Searching the Washington County Court Docket
Hearing dates for Washington County live in the Colorado Judicial Branch Docket Search. It costs nothing, and no account is needed. Pick the 13th Judicial District and Washington County, then choose your date range. One more filter is required by Colorado beyond the date itself. A party name, business name, attorney, court type, or case number will do the job.
Treat what comes back as a calendar, not the full Washington County court record. Each result gives the date, start time, and duration. It also lists the hearing type, location, appearance type, courtroom, displayed name, and case number. Need the chronological register of actions? The clerk is the right stop. The same goes for any public filing or signed order. A quick docket search answers scheduling questions. The paper trail sits in the case file at the courthouse.
- Choose the 13th Judicial District, Washington County, and a useful date range.
- Add a party, attorney, court type, or the year, class, and sequence of the case number.
- Open the results and match the case number, hearing type, time, courtroom, and appearance type.
- Use the printable view or export control when a clean working list is needed.
- Call the filing court for a register, filed document, certification, or last-minute setting check.
Washington County Docket Search Fields
The Washington County docket form in Colorado offers several ways in. A case number breaks into a four-digit year, a class letter, and a numeric sequence. People go into first and last name fields. An entity goes under Business Name instead. Attorney searches accept a name or a Colorado bar number. Court Type narrows the level. Division marks a judicial assignment and is a separate field entirely.
| Search field | Use in Washington County | Key limit |
|---|---|---|
| District and county | Select 13th Judicial District and Washington | Date alone will not run the search |
| Case number | Enter year, class, and sequence | Do not guess a class from a town name |
| Individual or business | Choose the matching name mode | Common names can return several matters |
| Attorney | Search by name or bar number | This finds events, not an attorney's full file |
| Printable or export | Create a working calendar list | The output is not a certified record |
One hearing in Washington County can produce several rows. That happens when multiple parties are displayed on the Washington-filtered docket. Count unique case numbers rather than rows to get a true tally of matters. The state publishes no refresh interval and no wildcard rule. A blank result is not proof the case does not exist. Change a filter or check with the clerk instead.
Inside a Washington County Court Docket
Colorado uses the word docket in two related ways. The public docket search lists scheduled court business. The full chronological history of a case goes by another name, the register of actions. That register tracks filings, orders, settings, resets, and the disposition. The actual documents stay in the clerk's case file. So a screen result is a strong lead. It is not a certified account of everything that happened in the matter.
| Case number | A year, class, and sequence such as 2026CR4 or 2024T169. |
|---|---|
| Displayed name | The person or business shown for the event; one case may produce several rows. |
| Hearing setting | Date, time, duration, hearing type, courtroom, and any listed appearance mode. |
| Register entry | A dated line for a filing, court action, order, reset, judgment, or disposition. |
| Filed document | The complaint, motion, response, order, judgment, or other item held in the case file. |
| Certified copy | A clerk-authenticated copy requested when official proof is required. |
The Judicial Branch public-access explanation spells out where online case information stops and where the documents themselves begin.
The state page points to a simple local habit. Find the hearing online first. Then contact the Washington Combined Court for the underlying file.
Washington County Docket Versus Case File
A hearing row tells you when and where. It might list a pretrial conference, return date, sentencing, status conference, or restraining-order hearing. What it will not necessarily show is the complaint, the charge details, service history, evidence, a signed ruling, or a balance owed. Those pieces live in the Washington County register or case file, and public-access limits can differ for each.
Match the request to the need. Confirming a date? Start with the docket. Following the sequence of a known case? Ask for the register. Needing the precise text of an order or judgment? Request that named document. And if the copy must be certified, say so up front, because the clerk will quote a different cost. A calendar printout and a certified judgment are simply different products.
Need the signed order? Note the Washington County case number, document title, and entry date, then ask the filing court for a plain or certified copy and a current fee quote.
Courts That Keep Dockets in Washington County
One state-court clerk office serves Washington County, handling two trial-court levels at the Combined Court. District Court holds general jurisdiction. Its docket covers felonies, major civil matters, domestic relations, probate, juvenile, mental-health, and protective proceedings. County Court takes misdemeanors, state traffic matters, small claims, evictions, protection orders, and lower-value civil cases. Akron Municipal Court sits apart. It keeps the records for Akron ordinance and municipal citations.
| Court | Docket covers | Where to search |
|---|---|---|
| Washington District Court | CR felonies, CV civil, DR family, probate and other general-jurisdiction matters | Colorado Docket Search, then Combined Court clerk |
| Washington County Court | M misdemeanors, T traffic, C civil, small claims and FED cases | Colorado Docket Search, then Combined Court clerk |
| Akron Municipal Court | Akron ordinances and municipal citations | Municipal clerk by phone or at Town Hall |
The official Washington County court page supplies the state-court contact and local schedule context.
