CO Code § 42-2-121 (2021)
2021 Colorado Code|Title 42 - Vehicles and Traffic|Article 2 - Drivers' Licenses|Part 1 - Drivers' Licenses|§ 42-2-121. Records to Be Kept by Department - Admission of Records in Court

  The department shall file every completed application for a license received by it and shall maintain suitable indexes containing in alphabetical order:   All applications denied and on each thereof note the reasons for such denial;    All applications granted; and    The name of every licensee whose license has been suspended or revoked by the department and after each such name note the reasons for such action in each case.         The department shall also file all accident reports, abstracts of court records of convictions received by it under the laws of this state, departmental actions, suspensions, restrictions, revocations, denials, cancellations, reinstatements, and other permanent records and, in connection therewith, maintain a driver's history by making suitable notations in order that an individual record of each licensee showing the convictions of such licensee, the departmental actions, and the traffic accidents in which the licensee has been involved, except those accidents not resulting in a conviction and those traffic violations which occur outside of the boundaries of this state, shall be readily ascertainable and available for the consideration of the department upon any application for renewal of license and at other suitable times. (2) (a) The department shall also file all accident reports, abstracts of court records of convictions received by it under the laws of this state, departmental actions, suspensions, restrictions, revocations, denials, cancellations, reinstatements, and other permanent records and, in connection therewith, maintain a driver's history by making suitable notations in order that an individual record of each licensee showing the convictions of such licensee, the departmental actions, and the traffic accidents in which the licensee has been involved, except those accidents not resulting in a conviction and those traffic violations which occur outside of the boundaries of this state, shall be readily ascertainable and available for the consideration of the department upon any application for renewal of license and at other suitable times.    The department shall also keep a separate file of all abstracts of court records of dismissals of DUI, DUI per se, DWAI, and UDD charges and all abstracts of records in cases where the original charges were for DUI, DUI per se, DWAI, and UDD and the convictions were for nonalcohol- or nondrug-related traffic offenses. This file shall be made available only to criminal justice agencies, as defined in section 24-72-302 (3), C.R.S.      The following records and documents filed with, maintained by, or prepared by the department are official records and documents of the state of Colorado: (c) (I) The following records and documents filed with, maintained by, or prepared by the department are official records and documents of the state of Colorado:   Accident reports;    Abstracts of court records of convictions received by the department under the laws of the state of Colorado;    Records of and documents relating to departmental actions pertaining to the driving privileges of any person concerning licensing, restrictions, probationary conditions, suspensions, revocations, denials, cancellations, or reinstatements of such driving privileges;    Records of and documents relating to the status of any person's privilege to drive a vehicle in the state of Colorado on a specific date or dates;    Drivers' histories;    Records of and documents relating to the identification of persons, including, but not limited to, photographs, fingerprints, handwriting, physical features, physical characteristics, dates of birth, and addresses;    Records of and documents relating to the ownership, registration, transfer, and licensing of vehicles;    All other records and documents required by law or rule and regulation to be kept by the department;    Written summaries and data compilations, if prepared by the department from records and documents filed with, maintained by, or prepared by the department, as defined in sub-subparagraphs (A) to (H) of this subparagraph (I);       In any trial or hearing, all official records and documents of the state of Colorado, as defined in subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (c), shall be admissible in all municipal, county, and district courts within the state of Colorado without further foundation, shall be statutory exceptions to rule 802 of the Colorado rules of evidence, and shall constitute prima facie proof of the information contained therein, if such record or document is accompanied by a certificate stating that the executive director of the department or the executive director's appointee has custody of such record or document and is accompanied by and attached to a cover page which:   Specifies the number of pages, exclusive of such cover page, which constitutes the record or document being submitted; and    Bears the signature of the executive director of the department or the executive director's appointee attesting to the genuineness of such record or document; and    Bears the official seal of the department or a stamped or printed facsimile of such seal.       