Investigator for Appointed Counsel in Colorado

01The system

How Public Defense Is Organized in Colorado

The Office of the Colorado State Public Defender staffs 21 regional trial offices: Alamosa, Arapahoe (in Centennial), Boulder, Brighton, Colorado Springs, Denver, Dillon, Douglas (in Castle Rock), Durango, Fort Collins, Glenwood Springs, Golden, Grand Junction, Greeley, La Junta, Montrose, Pueblo, Salida, Steamboat Springs, Sterling and Trinidad. Each serves a group of counties, so a single office may cover courts hours apart. Our Denver investigators and Colorado Springs team support metro and Pikes Peak region offices.

When the public defender has an ethical conflict, representation passes to the Office of Alternate Defense Counsel, an independent agency of the Colorado Judicial Branch. Its planning documents describe contracts with more than 1,200 private attorneys and other professionals statewide, including investigators who work as part of interdisciplinary defense teams. Delator does not claim any contract with either office; we work for the appointed attorney under whatever approval process applies, and our criminal defense investigators follow counsel's direction.

• 21 State Public Defender regional trial offices
• Alternate Defense Counsel handles conflict cases
• ADC is an independent Judicial Branch agency
• Approval rules set by the appointing office

02Approval

An Estimate Built to Be Approved

Appointed counsel usually has to explain why an investigation is necessary and what it will cost before anyone pays for it. We make that easy. Our written estimate lists each task, such as locating two named witnesses, conducting three interviews, documenting the scene and requesting records from a city agency, with the hours expected for each and the reason it matters to the defense. Counsel can submit it as written or trim tasks to fit the office's limits. Our Colorado pricing page shows the rates used.

Estimates follow the same case minimums as retained work: misdemeanors start at $750, a single felony at $1,000 and multiple charges at $1,500, all billed at $100 per hour. Where an office approves work in stages, we split the estimate accordingly, for example preliminary hearing preparation first and trial work later. Our felony defense investigations are often planned that way, and our misdemeanor work is usually a single, tightly scoped stage.

03Accountability

Billing Built to Be Audited

Public funds deserve careful accounting. Our invoices show the date, the investigator, the task, the time spent and how the task ties to the approved estimate. Mileage and travel are listed separately and quoted in writing before departure. If a task takes longer than estimated, we tell counsel before exceeding the approval rather than after. Nothing is billed outside the approved scope without written permission. That approach is how we work for every client, as our attorney services overview explains.

Clear billing also protects the defense. When an office reviews an invoice months later, it should be able to see exactly what was done and why. We keep our case notes organized by task so they match the invoice lines. Reports separate observed facts from summaries of what witnesses said, and they note sources, which helps if our work is later reviewed or if an investigator testifies. Our witness background checks follow the same documentation standard.

04Geography

Long Distances Between Courts and Clients

Colorado's public defense offices cover very different terrain. The Sterling office serves the northeastern plains, La Junta and Trinidad cover the southeast, Alamosa covers the San Luis Valley, and Dillon, Glenwood Springs, Salida and Steamboat Springs serve mountain counties. Travel between courts can take hours, and I-70 and other mountain routes are subject to traction and chain-law conditions from September through May. Our Pueblo investigators support southern Colorado offices, and we schedule mountain work around the weather.

We reduce travel cost where the case allows. Some interviews can be conducted by phone or video with counsel's approval, records can often be requested remotely and multiple tasks in one county can be grouped into a single trip. When in-person work is necessary, such as scene documentation or interviewing a reluctant witness, we quote travel in writing first. Our Grand Junction team and Durango investigators cover the Western Slope and southwest.

05Work

What an Investigator for Appointed Counsel in Colorado Is Asked to Do

Most approved requests fall into a handful of categories. Witness location is first: people move, change numbers or give incomplete details at the scene, and our skip tracing team finds them. Witness interviews follow, documented in summaries counsel can use for negotiation, motions or trial. Scene documentation captures lighting, sight lines and distances before conditions change. Video canvasses identify cameras that may have recorded the incident, and our Aurora investigators handle many east metro requests.

Other common tasks include prior record audits in enhancement cases, such as felony DUI after three or more qualifying priors under C.R.S. § 42-4-1301, and credibility research using court records and the CBI's name-based Internet Criminal History Check, which covers Colorado records only. Records requests under the Colorado Open Records Act are open to any person, with no residency requirement. Our DUI defense investigations cover impaired-driving tasks in more detail.

