The Boulder Municipal Court has Jurisdiction Over Violations of City Ordinances

Boulder Municipal Court handles traffic, photo enforcement, parking, animal and misdemeanor criminal offenses that have occurred within the Boulder city limits.

General Court Information

This information pertains only to the City of Boulder Municipal Court. All court proceedings are governed by city ordinances, court rules and state statutes. Court employees are not allowed to give legal advice but will be happy to answer any procedural questions.

The Boulder Municipal Court has jurisdiction over violations of city ordinances. The court handles traffic, photo enforcement, parking, animal and misdemeanor criminal offenses that have occurred within the Boulder city limits. Our summons and complaint form (the ticket) is yellow and states that you are to appear in the Boulder Municipal Court in the red box in the middle of the ticket. You may also have a city parking ticket or Photo Enforcement violation and be written into this court.

Some violations require an appearance in court, while others may be resolved by paying a fine instead of appearing. Many traffic violations are payable prior to court, but most criminal violations require an appearance in court before a judge. Fines may be paid from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, at the Municipal Court Violations Bureau. Our office is closed the second Friday of each month from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. for staff meetings. We accept cash, checks, money orders, Visa or MasterCard. Please see "Paying a Ticket" below for information about online payment options.

A criminal conviction, even for a misdemeanor, can have lifelong consequences beyond the sentence imposed by the court. Review The Consequences of Conviction posted under Related Links or talk to an attorney.

This court does not handle drinking and driving, theft, domestic violence or drug possession offenses. These tickets are written into the County and District combined court. A County or District Court summons may be blue, white or yellow and written by a state patrol officer, a Deputy Sheriff, or Boulder Police officer. For these tickets, contact the Boulder County Court at 303-441-3750.

Paying a Ticket

Traffic/General/Animal

To Pay a Boulder Municipal Court summons that is marked with a "Pay and Close Amount" at the top of the summons, please go to www.citepayusa.com

Parking

To pay a City of Boulder parking ticket, please visit our parking payment website.

Photo Violations

To pay a City of Boulder photo violation, please visit www.violationinfo.com

Zoom Hearings

People with a traffic summons wishing to appear for court via Zoom may do so by requesting a Zoom hearing:

Sign up for a Zoom hearing

General, Animal and Evidentiary hearings require a separate motion to the court for virtual hearings via Zoom. Please email your request to bouldermunicipalcourt@bouldercolorado.gov

Court Settings and Procedures

Since our procedures may vary from those for county courts and municipal courts in other jurisdictions, we are providing them for your information and guidance.

Attorneys are encouraged to file an Entry of Appearance at the earliest possible opportunity. For convenience, there is a PDF version of such a form on our website. You may submit your entry of appearance in person, or email to settings@bouldercolorado.gov

For many cases, the filing of an Entry of Appearance will allow an attorney to bypass the arraignment date scheduled on the Summons and set the case for a Disposition/Trial Setting. This is our court’s version of a pretrial conference. It is our preference that, following the pretrial conference with the prosecutor, the case will immediately proceed to disposition before a judge, or, alternatively, the entry of a Not Guilty plea and a trial setting. Frequently, this process is facilitated by engaging in plea negotiations with a prosecutor prior to the actual Disposition/Trial Setting date, so that if a disposition is reached, it can be entered into on that date. The prosecution office encourages defense attorneys to call 303-441-3025 to schedule a time to discuss the case prior to the Disposition/Trial Setting date. This practice makes it possible for many cases to be resolved with just one appearance date. It is advisable for a defendant to accompany the attorney on that date so that a disposition, if reached, can be put on the record immediately. Continuances of Disposition/Trial Settings are granted only on a limited basis.

The court will not allow the arraignment process to be bypassed for cases that include any general offense case in which Restorative Justice through the University of Colorado-Boulder (CURJ) is part of the disposition. CURJ staff attend court on general arraignment days, meet with CU students as a group to explain the program and the process, and schedule intake meetings with students at that time. This process is not available on Disposition/Trial Setting dates. Represented defendants who are offered CURJ as part of their dispositions will be processed before the unrepresented defendants in order to minimize the amount of time the attorney must spend at court.

The court will not allow the arraignment process to be bypassed for cases in which the charge is Possession or Consumption of Alcohol or Marijuana by a Minor (MIP), the court will not allow the arraignment process to be bypassed by the entry of an attorney. We have specialized processes in place for these cases, including conducting a substance use screen, so that we can assign defendants to evidence-based treatment that is appropriate to their circumstances. This process is not available on Disposition/Trial Setting dates. Further, we group defendants by the plea bargain offer that is being made to them, which means there may be up to three distinct groups. Within each group, once the judge has advised the group regarding the applicable plea offer, represented defendants will be processed before the unrepresented defendants so as to minimize the amount of time the attorney must spend at court.

We have limited capacity to work with out-of-state defendants to monitor active sentence conditions such as treatment, classes, or community service. Two common options are: (1) the defendant appears for court on the date of the disposition so that they can interact with probation staff and receive guidance as to how to complete their conditions from their home state; or (2) the conditions (such as treatment and community service) are completed prior to disposition and the attorney pays any monetary amounts due on behalf of the defendant on the disposition date.

Not Guilty pleas will not be entered based on a pleading. We require a pretrial conference before accepting a Not Guilty plea entered on the record. This ensures that cases get tried within the 91-day speedy trial limit, and saves our trial dates for cases that cannot be resolved without a trial.

Contact Boulder Municipal Court

Office Phone Number
Administrative Office303-441-1841
City Attorney303-441-3025
Jury Commissioner303-441-3883
Tickets303-441-4212
Probation (Pam Aubry)303-441-4942
Homeless Navigator720-925-1249
Violations Bureau303-441-1840
Warrants303-441-1840