United States District Court for the District of Colorado

Contact info:Civil Division (303) 844-3433, Criminal Div. (303) 844-2115

The United States District Court for the District of Colorado is the federal trial court for cases falling within its jurisdiction. Its’ jurisdiction is limited to specific cases listed in the U.S. Constitution (U.S.C.A. Const. Art. III) and those specifically provided for by Congress (U.S.C.A. Const. Art. I). For the most part, they hear cases in which the United States is a party, cases which involve violations of the Constitution or federal law, and those between citizens of different states.In the event that there are both federal and state law claims which must be decided, the state law must be followed by the district or appellate court on that issue. If state law is unclear, the federal court may ask for an advisory opinion from the highest court of that state. The majority of cases in federal courts are civil as opposed to criminal, because most criminal law is left to the states. Information regarding the court can be found on the federal courts website.

The Federal Supplement Reporter 1st and 2d contain the published opinions of United States District Courts. Not all opinions are published and you should check the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to see if and when unpublished opinions can be cited. The 2009 federal rules of procedure apply to all United States District Courts and the United States Courts of Appeal. WLL has two print sources: the Federal Civil Rules Handbook and Moore's Federal Rules. The new 2009 Local Rules for the U.S. District Court and the new Local Rules for the 10th Circuit can be found on each court’s website.

The decisions of the various federal district courts are not binding on any other federal district court, just as state trial court decisions are not binding on other state trial courts. If a party appeals from the trial court level to the appellate court, the appellate courts’ decision will be binding on all lower trial courts within its’ jurisdiction. Colorado is in the United States Court of Appeals for the 10^th Circuit, so its decisions are binding on all of the federal district courts within the 10^th Circuit.

The Federal Supplement prints the courts’ opinion only. It does not include the complaint, motions, or various other pleadings found in the trial courts’ file, or a transcript of any hearings. If you want to look at pleadings within the file, you will probably have to go to the courthouse or request copies from the court. Current technology and e-filing is making newer documents more easily accessible through fee based vendors such as Westlaw and Lexis. Access to older federal trial court case documents and files is not currently available free online, although the federal court does publish some recent opinions online. As with Colorado state trial court documents, you must visit or contact the court in which the action was filed. Westlaw and Lexis are making some older court documents available for a fee. In the United States District Court in Colorado, only documents filed after June 20, 2005 may be downloaded using the Pacer system, for a small fee. Older files will only have the docket sheet containing a list of all pleadings filed, action taken and orders entered by the judge. If you need to see the pleadings from earlier cases, they are available from the court file itself or after five years from storage at the Denver Records Center, (303) 236-0804.

by Catharine Cott, Reference Librarian