San Juan County Booking Reports

San Juan County booking reports are handled by the sheriff's office in Silverton, high in the San Juan Mountains. This is the least populated county in Colorado, with fewer than 800 residents. Bookings are rare here. The county does not have a traditional jail facility and often relies on neighboring counties for detention. All booking records remain public under state law, and you can request them from the sheriff. This page explains how to get booking data from San Juan County using both local and statewide tools.

San Juan County Sheriff Office

The San Juan County Sheriff's Office is in Silverton. Call them at 970-387-5531. Silverton is the only town in the county, and road access can be limited in winter due to mountain passes. The sheriff's office is very small, often just a few staff members handling everything from patrol to records.

Because San Juan County is so tiny, it does not maintain a full jail. People who are arrested here are typically transported to a neighboring county's detention facility for holding. La Plata County in Durango and Ouray County are common destinations. Even though the person may be held somewhere else, the booking report from the San Juan County arrest stays with the San Juan County Sheriff's Office. You request it from them, not from the holding facility.

When someone is booked in connection with a San Juan County arrest, the process still includes fingerprints, a booking photo, and logging of all charges. The record exists regardless of where the person is physically held. This is an important distinction to keep in mind.

Note: Winter road closures can affect access to Silverton. Phone is the most reliable way to reach the sheriff's office year-round.

San Juan County Arrest Records

The CBI Internet Criminal History Check is especially useful for a tiny county like San Juan. For $6.00, you can search the state database by name and date of birth. Any arrest that the San Juan County Sheriff's Office reported to CBI will appear in the results. This is easier than trying to reach a one-person office in a mountain town.

The VINE system tracks inmates across Colorado jails. Since San Juan County typically transfers its inmates to other facilities, VINE is a good way to track where someone ended up after a San Juan County arrest. Search by name, select Colorado, and register for alerts. The service is free. Call 1-888-263-8463 if you prefer to search by phone.

The VINE notification tool is free and works for inmates held at any Colorado county jail facility.

Both CBI and VINE work when Silverton is hard to reach, which happens regularly during winter months when passes close.

Request San Juan Booking Data

Under C.R.S. § 24-72-301, booking reports are public records. The San Juan County Sheriff's Office must let you inspect them or provide copies. The law gives the office 3 working days to respond. For a county this size, most requests are straightforward.

Fees are set by state law. The first hour of research and retrieval is free. Anything past that costs up to $41.37 per hour, and copies are $0.25 per page. In a county with very few bookings per year, finding a single record should not take long. You must sign a statement that the records will not be used for business solicitation for monetary gain.

C.R.S. § 24-72-302 defines what an arrest record includes: the person's name, the agency that arrested them, the date and place, and the charges. San Juan County booking reports contain all of this. Call 970-387-5531 to make your request.

San Juan County Record Sealing

Colorado allows arrest records to be sealed. If a San Juan County booking record has been sealed by court order, no public request will turn it up. The CBI can also seal records when charges are not filed within the required time period. Sealed records are fully removed from public view.

Booking photos follow the same rules as other booking data. They are public. But under C.R.S. § 24-72-305.5, it is illegal to post them online and charge for removal. The fine is up to $1,000. This law protects anyone booked in San Juan County.

For people who end up in state prison after an arrest in San Juan County, the CDOC offender search is a free tool that shows current state inmates, their prison location, and sentence details.

Note: San Juan County has such a low arrest volume that individual records are easy to locate once you reach the right office.

Nearby Counties

San Juan County is deep in the mountains, surrounded by other sparsely populated counties. If someone was arrested near the county border, check with the correct county for the booking report.