CemeteryClerk

Finding a burial record in Colorado

Trying to find where someone is buried? Wherever they rest, the search runs the same way: start with a free index like Find a Grave or FamilySearch, where volunteers have photographed and transcribed millions of graves; check the death certificate or an obituary, which usually names the cemetery; then contact the cemetery itself, which holds the authoritative plot and interment records. That three-step path works in any state. The rest of this guide walks it in detail for Colorado, where there’s no single statewide burial database — records are kept locally by small cemetery districts, towns, and county offices, and we’ve mapped the districts to point you to the right one. Take your time; these searches reward patience.

Start with where the person was buried

The most direct route is the cemetery itself, because that’s who holds the plot and interment records. In Colorado, a rural cemetery is often run by a cemetery district — a small special district with its own board and clerk — or by a town. The district that covers the area is the office most likely to have the plot map and the burial ledger for its grounds.

We’ve mapped Colorado’s cemetery districts, and each has a page with its location, county, and how to reach it. A few to give you the idea:

If you know the county but not the exact cemetery, find the district that serves that area and start there — the clerk can usually tell you whether the person is in their grounds and, if not, who else to try nearby. (A note of honesty: for most districts, the search still happens by contacting the office. Where a district has set up a public online burial search, its page will show it; where it hasn’t, you’ll reach a real person, which is often faster than it sounds.)

The county paths

If a cemetery district doesn’t have the record, or the burial predates good local records, the county offices are the next stop:

  • County clerk and recorder. Cemetery plot deeds and some records are recorded at the county level. The clerk and recorder’s office is worth a call for plot ownership and deed questions.
  • Vital records / the death certificate. A Colorado death certificate typically names the cemetery or place of disposition, which can point you straight to the right grounds. Death certificates are restricted records in Colorado — eligible family members can request them through the state’s vital records office or the county public health office.
  • Local historical or genealogical societies. For older burials, a county historical society or library often holds transcribed cemetery records, old plat maps, and obituary files that no office kept.

The free online indexes worth trying

Alongside the official offices, a few free, well-run indexes can find a burial in minutes — and they’re genuinely useful, so we’ll point you to them honestly rather than pretend our pages are the only place to look:

  • Find a Grave — the largest gravesite index, free to search with no account required. Volunteers photograph and transcribe headstones, so many Colorado graves are already here with a photo and location.
  • FamilySearch — free, run by a nonprofit, with cemetery collections and links out to headstone photos. Its free cemetery-research guide is a good starting map.
  • BillionGraves — GPS-tagged headstone photos, strong where volunteers have walked a given cemetery.

These are indexes, not the official record — a Find a Grave memorial is a wonderful lead, but the cemetery district or county office is still where the authoritative plot and deed records live. Use the free indexes to locate; use the local office to confirm.

If you run one of these districts

This page exists partly because families call small districts constantly asking exactly these questions, and answering each one means another afternoon in the filing cabinet. If you’re a district clerk, you can claim your district’s listing here and — if you’d like — add a public burial search families can use themselves, so the record answers the phone for you. There’s a form on your district’s page, and one below. No pressure; we built this to make your job lighter, not longer.

Are you the district clerk? Claim your listing

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