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GUSTAFSON
LAW
OFFICE
SEALING COLORADO DRUG CONVICTION CRIMINAL RECORDS
COLORADO SECOND CHANCE LAW
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WELCOME |
Phone (719)
260-1002 |
Fax
(719) 260-1003 
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perhaps I will become your attorney
Address
* Maps
* Directions
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Robert D.
Gustafson * Attorney at Law * Colorado Springs
Business Hours
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Attorney
Availability
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Trade Area
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Toll Free (800)
410-1002
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"THE TIMES, THEY
ARE A CHANGING"
Bob Dylan
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2008 LAW
CRS 24-72-308.5 |
SECOND CHANCE LAW
refer to link for verbatim statutory text
drug conviction sealing
eligibility effective 7/1/08 |
HB08-1082 was
approved by the Colorado Legislature
regarding sealing of conviction records. |
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Colorado law effective
7/1/08 permits some drug convictions to be eligible
for sealing 10+ years after final disposition.
persons convicted of some drug offenses may be eligible to
avoid harm for an old act of poor judgment - statute is
quite restrictive
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For persons with
non-drug related convictions who were hoping relief
would come in the form of a second chance law, this
is not it.
not yet - not today |
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HIGHLIGHTS
synopsis only - refer to
SECOND CHANCE LAW
for verbatim text |
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1. Sealing statute
applies only to eligible drug convictions. CRS
24-72-308.5(4)(a) |
Permitted Drug Convictions: petty offense CRS
18-18-*, misdemeanor offense CRS 18-18-*, F-5 or F-6
offense CRS 18-18-*
(note - this would include the basic minor offenses
of marijuana possession & paraphernalia)
CRS
24-72-308.5(4)(a) §§ (I), (II), (III) |
Excluded or
Non-Qualified
Drug Convictions: Class
5 or 6 felony offenses for the sale, manufacturing
or dispensing of a controlled substance
CRS
24-72-308.5(4)(a)((III) |
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2. Sealing suit may
be brought 10 years from the later of criminal proceedings
final disposition or release from probation if the
defendant has not been charged or convicted for a criminal
offense during the 10 or more years.
CRS
24-72-308.5(2)(1) §§ (A), (B) |
| 3. Sealing
statute applies only to convictions entered on and after
July 1, 2008. CRS 24-72-308.5(4)(a) |
NOTE
If the later of your court case closure or
release from supervision was less than 10 years
before the sealing lawsuit, you do not qualify. |
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First sealing lawsuit which may be brought under
this statutory provision is July 1, 2018. |
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4. Verified copy of
criminal history (current through max 20 days) must be
attached to sealing petition, or filed within 10 days of
filing.
CRS
24-72-308.5(2)(b)(I) (e.g. petitioner's expense to
procure criminal history from
local law enforcement agency) |
| 5. Court may
summarily deny petition if non-qualified similar to
traditional sealing cases. CRS
24-72-308.5(2)(b)(II)(A) |
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6. Harm to
petitioner's privacy vs. state interest in retaining open
records balancing test, similar to traditional sealing
cases.
CRS
24-72-308.5(2)(c) |
| 7. If sealing order
is granted, underlying conviction is not vacated.
CRS 24-72-308.5(2)(a)(II) |
| 8. If sealing order
is granted, records access is not denied to courts,
prosecutors or law enforcement agencies. CRS
24-72-308.5(2)(a)(II) |
9. If sealing order
is granted - courts, prosecutors or law enforcement
agencies may use the underlying conviction for any lawful
purpose.
CRS
24-72-308.5(2)(a)(II) (e.g. subsequent offense
prosecution or sentencing as a multiple offender) |
| 10. If sealing order
is granted and a subsequent conviction enters, sealed
records will be unsealed. CRS 24-72-308.5(2)(a)(II) |
11.
If sealing order is granted, petitioner and all agencies
may rely, upon inquiry, that the conviction records do not
exist.
CRS
24-72-308.5(2)(d) |
12.
If sealing order is granted, inspection of records may
permitted by the court only upon petition of the records
subject.
CRS
24-72-308.5(2)(d) |
13.
If sealing order is granted, employers, state and local
government agencies, officials, landlords and employees
may are not permitted to require an applicant to disclose
information contained in sealed records during an
application or interview.
