The Court Case and the Campus Discipline Case
A student charged after a party or a traffic stop usually faces a court case and a campus discipline case at the same time. The court case runs where the ticket was written: Fort Collins Municipal Court near CSU, Boulder Municipal Court near CU, and Denver County Court near DU, because Denver hears city cases in its county court.
The campus case runs on its own, and all three schools reach off campus. CSU's Student Conduct Code covers off campus behavior that adversely affects the university community's health, safety, or welfare. CU Boulder's code reaches off campus conduct that may violate federal, state, or local law. DU's Honor Code applies "regardless of where the alleged behavior and conduct occurred" and warns off campus hosts directly. The same pattern holds across the Denver metro area: MSU Denver, CU Denver, Regis University, and the community colleges, including Front Range Community College in Westminster, each run their own conduct process under their own code, and the details differ by school.
The two cases do not wait for each other. Each school decides conduct cases on a preponderance of the evidence, not beyond a reasonable doubt, and each says that a dismissal in court does not end the campus case. None of the three codes requires enrolled students to report an arrest; the schools typically hear about it from police.
The Charges Students Actually See
Minor in possession, C.R.S. 18-13-122, covers underage possession or consumption of alcohol or marijuana and is an unclassified petty offense. A first offense carries a fine of up to $100, a court ordered substance abuse education program, or both.
Fake IDs fall under C.R.S. 42-2-309 and C.R.S. 42-2-136: for state identification cards, possessing a fictitious or fraudulently altered card is a class 2 misdemeanor while lending or misusing one is a petty offense, and for driver's licenses, possessing a fictitious license, displaying another person's license, and letting another person use yours are all class 2 misdemeanors.
Underage drinking and driving, UDD, is, for a first offense, a class A traffic infraction under C.R.S. 42-4-1301: driving under 21 with a blood alcohol content of at least 0.02 but no more than 0.05, below the adult DUI threshold of 0.08. The DMV acts separately under C.R.S. 42-2-126, with a three month license revocation for a first excess BAC violation and a one year revocation for refusing a test, whatever happens in court. More is on our DUI page.
Party tickets are municipal. Fort Collins enforces its nuisance gathering ordinance against the host, with fines that can top $1,000, and CSU's Party Smart page warns of citations of $1,000 or more with follow up from the CSU Student Resolution Center. Boulder's nuisance party ordinance, B.R.C. 5-3-11, covers a gathering of two or more people that becomes a nuisance through underage drinking, noise, open containers, or property damage. Denver caps residential noise at 55 decibels by day and 50 at night under Chapter 36 of its municipal code and bans marijuana use anywhere the public can see it. Open containers in public are illegal in Boulder regardless of age.
Municipal Court Is Not Traffic Court
A city ticket is not a parking matter. Under C.R.S. 13-10-113, a Colorado municipal court of record may impose up to 364 days in jail and a fine with a base cap of $2,650 that has adjusted upward annually for inflation since 2014. A municipal conviction is also a real record until it is sealed. What these cases look like in practice is on our municipal offenses page.
What a Case Can Affect Beyond Court
As of this writing, a drug conviction no longer affects federal student aid: federal law ended the old suspension, and the FAFSA no longer asks about drug convictions. The risk runs through the school instead. CU Boulder's conduct FAQ states that a suspended or expelled student's financial aid will be impacted, and some scholarships still weigh convictions.
Housing is exposed at all three schools: CU Boulder outcomes include termination of the housing and dining contract, DU's interim measures include removal from university housing, and CSU's sanctions include residential expulsion. A CU suspension is noted on the transcript, DU accepts no transfer credit for courses taken during a suspension, and DU can hold students in programs with professional standards to those standards as well.
Internships and the Job Search
Colorado gives applicants a real head start. Under the Chance to Compete Act, C.R.S. 8-2-130, employers cannot ask about criminal history on an initial job application, and as of this writing the law covers private employers of every size, though government employers are exempt. The protection stops there: the same statute lets an employer obtain a public criminal background report at any time, so the history can still come up at the interview, offer, or background check stage of an internship or job.
Checks run through a screening company fall under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. An employer needs written consent to run one, and a pending charge can appear on a report from the day it is filed. Arrests and other records that never became convictions generally stop appearing after seven years, while convictions can be reported indefinitely under federal law.
Sealing changes the answer. Under C.R.S. 24-72-703, a person whose record is sealed may reply that no public criminal record exists, employers cannot require disclosure of sealed records, and an application cannot be denied solely for refusing to disclose one. For licensed fields the review runs deeper: even a felony conviction by itself does not bar a state license under C.R.S. 24-5-101, which makes the agency weigh whether the conviction directly relates to the work, but bar admission requires reporting all criminal incidents including arrests, and Colorado educator and nursing licenses involve fingerprint based background checks.
The Way Out
Colorado law gives students more ways to resolve a charge than most expect. The 911 Good Samaritan rule in C.R.S. 18-13-122 protects an underage person from an MIP charge for getting medical help for another underage person, when they are the first to call 911, give their name, and stay with the person until help arrives. A first MIP conviction seals automatically once the court ordered education program is finished. Cases that end in dismissal, acquittal, or a completed diversion or deferred judgment seal automatically at disposition under C.R.S. 24-72-705, in state and municipal court alike, with no motion and no fee. Convictions wait: one year for petty offenses and two years for class 2 and class 3 misdemeanors under C.R.S. 24-72-706, and three years for municipal ordinance convictions under C.R.S. 24-72-708. UDD is the outlier: it cannot be sealed, but C.R.S. 42-4-1715 requires expungement once the driver is over 21 and the statute's conditions are met. The mechanics are on our record sealing page, and free help statewide is collected on our criminal law self-help page.
Campus help exists, with limits. CU Boulder Student Legal Services is a fee funded law firm for its students that handles criminal matters. Consultations run $30 per issue as of this writing for students who have paid the full activity fee, and representation is available at additional cost. CSU Student Legal Services in the Lory Student Center charges nothing for most services and primarily advises rather than appearing in court. DU has no comparable campus legal office, though the Sturm College of Law runs a criminal defense clinic, and DU students otherwise typically need outside counsel.
We practice criminal defense across Colorado. For a student or a parent deciding what comes next, the consultation is free.
This page is general information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney client relationship.
This page is general information about Colorado law, not legal advice about your case. The law changes; for advice on your situation, talk to us.
Plain answers
Common questions.
Under the current conduct codes at CSU, CU Boulder, and DU, no; as of this writing none of the three imposes a general duty on enrolled students to self-report an arrest or charge. The schools usually learn of incidents directly from police. A separate application, such as one for a professional license, can still ask about charges directly.
Not by itself under federal rules as of this writing. Federal law ended the old drug conviction suspension, and the FAFSA no longer asks about drug convictions. The real exposure is campus discipline: CU Boulder's conduct FAQ states plainly that suspension or expulsion will impact financial aid, and some institutional and private scholarships still consider convictions.
Yes. For a first MIP conviction, sealing is automatic: once the court ordered substance abuse education is complete, C.R.S. 18-13-122 requires the court to order the case sealed immediately. A dismissal, acquittal, or completed diversion or deferred judgment seals automatically at disposition, and other convictions follow the waiting periods in C.R.S. 24-72-706, starting at one year for petty offenses.
This page was created on October 4, 2026. The information on it is accurate as of that date.
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