06Clients and families

Client Contact, Families and Mitigation

Appointed clients are often in custody or have limited means to gather information themselves. With counsel's approval, we can meet clients, speak with family members, collect documents the family holds and identify people who know the client's history. Jail and detention facilities set their own rules for professional visits, and we follow them. Our Lakewood investigators and Greeley team handle many of these contacts along the Front Range.

Mitigation work deserves the same attention in appointed cases as in retained ones. Employment records, military service, treatment history, family responsibilities and community ties can matter at sentencing or in negotiation. We organize that material for counsel, and our investigative consulting service helps attorneys decide which themes to develop within an approved budget. Every contact is documented so counsel knows exactly who was spoken to and what they said.

07Standard

Tribal Questions, Federal Appointments and One Standard

Some appointed cases arise on or near the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute reservations in southwest Colorado. Whether a matter is tribal, state or federal depends on the parties, the land and the offense, and we do not offer jurisdictional opinions. We confirm the approach with counsel, and with the tribal court where needed, before field work. Federal appointments before the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado follow that court's own approval procedures, which counsel will confirm. Our Boulder investigators support both state and federal matters.

Whatever the forum, the standard is the same. Appointed clients receive the same investigators, the same documentation and the same reporting as retained clients. Colorado does not currently license private investigators at the state level, so we hold Colorado work to Tennessee's standard as a licensed Tennessee private investigation firm headquartered in Nashville. Our vetting guide explains what appointed counsel should ask any investigator before submitting a request.

Services

Investigation services for appointed counsel in Colorado

• Approval-ready estimatesWritten estimates listing each task, expected hours and why it matters to the defense, formatted so counsel can submit them to the appointing office.Learn more
• Staged investigation plansSplitting work into approved phases, such as preliminary hearing preparation first and trial investigation later, so funding follows the case.Learn more
• Witness locationFinding witnesses who moved, changed numbers or gave incomplete details at the scene, with every search step logged for billing review.Learn more
• Witness interviewsInterviewing defense and prosecution witnesses with counsel's approval and preparing summaries suited to negotiation, motions and trial preparation work in Colorado.Learn more
• Scene and video workDocumenting scenes before conditions change and identifying cameras that may have recorded the incident, then requesting footage before it is overwritten.Learn more
• Prior record auditsChecking certified records for each prior relied on in an enhancement, including identity, dates, courts and whether each conviction actually qualifies.Learn more
• Client and family contactMeeting clients and families with counsel's approval, collecting documents and identifying people who know the client's history and circumstances for mitigation.Learn more
• Mitigation developmentGathering employment, service, treatment and family records and interviews that support negotiation and sentencing arguments within the approved budget for counsel.Learn more
• Itemized, auditable invoicesInvoices showing date, investigator, task, time and link to the approved estimate, with travel quoted and listed separately for review.Learn more

How it works

How an appointed case engagement runs

1. 01

   Counsel describes the case

   Appointed counsel shares the charge, court, next date and the office's approval rules, and we discuss which tasks the defense needs most urgently. Deadlines shape the plan.

2. 02

   We prepare the estimate

   We write an itemized estimate by task and hours at $100 per hour, staged if needed, for counsel to submit to the appointing office. Each line names its purpose.

3. 03

   Approved work begins

   Once counsel confirms approval, we start with perishable evidence and report progress, asking before any task would exceed the approved hours. Perishable tasks come first.

4. 04

   Report and invoice

   Counsel receives sourced reports and an itemized invoice that matches the approved estimate line by line, ready for the office's review. Notes match each line.

Compare

Common appointed-case requests and what counsel receives

Statewide coverage

Appointed case support across Colorado

Delator supports appointed counsel near every public defender regional office. Adams County appointments draw on our Thornton investigators and Westminster coverage, while Douglas County cases use the Castle Rock team. Larimer County attorneys rely on our Fort Collins investigators, and Arapahoe County matters are handled through Centennial coverage. Mountain, plains and San Luis Valley appointments are scheduled around distance and weather. Every request starts with a written estimate counsel can submit for approval, and invoices match that estimate line by line so the appointing office can review them quickly.

• Denver
• Colorado Springs
• Aurora
• Pueblo
• Grand Junction
• Durango
• All of Colorado

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Every service

Investigations available in Colorado

Every service below is available in Colorado and across Colorado, run by the same Delator Group leadership that manages our Tennessee casework. Choose a service to read how it works in Colorado.

Service areas

Private investigators across Colorado