CRS
24-72-308.5(2)(f)(I) |
| 14.
If Bar Committee of and the Colorado Board of Law
Examiners retain access and may inquire. CRS
24-72-308.5(2)(f)(II) |
| 15.
Criminal justice agencies retain access, plus may inquire
during employment application. CRS 24-72-308.5(2)(f)(III) |
| 16.
If sealing order is granted, any member of the public may
petition to unseal upon a showing that as a result of
circumstances since sealing, the public interest in
disclosure now outweighs the record subject's privacy
interest. CRS 24-72-308.5(2)(f)(III) |
| 17.
At the time of filing the sealing petition, the petitioner
will be added to a list published by the State Court
Administrator of all petitions to seal conviction records.
Publication will remain for 30 days. CRS
24-72-308.5(2)(g) |
| 18.
If multiple convictions arose out of the same criminal
case, all must be
eligible for sealing.
CRS 24-72-308.5(2)(i) |
| 19. If
sealing order is granted, petitioner must pay to the CBI
the costs incurred in sealing records. CRS
24-72-308.5(2)(c) |
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in addition to the above,
the below is applicable to sealing cases regarding
convictions entered prior to July 1, 2008 |
| 1.
Consent of the prosecuting attorney is required
This would include the
District Attorney Office
and may be construed to include the City
Attorney if the original case was prosecuted in Municipal
Court. CRS 24-72-308.5(4)(b)(I) |
| 2.
Sealing petitioner must pay to the prosecuting attorney
all reasonable attorney fees and costs of the prosecuting
attorney relating to the petition to seal. This
would include the
District Attorney Office
and may be construed to include the City
Attorney if the original case was prosecuted in Municipal
Court. CRS 24-72-308.5(4)(b)(II) |
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ATTORNEY
COMMENT |
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a. Lack of objection by the
DA Office is a condition precedent to sealing
eligibility - DA objection will cause immediate
denial order. |
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b. This is a new statute;
procedures are not yet set. Common sense
dictates that, at minimum, any
District Attorney Office
must review the following
prior to making a determination regarding
consent or objection. |
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1. copy
of underlying criminal case
court file |
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2.
petition to seal |
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3.
affidavit in support of
petition to seal which
includes educational &
employment history,
petitioner's future
educational & employment
plans plus and specific harm
alleged, including
attachments: verified
criminal history and
exhibits evidencing harm
such as employment rejection
letters |
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4.
proposed sealing order |
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This entails
preparation of entire sealing lawsuit.
All that remains for counsel
is time expenditure
e-Filing the
above plus a civil cover
sheet & legal memorandum,
setting and actual court
appearance which is commonly
quite brief. |
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Whether a
District Attorney Office may render an opinion on objection or
consent absent actual filing of the lawsuit
remains for each individual county prosecutor's
future policy decision. Attorney time expenditure and costs would be
somewhat reduced if court filing was not
required, however the major benefit would be in
costs avoidance if
e-Filing and e-Service
costs were
not incurred in the actual court filing.
Attorney believes any DA Office will require
actual filing of the lawsuit prior to making a determination whether to forego
objection. In such event, full attorney fees & costs would be
incurred before client had knowledge whether
the DA Office objects. |
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c. Where the DA Office has
complete discretion to quash the lawsuit,
counsel believes it highly unlikely that consent
will be forthcoming in any case. Put
another way - petition to seal may likely be a waste of the
client's money in counsel's opinion. |
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| 3. In
addition to the standard filing fee, an additional court
filing fee of $200 is imposed by law. CRS
24-72-308.5(4)(b)(III) §§ (A), (B) |
| 4. If sealing order
is granted, records access is not denied to courts,
prosecutors or law enforcement agencies. CRS
24-72-308.5(4)(d) |
DRUG CONVICTION
SEALING CASES
ATTORNEY POLICY
REGARDING EVALUATION AND SUBMISSION TO DISTRICT
ATTORNEY
counsel is
unaware of any second chance law for non-drug
convictions |
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1. Retainer agreement and
trust deposit requested
below
for processing the lawsuit would
be required prior to counsel
accepting a drug conviction
sealing case. Counsel will
reduce fees if the DA Office
reviews and objects prior to
filing, but will not commence
unless the sealing lawsuit is
adequately
funded. |
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2. In El Paso
County (Colorado Springs) |
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a.