For purposes of subparagraph (II) of this paragraph (c), “official records and documents” shall include any mechanically or electronically reproduced copy, photograph, or printout of any record or document or any portion of any record or document filed with, maintained by, or prepared by the department pursuant to this paragraph (c). The department may also permit the electronic transmission of information for direct recording in the department's records and systems. Information transmitted by an electronic means that is approved by the department constitutes an official record for the purposes of this section whether or not an original source document for such information exists or ever existed.  (III.5) The certificate and cover page and its contents required by subparagraph (II) of this paragraph (c) may be electronically produced and transmitted. An electronic reproduction of the certificate and cover page, including an electronic signature of the executive director of the department or of the executive director's appointee and an electronic reproduction of the official seal of the department, shall be admissible in court as provided in subparagraph (II) of this paragraph (c).     For purposes of subparagraph (II) of this paragraph (c), a record or document shall not be required to include every page of a record or document filed with, maintained by, or prepared by the department pursuant to this paragraph (c) to be an official record or document, if such official record or document includes all of those portions of such record or document relevant to the trial or hearing for which it is prepared. There shall be a presumption that such official record or document contains all that is relevant to such trial or hearing.       Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subsection (2), the department shall not maintain records of convictions of traffic offenses defined in this title for which no points are assessed pursuant to section 42-2-127 (5) other than convictions pursuant to sections 42-2-134, 42-2-138, 42-2-206, and 42-7-422.    Records or documents filed with, maintained by, or prepared by another state that are equivalent to the records maintained in Colorado under paragraph (a) of this subsection (2) shall be admissible in a trial or hearing in accordance with this section.       The department seal required under subsection (2) of this section and under section 42-1-205 may also consist of a rubber stamp producing a facsimile of the seal stamped upon the document.      The department shall place a confidentiality notice on any driver's license application form under section 42-2-107, driver's license renewal application under section 42-2-118, duplicate driver's license application under section 42-2-117, commercial driver's license application under section 42-2-404, identification card application form under section 42-2-302, motor vehicle title application form under section 42-6-116, or motor vehicle registration application form under section 42-3-113. The department shall indicate in such notice that, unless the person waives his or her confidentiality, the information contained in the person's motor vehicle or driver record shall not be used for any purpose other than a purpose authorized by law. (4) (a) The department shall place a confidentiality notice on any driver's license application form under section 42-2-107, driver's license renewal application under section 42-2-118, duplicate driver's license application under section 42-2-117, commercial driver's license application under section 42-2-404, identification card application form under section 42-2-302, motor vehicle title application form under section 42-6-116, or motor vehicle registration application form under section 42-3-113. The department shall indicate in such notice that, unless the person waives his or her confidentiality, the information contained in the person's motor vehicle or driver record shall not be used for any purpose other than a purpose authorized by law.    The department shall prepare a confidentiality waiver form and shall provide the form to the designated agents of the department. The department and the designated agents shall make such form available to any person on request. The department and the designated agents shall be the sole distributors of such form. The form shall contain instructions for filing the form with the department.   to (IV)(Deleted by amendment,L. 2000, p. 1341, § 3, effective May 30, 2000.)       Any person executing a waiver under this subsection (4) that information in motor vehicle or driver records may be used for any purpose shall provide the information requested by the department in the confidentiality waiver form and file the form directly with the department. The department shall process such forms and shall notify the designated agents regarding which motor vehicle and driver records are subject to confidentiality waivers.    A confidentiality waiver expires upon a request by the person to rescind the confidentiality waiver or upon the renewal of the motor vehicle or driver record; except that a confidentiality waiver form filed in connection with a motor vehicle registration application shall remain in force until the motor vehicle is transferred or the person requests that the confidentiality waiver be rescinded.    The department shall make reasonable efforts to ensure that confidential records are not visible or accessible to the public and shall establish procedures to protect the contents of the records against inadvertent disclosure.         