-375-5020 or municourt@durangoco.gov.
Note: A docket result is a useful lead, but the issuing court controls whether a date has changed.
Federal Dockets Near La Plata County
Federal dockets are not searched through the Colorado state docket system. La Plata County is in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, and the federal courthouse locations page lists a Durango location in the La Plata County Courthouse, Suite 150. Federal criminal cases are handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, not the Sixth Judicial District Attorney, and federal appeals go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
Use PACER for federal electronic court records and PACER Case Locator for a national party or case index. PACER charges $0.10 per page for case information, caps a single document at $3.00, and waives fees when quarterly usage is $30 or less. Bankruptcy matters use the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado, which is based in Denver.
PACER is the national federal court records portal for district, bankruptcy, and appellate dockets.
Use PACER only for federal cases, not state District Court or County Court matters in Durango.
PACER Case Locator searches a national index across federal courts.
The locator is helpful when the correct federal district or bankruptcy court is not yet known.
Colorado Federal Docket Access
The PACER lookup page for the District of Colorado identifies the federal district court and directs users to CM/ECF access for that court. The District of Colorado PACER information page also points users to PACER for Colorado federal court records. These federal systems are separate from the state docket search, so a La Plata County state criminal, civil, probate, divorce, or traffic matter will not appear there unless it is a separate federal case.
Bankruptcy is separate too. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado has its own court and records process. A person may have a state court case in La Plata County and a federal bankruptcy docket in Colorado, but those are not one file. Search each court system by the case type and custodian.
PACER's District of Colorado lookup identifies the federal district court for Colorado.
That court lookup is a federal filing and records resource, not a county docket search.
The District of Colorado PACER information page explains its federal electronic records path.
For state matters, return to the Colorado Judicial Branch or the La Plata County Clerk of Court.
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado is the federal bankruptcy court for Colorado.
Bankruptcy docket searches should be kept distinct from local civil judgment or collection case searches.
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