Mesa County Court Records Lookup

The following is for information purposes only

Mesa County is found in the Western border of Colorado. Its county seat is Grand Junction and Mesa County is home to 156,131 people. It was created on February 14, 1883, and spans across 3,341 square miles. The functions of the District Court, County Court, and Municipal Courts are prominent in the achievement of a fair and impartial justice system.

The 21st Judicial District Court is located in Grand Junction and prosecutes criminal offenders and hears both civil forfeiture and juvenile cases. It also administers the domestic violence program, crime victim compensation program to support crime victims and Juvenile programs for minors (10 -18 years). The County Court is also located at the same address as the District Court and they form a combined court. The County Court shares jurisdiction with District Courts over criminal matters and has a Small Claims Division for most general civil cases in which the amount of money involved in the dispute is $7,500 or less. It also hears misdemeanors, traffic, felony, issues search warrants and protection orders in cases involving domestic violence and handles civil cases in which the amount of money involved in a dispute is $25,000 or less. The Mesa County municipal courts are located in the City of Fruita, the town of Palisade, and the City of Grand Junction and hear cases relating to parking, traffic, and municipal ordinance violations. All violations go through trials and defendants must appear in court for their arraignment to enter a plea of not guilty in order to schedule a trial.

The 21st District Court received a caseload of 6,829 in fiscal year 2020 and in 2021, 6, 360. Annually, there are approximately 6,500 cases in the District Court. The decrease in the total number of cases received in 2021 indicates a decrease in crime rate. The Mesa County Court had 13,160 caseloads in 2020 as against 13,721 in 2021. The total number of case dispositions in FY 2020 was 12,758 and in FY 2021, 11,922. As a result, there were more cases dispositions in 2020 in comparison with 2021. Court records are stored electronically by the District Court Clerk. Interested persons can obtain court records in person at the Mesa County Justice Center/the 21st Judicial District Court or on the Colorado Judicial Branch website.

The primary objective of Mesa County is to establish a county government that is transparent, accountable, and readily available to the public through the establishment of the District Court, County Court, and Municipal Courts. The County's adherence to the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) plays a vital role in its commitment to transparency, fostering trust among our residents. These guidelines serve to facilitate the public's efficient retrieval of court documents and records under C.R.S. §24-72-201.