Upon application by a person, the department shall expunge all records concerning a conviction of a person for UDD with a BAC of at least 0.02 but not more than 0.05 and any records concerning an administrative determination resulting in a revocation under section 42-2-126 (3)(b) or (3)(e) if: (5) (a) Upon application by a person, the department shall expunge all records concerning a conviction of a person for UDD with a BAC of at least 0.02 but not more than 0.05 and any records concerning an administrative determination resulting in a revocation under section 42-2-126 (3)(b) or (3)(e) if:   Such person presents a request for expungement to the department and provides all information required by the department to process such request;    Such person is over twenty-one years of age and any department action regarding the offense or administrative determination has been concluded;    The person has not been convicted for any other DUI, DUI per se, DWAI, or UDD offense that was committed while such person was under twenty-one years of age and is not subject to any other administrative determination resulting in a revocation under section 42-2-126 for any other occurrence while such person was under twenty-one years of age;    Such person pays the fine and surcharge for such conviction and completes any other requirements of the court with regard to such conviction, including, but not limited to, any order to pay restitution to any party;    Such person has never held a commercial driver's license as defined in section 42-2-402; and    Such person was not operating a commercial motor vehicle as defined in section 42-2-402.       Upon receiving a request for expungement, the department may delay consideration of the request until sufficient time has elapsed to ensure that the person is not convicted for any additional offense under section 42-4-1301 committed while the person was under twenty-one years of age and that there is no additional administrative determination resulting in a revocation under section 42-2-126 (3)(b) or (3)(e) for actions taken while the person was under twenty-one years of age.       The department shall electronically transmit the name, address, telephone number, date of birth, and gender of each individual who has volunteered to donate organs or tissue upon death on an instructional permit, a minor driver's license, a driver's license, an identification card, or any other license application received by it to the organ and tissue donor registry authorized in section 15-19-220.     (J) Written guidelines, procedures, policies, and rules and regulations of the department.   History. Source: L. 94: Entire title amended with relocations, p. 2128, § 1, effective January 1, 1995. L. 96: (2)(c)(III) amended, p. 637, § 1, effective May 1. L. 97: (5) added, p. 1459, § 1, effective July 1; (4) added, p. 1052, § 4, effective September 1. L. 98: IP(5)(a) and (5)(a)(III) amended, p. 173, § 1, effective April 6. L. 2000: (4) amended, p. 1341, § 3, effective May 30; (6) added, p. 732, § 12, effective July 1. L. 2001: (4)(a) amended, p. 1283, § 66, effective June 5. L. 2004: (2)(c)(III.5) added, p. 1379, § 5, effective July 1. L. 2005: (2)(e) added, p. 646, § 12, effective May 27; (4)(a) amended, p. 1173, § 7, effective August 8. L. 2007: (6) amended, p. 800, § 12, effective July 1. L. 2008: (2)(b), IP(5)(a), (5)(a)(III), and (5)(b) amended, p. 244, § 5, effective July 1; IP(5)(a) amended and (5)(a)(V) and (5)(a)(VI) added, p. 474, § 4, effective July 1. L. 2013: (2)(b) and (5)(a)(III) amended, (HB 13-1325), ch. 331, p. 1879, § 5, effective May 28. L. 2017: (4)(e) added, (SB 17-286), ch. 388, p. 2007, § 2, effective August 9; (6) amended, (SB 17-223), ch. 158, p. 565, § 20, effective August 9.    Editor's note:    This section is similar to former § 42-2-118 as it existed prior to 1994, and the former § 42-2-121 was relocated to § 42-2-124.    Amendments to the introductory portion to subsection (5)(a) by House Bill 08-1121 and House Bill 08-1166 were harmonized.     Cross references:   For the legislative declaration contained in the 1997 act enacting subsection (4), see section 1 of chapter 201, Session Laws of Colorado 1997.   ANNOTATION   Law reviews. For article, “Hearsay in Criminal Cases Under the Colorado Rules of Evidence: An Overview”, see 50 U. Colo. L. Rev. 277.   Annotator's note. Since § 42-2-121 is similar to § 42-2-118 as it existed prior to the 1994 amending of title 42 as enacted by SB 94-1, relevant cases construing that provision have been included with the annotations to this section.   The language of subsection (2) is mandatory. People v. Yount, 174 Colo. 462 , 484 P.2d 1203 (1971) (decided under similar provisions of repealed § 13-4-18 , C.R.S. 1963).   Driver's history record prima facie proof of its contents. A driver's history record, as an official record under this statute, can be offered as prima facie proof of its contents, including convictions, without the necessity of looking behind the records to the underlying tickets, and formalities of attestation and certification are not necessary at hearings conducted by the motor vehicle division, since the hearing officer can take official notice of the division's own records. Gillespie v. Dir. of Dept. of Rev., 41 Colo. App. 561, 592 P.2d 418 (1978).   Department's driving records presumed correct. The mere absence of any notation on traffic tickets concerning their disposition does not overcome the presumption of correctness of the department's driving records. A driving record is prima facie proof of its contents, including convictions, without the necessity of looking behind the records to the underlying tickets. People v. Anadale, 674 P.2d 372 (Colo. 1984).   Alternate methods of proving records. While this section provides one specific method to self-authenticate motor vehicle records, it does not alter the rule that official records may also be proved by any method authorized by law. People v. Freeman, 668 P.2d 1371 (Colo. 1983).   Applied in People v. Lessar, 629 P.2d 577 (Colo. 1981).