Elbert County, CO Courts and Public Records

The Elbert County Combined Courts in Kiowa serves Elbert County for both District Court and County Court matters within the 23th Judicial District, as set out by the Colorado Judicial Branch. Colorado's unified state court system handles felony and civil matters in District Court, and misdemeanor, traffic, and small claims matters in County Court.

Have the full name, the case number if you know it, and approximate dates ready before you search Elbert County court records.

The Elbert County courts received 2,765 new cases in fiscal year 2024 and recorded 2,696 terminations. District Court accounted for 649 filings and County Court for 2,116.

The biggest driver of the change was County Court civil filings, which moved by +127 cases between FY 2023 and FY 2024.

This table covers the five most recent fiscal years for Elbert County. Published years are shown as reported; earlier years marked with ~ are estimates based on the statewide trend and this county's latest published figures.

Combined filings rose 2.1% from 2,707 in FY 2021 to 2,765 in FY 2024. The largest annual change was +10.2% in FY2024. The latest change was driven mainly by County Court civil (+127 filings) and District Court civil (+122 filings). The series covers four fiscal years (FY 2021 to FY 2024) because FY 2020 is not available, so no FY 2021 change is shown.

County Court infractions cases were the largest County Court category in FY 2024 at 900 filings, or 42.5% of County Court's 2,116 filings. Shares below are of each court's own total.

The fastest-growing category was district court civil at +59.8%, while the fastest-falling was district court mental health at -47.4%.

Elbert County accounted for 0.2% of all combined Colorado court filings in FY 2024, out of 1,715,971 statewide.

Elbert County filed 94.1 cases per 1,000 residents compared with 288.0 statewide, and its combined filings grew +10.2% while statewide filings grew +9.9%. Its District Court docket is a different mix from the state's, with criminal and civil shares shown above.

These figures are Colorado statewide totals as reported to the FBI, not counts for Elbert County. Agency reporting may be incomplete, and county crime counts are not available here. Statewide violent and property crimes combined fell 14.6% from 2024 to 2025. In 2025, reporting agencies covered about 99.1% of Colorado's population, so year-over-year changes can partly reflect which agencies reported.

Rates use the Colorado 2025 population of 6,012,561. County-level rates are not published, so this section does not compare Elbert County with the state.

Elbert County has 1 court location in Kiowa. The directory lists hours of Mon-Fri 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., except state holidays, with protection orders filed before 4:00 p.m. Check your notice or ticket for the assigned courthouse before you go.

Colorado's unified state court system sends most Elbert County matters to District Court or County Court, depending on case type. Federal cases go to the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.

Yes, most Elbert County court records are public, with exceptions. Colorado Chief Justice Directive 05-01, amended effective November 10, 2025, sets the public access rules for court records.

Public records

Most court records are open to the public under Chief Justice Directive 05-01, although many documents are not available online.

Restricted or confidential records

Sealed records are visible only to judges, court staff, and authorized Department staff, and outside parties need a court order. Juvenile delinquency, mental health, guardianship, and truancy cases are not public unless a court orders otherwise.

Online access

Colorado has no statewide public case search on coloradojudicial.gov. Third-party vendors, including cocourts.com and bisi.com, list register of actions for civil, small claims, domestic, felony, misdemeanor, and traffic cases; they charge fees, do not provide documents, and are not the official court record.

In-person access

Contact the court location handling your case, at 751 Ute Ave., PO Box 232, Kiowa, CO 80117, to view or request records. The access guide to public records lists the request process.

Fees

The branch's record request form lists $0.25 per page for copies, $20 for certified copies, $5 for a name search, and $30 per hour for research and redaction, and notes that fees vary by court and form.

Use the vendor search sites listed by the Colorado Judicial Branch to find Elbert County case information, and request documents that are not online from the court.

1. Identify the case type, such as criminal, traffic, civil, small claims, domestic, probate, or juvenile.
2. Open a vendor site listed on coloradojudicial.gov, such as cocourts.com and bisi.com, for the case types it covers.
3. Search by party name or case number and note the case number from the results.
4. Review the register of actions for case status and entries; vendor results are not the official record.
5. Use the online records request form for documents, or contact the court location handling the case.

Elbert County traffic citations and fines can be paid online through the Colorado Judicial Branch payment system, as the branch describes for this county.

1. Online: Pay fines, fees, and restitution through the Colorado Judicial Payment System on coloradojudicial.gov. Choose the county, then enter the case or ticket number or name. Limits: accepted payment types vary by court.
2. Payment plans: Apply online, as the branch lists for Elbert County. Details are at the court location page. Limits: the branch does not state an ability-to-pay standard.

Parking tickets are handled by the citing city or agency, not the county court, so pay them to that issuer. Traffic citations and criminal fines are paid through the court and are separate from parking tickets.