This view keeps the Combined Court distinct from the county government's administrative offices and from Akron's city court.
Washington County Court Docket Codes
Every Washington County case number carries a year, a letter class, and a sequence. The class letter helps route a search to the right court level. CR signals District Court criminal work, CV District Court civil, and DR domestic relations. County Court usually leans on M for misdemeanor, T for traffic, and C for county civil tracks. Some public settings display R as well. Ask the clerk to confirm its meaning in the specific file.
- Setting
- A scheduled court event, not proof that the case was decided.
- Reset
- A setting moved to another date; the newest valid event controls attendance planning.
- Disposition
- The way a charge, claim, or case was resolved.
- Return date
- A summons-related response or appearance date, not automatically a trial.
- Register of actions
- The dated case history maintained by the clerk.
Codes are a routing aid, never a substitute for the caption and court field. A locality is not a case class. When a number comes through incomplete, a party search limited to Washington County plus a court type is the best official fallback.
How to Find Court Dates and Settings
Start a docket search with the statewide portal. Enter Washington County plus the date range you care about. Each future event should list the date, time, hearing type, courtroom, and an appearance field. Plan on showing up in person. Washington hearings stay in person unless the court approves something virtual. Even then the participant should confirm the courtroom or link with the clerk. A blank appearance field grants no remote permission at all.
Local patterns work well as a cross-check. County Court traffic and misdemeanor settings usually land on the third Thursday of the month. They start at 8:30 a.m. County civil return dates often sit on Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m. Advisement and bond hearings for people held on Washington cases happen on weekdays. Those run at 2:15 p.m. None of these habits overrides the event listed for your own case. So treat them as clues rather than answers. For resets and missed settings, the detailed Washington County Court Dates page walks through what to do.
When doubt creeps in, pick up the phone. Weather, a closure alert, a continuance, FED scheduling, or a long drive all justify a call to the clerk close to the appearance. A signed order still controls the legal duty. But a live check with the clerk is the best guard against a late calendar change.
Washington County Court Calendar Rhythm
Washington County runs on a rural, regional court rhythm. The 13th Judicial District covers seven counties. An administrative order spreads Washington work across rotating divisions. So a lettered division or a visiting judge on a docket entry is no sign the case left the county. Trust the division and courtroom listed on the current event. Do not assume one judge owns every local District Court matter.
Do not read calendar-result totals as filing totals. A single hearing can generate separate rows for each party displayed, and the total moves whenever the date range changes. The official statistical report offers no reliable Washington County case-type table, so no annual filing count is claimed here.
Public Access to Court Dockets
Colorado splits case records from administrative records. Chief Justice Directive 05-01 sets the main access policy for state court case files. It sorts them into public, restricted, protected, remote, and courthouse access. The Colorado Open Records Act covers many public records. Judicial Branch administrative requests run through PAIRR Rule 2. Neither rule makes every Washington County case document downloadable from home.
Key rules:
Chief Justice Directive 05-01 controls access levels, remote access, exclusions, correction, and vendor duties for court records.
Chief Justice Directive 06-01 governs case-file retrieval, research, redaction, copy, and scanning fees.
PAIRR Rule 2 covers Judicial Branch administrative records and expressly excludes court case records.
Colorado Open Records Act covers many state public records but does not replace the judiciary's case-record directive.
Juvenile, adoption, mental-health, protected-address, and sealed material may be withheld or limited. Remember that a search result can never prove no Washington County case exists. The date range may skip the next setting. The data may be restricted remotely, or the query itself may be off. Ask the clerk what access rules, identification, authorization, or order applies.
Washington County Docket Access Levels
Public access can still mean a trip to the courthouse. Remote access lets you reach information away from the building. Courthouse-only access means you may inspect material at a court facility even though nothing is posted online. Restricted or protected access narrows who may see the information. That usually happens because a rule or order covers that case type or data.
Match the path to what you actually want. For a filed Washington County pleading, order, or judgment, ask the Clerk of Court. For budgets, policies, or business correspondence, send a Judicial Branch administrative request. Address it to the designated records custodian. Do not confuse the administrative copy limit under PAIRR Rule 2 with the price of a trial-court case copy. The case-record fee directive sets that, and you need a current quote.