Attorney will order the
underlying criminal case
court file
on-line
and will order a verified
criminal history from the
Colorado Springs Police
Department
via U.S. Mail (email or
on-line service not
available). |
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b.
If prosecutors will accept
without court filing, attorney will
prepare the sealing lawsuit
and submit above documents to the
El
Paso County District
Attorney Office
for review and determination
whether the DA Office will
object. |
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1. If the DA Office renders
an opinion and objects to
sealing, attorney flat fee
of
$1,150,
plus records costs and
El Paso County District
Attorney reasonable attorney's fees and costs
relating to the petition to seal case CRS
24-72-308.5(4)(b)(II) would be billed.
The balance of trust deposit
would be refunded..
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2. If the DA Office
declines to receive
documents for review by
email .pdf attachment,
attorney will not
ship via U.S. Mail, but
would simply proceed with
lawsuit. Burning hard
copies, USPS postage and
standing in line at the post
office for non-flexible,
overweight mail is simply
not economically
justifiable. |
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3. If the DA Office declines
to render an opinion until
e-Filing and e-Service
of the sealing lawsuit, flat fee
below would apply, plus
expended costs. |
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4.
El Paso DA
Office has not determined
their policy as of 6/18/08,
however it should be decided
in the foreseeable future. |
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3. Outside El Paso County
(Colorado Springs) |
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a.
Attorney will
order the underlying
criminal case court file
from the relevant
Clerk
of Court via
U.S. Mail & will order a
verified criminal history
from the appropriate
law
enforcement agency. |
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b.
If prosecutors will accept
without court filing,
attorney will prepare the
sealing lawsuit and submit
above documents to the
District Attorney Office
for review and determination
whether the DA Office will
object. |
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1. If the DA Office renders
an opinion and objects to
sealing, flat fee of
$1,250,
plus records costs and
District Attorney reasonable attorney's fees and costs
relating to the petition to seal case CRS
24-72-308.5(4)(b)(II) would be billed.
The balance of trust deposit
would be refunded. |
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2. If the DA Office
declines to receive
documents for review by
email .pdf attachment,
attorney will not
ship via U.S. Mail, but
would simply proceed with
lawsuit. Burning hard
copies, USPS postage and
standing in line at the post
office for non-flexible,
overweight mail is simply
not economically
justifiable. |
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3. If the DA Office declines
to render an opinion until
e-Filing and e-Service
of the sealing lawsuit, flat fee
below would apply, plus
expended costs. |
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4. Since counsel
practices primarily in El
Paso County, attorney will
need to call the the
relevant
District Attorney Office
to determine prosecution
policy on a case by case
basis. |
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4. If the DA
Office consents to sealing,
sealing lawsuit would be e-Filed
and the below fees and costs would
apply. |
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5. Based upon the fact the
verified criminal history must be
dated within 20 days from e-Filing
the sealing lawsuit, it is likely
a second verified criminal history
would be required with delay for
DA submission. |
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NOTICE |
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This web page
serves as notice to prospective
clients that where prosecutors can
quash a sealing suit by simple
objection, counsel believes
attempt to seal drug conviction
criminal justice records to be in
vain & likely throwing good money
after bad. Before calling
counsel, prospective client must
determine for himself or herself
whether the consequences of open
conviction records justify
expenditure which may likely be
fruitless. What will be DA
Office policy regarding objection?
Only time will tell. |
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For information pertaining
to procedure and timing after prosecutor consent has been procured,
refer to traditional sealing lawsuits
Sealing Criminal Justice Records. |
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ATTORNEY'S FEES AND COSTS
SEALING COLORADO DRUG CONVICTION CRIMINAL RECORDS
multiple options are available for
service of final sealing order
each option impacts total cost - refer to option links
Secure On-Line Payment |
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At the time of the first
visit, a prospective client will be quoted attorney's fees and estimated costs. The quote will
be honored for a period of seven (7) days, after which it is subject to change
without notice if this office has not been retained. Attorney is a sole
practitioner with need to manage his caseload. Pending proposed client
acceptance and payment, retainer agreement proposals are subject to
withdrawal. Attorney reserves the right to decline any case.
