Colorado’s Clean Slate Law: What It Does, What It Doesn’t Do, and Why You Might Not Want to Wait
Colorado's Clean Slate Act is one of the most significant expansions of record sealing in the state's history — and if you have a criminal record, there's a good chance you've already heard about it.
But the waiting periods run 7-10 years, and the state's processing timeline is uncertain — meaning many people are better served by filing a traditional motion to seal now.
What Is the Colorado Clean Slate Act?
The Clean Slate Act, which took effect in 2024, requires Colorado to automatically seal certain criminal records without requiring individuals to file a court motion or hire an attorney. The goal was to remove barriers for people who qualify for sealing but never pursued it — either because they didn't know they were eligible, couldn't afford an attorney, or simply didn't have the time to navigate the court process.
This is a welcome piece of legislation in a state that for decades made it difficult to seal any conviction at all, much less provide a way to do it automatically. Prospective clients often contact our firm specifically to ask about their eligibility for automatic sealing pursuant to the Clean Slate Act. Here's what we tell them:
What Records Does the Clean Slate Act Cover?
The Clean Slate Act (in combination with other state auto-sealing procedures) provides for automatic sealing of:
• Arrests with no charges filed — if you were arrested but the case was never prosecuted
• Dismissed cases — charges that were filed but later dismissed
• Acquittals — cases where you were found not guilty
• Petty offense and certain misdemeanor convictions — after a 7-year waiting period with no subsequent convictions
• Certain felony convictions — after a 10-year waiting period with no subsequent convictions
What the Clean Slate Act Does NOT Cover:
• Felony convictions prohibited from sealing by other statutes (such as crimes of violence, convictions classified as domestic violence, sexual offenses, and others)
• Domestic violence convictions (felony or misdemeanor)
• Convictions in more than one case
• Records from other states
If your record falls within one of these exclusion categories, the Clean Slate Act doesn't help you, and you'll need to pursue traditional record sealing or expungement through the courts.
Longer Waiting Periods for Auto-Sealing
To file a traditional motion to seal a conviction through the courts, various statutory waiting periods apply — but they are shorter than the waiting periods that apply to auto-sealing. For example, a person with a petty offense theft conviction could file a sealing motion with the court one year after the termination of their sentence — six years sooner than the case would be eligible for auto-sealing.
A person with a misdemeanor petty theft conviction could file a sealing motion with the court after two years, also five years sooner than the case would be eligible for auto-sealing.
A person with a felony theft conviction could file a motion to seal with the court after three years — seven years before the case could be auto-sealed.
The following table summarizes the difference in waiting periods:
| Offense Type | Traditional Sealing (File with Court) |
Clean Slate Auto-Sealing |
Time Saved by Filing Now |
|---|---|---|---|
| Petty and Petty Drug Offense | 1 year after sentence completion | 7 years after sentence completion | 6 years |
| Most Class 2 and 3 Misdemeanors | 2 years after sentence completion | 7 years after sentence completion | 5 years |
| Drug Misdemeanor | 2 years after sentence completion | 7 years after sentence completion | 5 years |
| Most Class 4, 5, or 6 Felonies | 3 years after sentence completion | 10 years after sentence completion | 7 years |
| Most Level 3 or 4 Drug Felonies | 3 years after sentence completion | 10 years after sentence completion | 7 years |
| All Other Eligible Offenses | 5 years after sentence completion | N/A | N/A |
| Dismissed cases / Arrests | Immediately eligible | Eligible but processing timeline uncertain | Months to years |
Bureaucratic Uncertainty and Delay
The Clean Slate Law outlines the general procedure the state is supposed to follow with respect to convictions going forward, but does not mandate any specific timetable for retroactive auto-sealing of old cases. As an example, as I prepared this post during a week in July 2026, our firm reviewed criminal records for three different clients with arrests and court cases from the 1990s and 2000s. Each client had matters on their records eligible for auto-sealing, but none of them had yet been sealed by the state, and the Clean Slate Law is silent regarding when that might happen.
Why Some People Choose Not to Wait
We regularly advise people who contact our firm about record sealing that they qualify for Clean Slate automatic sealing, and they often hire us to help them anyway. It's usually for one of the following reasons:
• They are eligible to file a sealing motion with the court now and don't want to wait any longer
• They have a job opportunity that requires a background check in the near future
• They're applying for housing and need their record cleared before a landlord runs a background check
• They simply want certainty — knowing their record is sealed, not hoping the state gets around to it
For these clients, filing a traditional motion to seal — with an attorney who knows the process — gets the job done on a defined timeline rather than waiting for an uncertain automatic process to run its course.
So Should You Wait for Clean Slate or File Now?
It depends on your situation. If you have no immediate need and your record qualifies for automatic sealing, waiting costs you nothing but time. The state should eventually process it.
But if any of the following apply, filing a traditional motion through the courts may make more sense:
• Your record currently is eligible for sealing through the courts, but not yet eligible for automatic sealing
• You have a job offer, job application, or interview coming up
• You're applying for housing in the near future
• You're applying for admission to a college or university soon
• You want your record sealed by a specific date
• You've been waiting and nothing has happened yet
• You're not sure whether your record actually qualifies for Clean Slate
How Do You Know If You Qualify for Clean Slate?
As of July 2026, there is no simple public lookup tool that tells you definitively whether your specific record will be sealed automatically, and when. If you know your case number, the Colorado Judicial Branch website allows you to search for your case and confirm whether it has been automatically sealed.
The organization Clean Slate Colorado offers a Clean Slate eligibility screener that may be useful in helping you determine whether your case is eligible for sealing, but it does not provide case-specific information to users.
The most reliable way to know your options — Clean Slate, traditional sealing through the courts, or both — is to have an attorney review your specific record. We do this for free.
The Bottom Line
The Colorado Clean Slate Act is good law that will help a lot of people. But if you have something at stake in the near term, waiting may not be the right choice for your situation.
At the Law Offices of Joshua Johnson, we'll give you an honest assessment of whether Clean Slate covers your record, how long the wait is likely to be, and whether filing a traditional motion through the courts makes sense given your timeline and goals.
Call us at (720) 541-8583, email us at josh@johnsonlawllc.com, or use the contact form on our website. We respond same day.
Josh Johnson is a Colorado criminal defense and record sealing attorney licensed since 2010, serving clients statewide from his office in Aurora, Colorado.