The official Washington judges and staff directory names the local clerk and court staff.
That directory settles a common point of confusion. The Judicial Branch clerk office, not the elected county clerk, keeps Washington County state court files.
Docket Records at the Clerk's Office
Sandra K. Farris is the listed Washington County Clerk of Court and Probate Registrar. Her office serves both District Court and County Court at Washington Combined Court. Staff can locate a case, explain inspection and delivery methods, quote copy or certification charges, and point you to the right custodian for a transcript or archived file. They explain process all day. They cannot give legal advice.
Washington Combined Court Clerk
26861 Highway 34
P.O. Box 455, Akron, CO 80720
970-345-2756
WashingtonClerksOffice@judicial.state.co.us
In person, ask about inspection, plain copies, certified copies, and whether a public-access terminal exists. A mail request should include the court, case number, caption, document title or date, copy type, and delivery details. Add a request for a quote. The published email accepts self-represented filings, but it is not a guaranteed records-order portal. Call before emailing a copy request.
The Washington County directory sets Combined Courts apart from county offices visually. That helps you route requests correctly.
That visual distinction guards against a common routing error. The elected County Clerk and Recorder does not certify District Court or County Court judgments.
Washington County Docket Technology Timeline
Washington County's oldest court records live on paper. Docket books, journals, indexes, ledgers, and case-file series came first. Some of that material now sits with Colorado State Archives. The shift to digital came in stages. Washington District Court landed on Colorado's mandatory e-filing list in 2010. Civil e-filing went statewide in 2013, criminal e-filing in 2017, and self-represented domestic-relations e-filing in 2019 and 2020.
Colorado Courts E-Filing now serves lawyers across several case types. A self-represented party gets narrower access. After registration, opt-in, and court approval, that person can work on an eligible domestic-relations or eviction case of their own. CCE is not an anonymous public Washington County docket. The 2025 pricing model lists free search. A $15 case-history charge covers a nonfiling user with 14 days of access, and documents are free after access is established.
So the docket system runs in layers. Free online hearing events sit at the top. Account-based filing and own-case access come next, then clerk-held documents, with archives holding some older records. If one layer fails, try the next verified Washington County channel. Skip unofficial search or payment sites.
Washington County Federal Court Dockets
Federal cases tied to Washington County sit outside the Colorado state docket. The U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado handles them. PACER does the searching and viewing. CM/ECF handles filing and case management. Federal bankruptcy matters belong to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado. Appeals go to the Tenth Circuit. They do not go to the Colorado Court of Appeals.
The Tenth Circuit's official site shows the federal appellate layer's opinions, calendars, and case information.
This federal route stays separate from Washington Combined Court. A PACER docket centers on documents, unlike Colorado's free state hearing calendar. It requires an account, and page charges may apply.
Washington County Court Dockets by City
Census QuickFacts for Washington County reports the county context. The 2020 place counts list two incorporated municipalities. Akron has 1,702 residents. Otis has 511. Akron runs a Municipal Court for city ordinance and municipal citation matters. Otis posts no standalone court portal. State felonies, misdemeanors, traffic, civil, family, and probate cases from both towns route through Washington Combined Court. That applies when the citation or papers name the state court.
Akron Docket Search
1,702 residents in 2020. Akron Municipal Court keeps city ordinance and municipal citation matters; state cases use Washington Combined Court.
Otis Docket Search
511 residents in 2020. No separate official Otis court portal was verified, so start with the court named on the papers.
Read the issuing court on any citation before you search or pay. Akron city citations go to the municipal clerk. A Washington County T case belongs in the statewide Docket Search. It also belongs at the Combined Court. And an Otis locality name does not create a courthouse or case class.
Map and Directions to Washington Combined Court
District Court and County Court records for Washington County are kept at Washington Combined Court, 26861 Highway 34, east of Akron on U.S. Highway 34. County materials also refer to the building as the Combined Court/Justice Center. It is separate from the county's administrative courthouse at 150 Ash Avenue and from the elected County Clerk and Recorder, so a docket, pleading, or certified-copy request belongs at the Combined Court counter, not those other offices.
Washington Combined Court
26861 Highway 34
P.O. Box 455, Akron, CO 80720
970-345-2756
The Judicial Branch does not publish counter hours, a public-access terminal, parking layout, or a security/prohibited-items list for this building, so calling 970-345-2756 before a long trip is the safest step. Washington appearances are in person unless the court grants permission to appear virtually, and remote participants should confirm the courtroom and link with the clerk beforehand.