Search Phillips County Court Records
Phillips County court records start with the Colorado Judicial Branch because the county does not run a separate local case-search website. The free Colorado Judicial Branch docket search is best for court dates and scheduled events. Paid register-of-actions access is available through Judicial Branch-listed vendors such as CoCourts. Certified copies, document images, and records that do not appear in a vendor search should be requested through the Colorado Judicial Branch record/document request form or the clerk at Phillips Combined Court.
The Colorado Judicial Branch Phillips County page identifies the local court page for Phillips County court records and related services. That source ties the county to the statewide court system, not to a county-made database.
The court page is useful because Phillips County court records, jury contacts, local dockets, payment links, interpreter requests, transcript requests, and record requests all route from the same state court site.
- Use the docket search first when the main need is a hearing date, courtroom setting, or short case-calendar check.
- Use CoCourts or another listed vendor when a paid register of actions is enough and the case type is included.
- Use the record/document request form when an order, ticket, complaint, divorce decree, sentence order, probate paper, or certified copy is needed.
- Contact Phillips Combined Court when the case is older, restricted, not visible online, or needs clerk review before release.
- Use the correct non-court agency for recorder records, sheriff reports, and statewide criminal history checks.
Phillips County Court Record Channels
Each Phillips County court record channel answers a different question. Dockets show scheduled matters and basic case activity. A register of actions is a chronological case summary from the court's case-management system. A document request asks the court clerk for the actual filed paper or certified copy. Treat those channels as a sequence rather than as substitutes for one another.
The 13th Judicial District Attorney contact page is also relevant when a Phillips County criminal case has been filed by the prosecutor. The DA office does not replace the court clerk as record custodian, but it helps explain why a criminal file may show prosecutor-filed complaints, informations, subpoena activity, plea terms, or victim-advocacy entries.
That prosecutorial context matters most when a Phillips County court record contains charges, amended charges, disposition entries, sentence orders, or witness-related docket events.
| Need | Best Channel | Phillips County Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Hearing date or docket setting | Judicial Branch docket search | Use date plus a county, district, case number, party, attorney, or case-type filter. |
| Case activity summary | CoCourts or listed vendor | District civil, domestic, and criminal records plus county traffic, civil, small claims, and misdemeanors may appear. |
| Official filed document | Record/document request form | Select Phillips County as the location and choose the case type or requested document. |
| Certified copy | Record/document request form or clerk | Mark certification or exemplification if the copy must be official. |
| Older or non-digitized file | Phillips Combined Court clerk | Off-site retrieval may be charged at actual cost. |
Phillips County Court Records Search Fields
The statewide docket page is the most direct no-cost starting point for Phillips County court records, but it is a calendar and docket tool rather than a full document portal. The research file notes that the docket search requires a date plus at least one additional filter. A precise case number is strongest. If the case number is unknown, the user should narrow by county, the 13th Judicial District, party name, attorney, or case type.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes / Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Judicial District | Dropdown | Optional filter | Phillips County is in the 13th Judicial District. |
| County | Dropdown | Optional filter | Select Phillips County when the filing county is known. |
| Date | Date | Yes or implied | The docket page requires a date plus one more filter. |
| Case Number | Text | Optional | Use the exact case number when available. |
| Party Name | Text | Optional | Last name and first name fields may appear by page rendering. |
| Attorney | Text | Optional | Use when counsel name is known. |
| Case Type | Dropdown or filter | Optional | Narrows the docket by civil, criminal, traffic, family, or other case grouping where exposed. |
Types of Phillips County Court Records
Phillips Combined Court houses both district-court and county-court functions. District court handles felonies, larger civil matters, domestic relations, juvenile matters, probate jurisdiction, and appeals from county court. County court handles misdemeanors, traffic infractions, felony complaints before transfer, small claims, limited civil matters, and protection orders. That split determines where Phillips County court records begin and how they are described in a docket or register of actions.
Not every public record connected to a legal event is a court record. Marriage licenses, recorded land documents, UCC-related recording, maps, plats, and county CORA records belong to the Phillips County Clerk and Recorder. Sheriff reports and local law-enforcement records are requested through the sheriff. A statewide Colorado criminal history check is handled by CBI, not by the court clerk.
- Civil records may include complaints, answers, motions, orders, judgments, transcripts of judgment, and satisfactions of judgment.
- Criminal court records may include complaints, informations, bond orders, plea papers, minute orders, dispositions, and sentence orders.
- Domestic-relations records may include divorce decrees, parenting plans, separation agreements, support orders, and petitions.
