Custer County Busted Mugshots

Custer County busted mugshots and arrest records are handled by the Custer County Sheriff's Office in Westcliffe, Colorado. This mountain county in the Wet Mountain Valley has a small population and a quiet law enforcement profile. The sheriff is the main booking agency for the area. All arrest records in Custer County fall under Colorado's open records laws, which means booking data and mugshots are available to the public. This page explains where to search for Custer County arrest records and what state-level tools help when the county itself does not have online lookup options.

Custer County Sheriff Arrest Records

The Custer County Sheriff's Office is headquartered in Westcliffe. It is a small agency covering roughly 740 square miles of mountainous terrain in south-central Colorado. The Sangre de Cristo range forms the western edge of the county. When someone is arrested in Custer County, the sheriff handles the booking. That means recording the person's name, charges, personal details, and taking a mugshot photo. The booking data becomes part of the public arrest file.

Custer County does not run its own full-size jail. The county has very limited detention space. Most people who are arrested in Custer County and need to be held get transferred to the Fremont County Detention Center in Canon City or to another nearby facility. This is a common setup for rural Colorado counties that cannot justify the cost of running a large jail for such a small population. The booking record stays with Custer County. But the physical person may be held in Fremont County. If you cannot find someone in the Custer County system, check with the Fremont County jail. That is typically where Custer County inmates end up.

Note: Custer County contracts with Fremont County for most inmate housing needs.

Custer County Mugshot Search Options

There is no public online inmate search tool for Custer County. The sheriff's office does not publish a jail roster or booking database on the web. With a county this small, the volume of bookings does not support that kind of system. To find out if someone was recently arrested in Custer County, your best move is to call the sheriff's office in Westcliffe directly. They can tell you if someone is in custody or has been transferred.

For a more thorough search, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation runs a statewide criminal history check. You can access it through the CBI records check portal for $6.85. This search covers all 64 Colorado counties, including Custer County. It pulls from the central state database and shows arrests, charges, and case outcomes. The results do not include mugshot photos, but they confirm whether an arrest exists in the system. Once you know the arrest date and charges from the CBI check, you can contact the Custer County Sheriff to request the actual booking photo and full arrest file.

The CBI criminal history check at cbirecordscheck.com is the most reliable online option for Custer County arrest data.

Use this statewide tool to pull arrest records from Custer County and anywhere else in Colorado.

Custer County Records Access Laws

Arrest records from Custer County are governed by the Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act. The CCJRA makes records of official action public. Arrests, charges, indictments, and case outcomes all count as official action. You have the right to ask for them. No reason needed. The Custer County Sheriff must respond within three business days of receiving your request.

The first hour of research time is free. After that, the agency can charge up to $41.37 per hour for staff work and $0.25 per page for paper copies. For Custer County, with its small volume of records, most requests should be handled within that free first hour. Put your request in writing. Include the person's full name and an approximate arrest date if possible. You can submit it by mail, in person at the sheriff's office in Westcliffe, or by phone for simple inquiries. Court records from a Custer County case are available through the 11th Judicial District, which serves Custer, Chaffee, Fremont, and Park counties.

The Colorado Attorney General's CORA page explains your full rights to public records from Custer County and all other government agencies in the state.

Review this page for guidance on submitting records requests to Custer County agencies.

Statewide Tools for Custer County

Several Colorado databases help when you need records from a small county like Custer. The CBI homepage at cbi.colorado.gov links to all the bureau's records services. Background checks, criminal history requests, and fingerprint-based searches are all available there. CBI collects data from every sheriff's office in the state, so Custer County arrest records feed into their system.

The CBI website is the main portal for Colorado criminal records services that include Custer County.

Start here for statewide criminal records resources covering Custer County.

The Colorado Department of Corrections runs an offender search at doc.state.co.us for anyone in state prison. If a Custer County arrest led to a prison sentence, the person will show up in that database. VINE at vinelink.com is a free tracking tool that sends you alerts when an inmate's status changes. It covers Custer County and every other county in the state. Register by phone, email, or text. The alerts come around the clock. Anyone can use VINE, not just crime victims.

Sealing Custer County Arrest Records

Colorado allows record sealing for people who meet certain conditions. Custer County busted mugshots and arrest data can be sealed through a court petition under C.R.S. 24-72-703. The filing fee is $224. Courts waive it for people who cannot pay. You file the petition with the 11th Judicial District Court, which handles Custer County cases. Once sealed, the arrest record and booking photo will not appear in public searches. Law enforcement keeps access on their end.

Automatic sealing is possible in some cases. If charges were never filed after a Custer County arrest, CBI may seal those records on its own one year after the arrest. This rule applies to arrests from January 1, 2022 forward. Certain drug convictions also qualify for automatic sealing under C.R.S. 24-72-710 once enough time has passed since the case ended. The sealing process blocks public access but does not erase the record from law enforcement databases. If you believe your Custer County record qualifies, talk to a lawyer or reach out to the 11th Judicial District Court clerk for more information on the process.

Custer County Booking Process

When someone is arrested in Custer County, the sheriff's deputies bring them to the office in Westcliffe for initial processing. Staff record the person's information and take fingerprints and a booking photo. Fingerprints go to CBI for the statewide database. The mugshot stays in the Custer County arrest file. The whole intake process is short in most cases, given the small size of the operation. After booking, the person either posts bond or gets transferred to Fremont County for holding.

Bond amounts depend on the charges. A judge sets bail at the first court appearance. For minor offenses, people may bond out the same day they are booked in Custer County. Serious charges can mean a longer wait. Either way, the booking record is permanent. It stays on file with the Custer County Sheriff and in CBI's central database. Even if charges are later dropped, the arrest record exists unless it gets sealed through the court process described above. For questions about bonding or current detainees, call the Custer County Sheriff's Office in Westcliffe.

Note: Fingerprints from all Custer County bookings go to CBI and become part of the statewide criminal records system.

Nearby Counties

These counties border Custer County in south-central Colorado. Check with the booking agency if you are not sure which county processed a particular arrest.