In most circumstances, attorney initially makes an option offer of 1.) billing
to be upon hourly fees, or in the alternative, 2.) quote of a flat fee through
trial court final hearing.
ELECTION.
Offered fee options will be up to the client, however client's initial election will be
final.
Included in attorney's primary website is a
web page devoted to clear definition & understanding of free
first
consultation, fees and costs, retainer agreement and terms of
representation. Additional
information regarding fees & costs may be found via the links
following potential quotes.
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Hopefully you
are eligible to seal.
Thank you for considering my services; I
appreciate your inquiry. |
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POTENTIAL FEE QUOTE
SEALING
COLORADO DRUG CONVICTION CRIMINAL RECORDS |
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common
hearing flat fee quote
$1,500
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FLAT
FEE DEFINITION |
TRAVEL TIME
&
EXPENSES |
HOURLY
FEE RATE |
The statute pertaining to sealing drug conviction criminal justice
records places burdens upon a petitioner in which are not
present in
typical sealing cases under CRS
24-72-308 - counsel will invest additional time and effort. As
with traditional sealing cases, hearing on the merits is required. I generally offer hourly fees
or a hearing flat fee. Attorney flat fee would be dependent upon the facts
and circumstances of the case, however the above would be a an anticipated flat fee quote in
sealing drug conviction criminal justice records. This shall neither constitute an offer, nor
be construed as a binding estimate. Refer to the below
anticipated trust deposit request structure
regarding estimated total fees and costs. Method of serving the final sealing order
dramatically effects the total client expenditure. Only
e-Service has been quoted.
Refer to
personal service or
service by regular U.S. Mail
for additional costs. Attorney declines to serve the final
sealing order via
certified U.S. Mail. Hourly fees would be impacted by
method of service; hourly attorney's fee total billing would
increase with personal service of the final sealing order or service
by U.S. Mail. |
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TRUST
DEPOSIT PAYMENT FOR ANTICIPATED FEES AND COSTS
DRUG CONVICTION
SEALING ORDER
ELECTRONIC FILE SERVED BY
e-FILE AND e-SERVE
Secure
On-Line Payment |
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e-Service
option available through court in El Paso County as of
July 1, 2008 |
tentatively
available in other counties |
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Prior to commencement of
representation, the attorney will quote the amount requested as a trust
deposit against which attorney's fees and costs may be billed. The
requested trust
deposit will be dependent upon the facts and
circumstances of your case, however be aware costs may exceed
attorney's fees. If the case is outside Colorado Springs,
travel
time and expense will increase the quote.
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sealing order
.pdf electronic file (court seal but not certified) served by
LexisNexis e-File & e-Serve
recommended by counsel
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this shall not constitute an offer, nor be construed as a binding
estimate |
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Colorado Springs Attorney Robert D. Gustafson
ATTORNEY FEES
LITIGATION COSTS
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$
1,500 attorney fee
$
1,694 litigation costs and
anticipated state
costs ** |
common
trust
deposit request
including attorney's fees & litigation costs
- excluding travel
map
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travel policy - time
& expenses
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travel rates |
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NOTE: costs
will increase when DA Office & CBI fees are ascertained |
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Note: estimate is e-Service
Service of certified hardcopies of the sealing order by U.S. Mail
or personal service would significantly increase costs |
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Client authorization
is obtained
for any large cost expense. Final expenditure may run less or
client
may periodically be asked for additional amounts to be deposited to trust if
fees and costs will exceed previous deposits. |
Client
will be provided with a trust accounting and itemized
billing statement when there has been activity on the account. At the end of
each case, a detailed accounting summary is provided and
remaining trust proceeds are refunded. |
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trust
deposit for anticipated fees & costs is due when
retained |
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attorney does not accept installment payments |
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regular billings are
scheduled on the 1st and 15th
if
fees and costs are not paid as agreed, representation is
withdrawn |
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MAJOR
CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED
PAYPAL ACCEPTED |
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PARTIAL LIST OF POTENTIAL
COSTS
out of pocket costs are the responsibility of the
client |
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