- Probate records may include letters, wills, trusts, applications, petitions, closings, claims, and date-of-death entries.
- Traffic court records may include tickets, hearing dates, court fines, costs, dispositions, and payment status.
What Phillips County Court Records Show
A Phillips County court record can show the case number, case type, court, parties, attorneys, hearings, docket events, filed documents, charges or claims, orders, judgments, disposition, and financial summaries. CoCourts describes its public view as a register of actions from Colorado's ICON system. It does not provide downloadable documents, and it excludes sealed, confidential, juvenile, and probate case types.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Case number | The court's tracking number. The Judicial Branch form gives 2019T999999 as an example format. |
| Case type | Civil, divorce, felony, juvenile, misdemeanor, probate, protection order, small claims, traffic, or water when selected or shown. |
| Parties | Plaintiff and defendant, petitioner and respondent, or the named person in a criminal, traffic, probate, or family matter. |
| Attorney names | Counsel of record when public. CoCourts states attorney names are public. |
| Register of actions | A chronological list of docket entries, hearings, minute orders, filings, and case events. |
| Disposition | The current or final outcome, such as judgment, dismissal, plea, verdict, sentence, or order. |
| Financial summary | Summarized fines, costs, or fee information, not detailed financial narratives. |
Request Phillips County Court Documents
The record/document request form is the route for court records that need clerk action. It asks for requestor contact information, address, case number if known, case type, filing year, county or location of records, date of birth for the primary party if known, party information, other identifying details, requested document types, and whether certification or exemplification is needed. The form states that, unless there are extenuating circumstances, a response will be provided within three business days.
| Fee Item | Amount or Rule |
|---|---|
| Copy per page | $0.25 |
| Party or attorney copy cap | Maximum $15 for parties to their case and their attorneys, with no maximum for non-parties. |
| Transcript of Judgment | $25 |
| Certificate of Satisfaction | $20 |
| Certified or exemplified copy | $20 per document |
| Name search | $5 |
| Research or redaction | $30 per hour in 15-minute increments after the first hour. |
Note: Certified copies are the safer choice when a Phillips County court record must be filed with another agency or court.
Public Access to Phillips County Court Records
Colorado public access rules allow many court records to be inspected, but the route and level of access depend on record type. The research identifies C.R.S. 24-72-201 for Colorado's public-records policy, C.R.S. 24-72-205 for copies and fees, and C.R.S. 24-72-301 to 309 for criminal justice records. Court records also follow CJD 05-01 for public access in clerk offices and CJD 06-01 for copy, research, and redaction charges.
Public access does not make every Phillips County court record a full online file. CoCourts omits social security numbers, street addresses, non-party participants, victims, police officers, jurors, long narratives, sealed records, and confidential filings. Court documents that need review must go through the clerk. County Clerk and Recorder CORA records, sheriff public records, and CBI criminal history checks remain separate access systems.
Note: Court appearance text or payment demands should be checked with the court because official sources warn of Colorado court fraud messages.
Restricted Phillips County Court Records
Several Phillips County court record categories are not open in the same way as ordinary civil or traffic records. Juvenile records are governed by the Children's Code and court access directives, and the record request form warns that juvenile records may require a U.S. government-issued photo ID. Probate and juvenile cases are not included in CoCourts. Adoption, mental health, guardianship, conservatorship, and other protected matters may require court approval, proof of status, or a specific legal right of access.
Sealed and suppressed records do not appear through ordinary vendor access. The Colorado sealing framework includes C.R.S. 24-72-703, and the research notes that CBI no longer takes a fee for sealing as of July 1, 2024. A sealed record is not the same as a destroyed record. Courts, law enforcement, prosecutors, criminal justice agencies, and other authorized users may still have access when law allows it.
Phillips County Court Records Office
In-person Phillips County court records requests go to the Phillips Combined Court clerk counter. The court location is the same local courthouse address used for district-court and county-court functions. Calling or emailing first is useful when the user needs a certified copy, an older file, a restricted file, or a record that did not appear in the docket or vendor search.
The Colorado State Public Defender Sterling Office serves Phillips County for eligible criminal defendants. It is not the court record custodian, but it is a key source for defendants trying to understand a pending or closed criminal case file.
That office context helps separate court-record copies from legal representation questions, especially when a person is reading criminal docket entries, charge records, or sentence terms.
Phillips Combined Court
221 S. Interocean Avenue, 2nd Floor
Holyoke, CO 80734
970-762-7010
Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.