Bent County Clerk of Court Records

Bent County Clerk of Court

The Colorado Judicial Branch judges and staff page lists Anita Kuhn as Clerk of Court, Jury Commissioner, and Registrar for Bent County in the 16th Judicial District. The clerk's court location is Bent Combined Court at 725 Bent Avenue in Las Animas. The primary phone is 719-456-1353, fax is 719-456-0040, and the listed court hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The listed email is anita.kuhn@judicial.state.co.us.

The Clerk of Court manages the court side of records: case files, docket support, court-copy requests, certified or exemplified copies, register of action requests, judgment documents, criminal complaint or disposition copies, probate letters, domestic-relations documents, traffic tickets in court files, and other documents filed in District Court or County Court. The clerk does not replace the sheriff for incident reports, the CBI for statewide criminal-history checks, the DOC for sentenced custody status, or the Clerk and Recorder for land records.

Court Clerk vs Recorder

Bent County has a split clerk structure. The Clerk of Court is a Judicial Branch court office. The Bent County Clerk and Recorder is a county-government office. That difference decides where a request goes. A divorce decree, criminal disposition, traffic court file, probate letter, civil judgment, or register of action belongs with the Clerk of Court. A recorded deed, land record, county recording fee, marriage license or record, and iCounty land-record search belongs with the Clerk and Recorder.

The Clerk and Recorder is Lynda G. Moss. The county contact research lists phone 719-456-2009 and email lynda.moss@bentcounty.net, while the Clerk and Recorder page also lists lmoss@bentcounty.gov and P.O. Box 350, Las Animas, CO 81054. The Clerk and Recorder page says land records from 1888 to present are available on iCounty.org, the search cost is $32 per day, and the recording fee is $43 per document effective July 1, 2025, with death certificates exempt from fees.

Request Certified Bent Copies

Certified copies are used when a court document must be treated as an official copy from the court record. Examples include divorce decrees, disposition or sentence orders, probate letters, judgments, and other documents that need a court seal or certification. The online docket search can help identify the case, but it does not issue a certified copy. Use the Judicial Branch record/document request form or contact the clerk.

1. Identify the case number if known. If not, gather party names, filed year, case type, and date of birth or date of death where relevant.
2. Use the Colorado Judicial Branch record/document request form and choose Bent County or the correct court location.
3. Select the document category, such as divorce decree, complaint or information, disposition or sentence order, ticket, order for judgment, transcript of judgment, probate letters, will, trust, application, petition, claims, or closing.
4. Mark whether certification or exemplification is needed, then provide contact and delivery details.
5. Wait for the court location to contact the requester about fees, access limits, ID needs, pickup, mail, or other delivery steps.

Bent Court Request Fields

The court record request form asks for requester data, case data, party data, and document choices. Some fields are listed as required in the research, while others are optional or unspecified. Even when a field is not required, adding it can help the clerk locate the correct Bent County case faster and avoid confusion between district, county, traffic, probate, juvenile, and family records.

Bent Clerk Copy Fees

The fee schedule comes from the Colorado Judicial Branch record request form, so it applies to court copy and search requests rather than county land-record recording fees. The Clerk and Recorder's $32 daily iCounty search cost and $43 recording fee belong to land and recording records, not to the court clerk's case-file copy fees.

Bent Clerk Access Channels

The Clerk of Court access path has several parts. Use docket search for a public schedule or case lookup, the record request form for copies, the clerk window for in-person help, and the 16th Judicial District payment channels for fines, fees, costs, restitution, or payment-plan questions. Clerk windows accept check, cash, money order, Visa, MasterCard, and Discover. For Bent County, mail-in or pay-in-person is listed at 725 Bent Avenue, and pay-by-phone is listed at 719-456-1353.

The Access Corrections payments provider is tied to jail bond or inmate-deposit functions, not ordinary certified court copies.

That distinction helps prevent a records requester from using a jail payment vendor when the actual need is a court copy fee, certification fee, or name search through the Judicial Branch.

Filing and Clerk Limits

The Colorado Judicial Branch states that the court accepts electronic filings from attorneys and self-represented parties only through CCE for case types in the CCE system. For case types not subject to e-filing, pleadings may be emailed to the appropriate county email address or delivered by U.S. Postal Service. Clerks may require correction for incorrect or incomplete forms or exhibits, may require a person to file in person, and audio or video exhibits are not accepted by email.

The HomeWAV provider and the Bent County Jail inmate phone accounts page show jail communication channels that should not be confused with Clerk of Court copy requests.

HomeWAV relates to jail calls and video services, not the Clerk of Court's certified copy workflow.

The Bent County Jail inmate phone accounts page is another useful boundary marker for records users comparing jail communication issues with court file access.

The jail phone source is useful only as a boundary marker: custody communication questions go to jail channels, while court files and certifications go to the Clerk of Court.