How much does the firearms safety course eligibility card cost?
Last verified against primary sources: · Updated
Expect $52 to $200 for the card itself, made of two parts: a fixed $52 state fee that is the same in every county, plus your county sheriff's own processing fee — $0 to $125 where counties itemize it, while Denver charges a flat $200 that already includes the state fee, the highest published total. The safety course tuition is separate and is set by the private instructor.
As of September 11, 2026, 7 of Colorado's 64 counties have published a fee, and three more run live application portals without posting an amount. If your county is not one of them, no one can tell you your exact cost yet, including us. And check before you drive: Douglas, Larimer and Pueblo accept only their own residents.
What you are actually paying for
The eligibility card is the first step in the safety-course pathway created by SB25-003 — you need the card before you can enroll in the course, and you need the course before you can buy a specified semiautomatic firearm on or after August 1, 2026. Four separate charges can land on you:
| Charge | Amount | Who sets it |
|---|---|---|
| State course-record fee | $52 | Parks & Wildlife Commission — same statewide |
| Sheriff processing fee | $0–$125 where itemized; Denver charges $200 all-in | Your county sheriff — varies |
| Safety course tuition | Varies | Private instructor or range |
| Physical card (optional) | $0–$5 | Sheriff; electronic issuance is typically free |
Only the first two are paid to the sheriff when you apply. Both are non-refundable if your application is denied.
The $52 is fixed by statute; the sheriff fee is not
The state fee is set by the Parks & Wildlife Commission and remitted to a dedicated state fund. The statute constrains what it may cover:
The commission shall establish a firearms training and safety course record fee for a person to be included in the system. The fee must reflect actual direct and indirect costs to implement this section. The commission may adjust the fee, but shall not adjust the fee more than one time each year.
The same actual-cost standard governs the sheriff's own fee under § 18-12-116(5)(b)(V), but each of the 64 sheriffs calculates it independently and there is no statewide fee schedule. That is why the number varies and why nobody — including Colorado Parks & Wildlife — publishes a single answer.
County fees, where they have actually been published
Every figure below was checked against that county's own official page on the date shown. We do not list figures we could not verify at the source.
| County | Sheriff fee | Total with $52 state fee | Status | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arapahoe | $125 out-of-county $100 resident $50 resident with CHP $0 ACSO/LEO | $177 / $152 / $102 / $52 | Accepting — walk-in Tue–Thu, or by email for county residents | 2026-09-11 |
| Adams | $100 out-of-county $50 resident | $152 / $102 | Accepting (apply via state portal, then walk in Mon–Fri) | 2026-09-11 |
| Denver | Not itemized — flat charge includes the state fee | $200 all-in | Accepting (Denver Police Dept. online portal); no residency requirement | 2026-09-11 |
| Douglas | $25 | $77 | Accepting (online portal) — Douglas residents only | 2026-09-11 |
| El Paso | $35 out-of-county $0 resident — fee waived by the sheriff | $87 / $52 | Accepting; no residency requirement | 2026-09-11 |
| Pueblo | Not itemized — published as one $152 payment | $152 | Accepting — Pueblo residents only | 2026-09-11 |
| Weld | $0 — "no other charges collected by the Sheriff's Office" | $52 | Accepting (online via state portal; walk-ins Mon–Fri, Greeley, or by appointment in Longmont) | 2026-09-11 |
| Boulder | Exists but no amount posted | — | Accepting (online portal); fee not published | 2026-09-11 |
| Jefferson | Not published | — | Accepting (online portal since Aug 1); fee not published | 2026-09-11 |
| Larimer | Not published | — | Accepting (online portal) — Larimer residents only; fee not published | 2026-09-11 |
| All other counties | Not published | — | No official fee page located | 2026-09-11 |
7 of 64 counties publish a fee as of September 11, 2026 — and at the bottom of the range, Weld charges nothing beyond the state's $52, and El Paso waives its fee for its own residents.
If your county is not in the table, the most complete running list we know of is the independent county eligibility-card status tracker at Colorado Firearms Watch — a site with the same setup as this one (no ads, corrections invited). We link it rather than copy it because their figures are theirs to verify; anything we can confirm at a county source ourselves gets added to the table above.
About Denver's $200: for weeks this figure circulated only on third-party trackers with no official source, so we declined to publish it. It is now confirmed on Denver's own page — and it is the entire charge, inclusive of the $52 state fee, paid through the Denver Police Department's online application portal. It remains the most expensive published county.
Does the law require you to apply in the county where you live?
This is the most consequential open question about cost, because published fees range from $52 to $200 and counties treat outside applicants completely differently.
The statute does not say. The operative sentence names "the sheriff" with no qualifier:
To obtain a firearms safety course eligibility card, an applicant must submit an application to the sheriff on a form created by the division of parks and wildlife and submit to the sheriff the materials described in subsection (5)(b)(III) of this section.
The words "resides," "residence," and "county in which" appear nowhere in the 20-page act. That silence is conspicuous, because Colorado's concealed-handgun-permit statute — in the same article of the same title — spells residency out explicitly:
An applicant shall complete the permit application form and return it, in person, to the sheriff of the county or city and county in which the applicant resides or to the sheriff of the county or city and county in which the applicant maintains a secondary residence or owns or leases real property used by the applicant in a business.
So the General Assembly knew how to require county-of-residence and did not do it here. But with the statute silent, each sheriff has set their own policy, and practice has split three ways:
| County policy | Who |
|---|---|
| No residency requirement — stated outright | Denver ("applicants do not need to reside in the county where they apply"), El Paso (a card may come "from any Colorado Sheriff's Office") |
| Non-residents accepted, at a higher fee | Arapahoe ($125 vs. $100), Adams ($100 vs. $50) |
| Residents only — non-residents refused | Douglas ("we will not be accepting applications and documents from non-residents"), Larimer, Pueblo |
Weld, Boulder and Jefferson publish nothing either way. For anyone thinking about fee-shopping, the practical picture: the counties that refuse outsiders include some of the cheaper ones (Douglas at $77), and the cheapest confirmed door open to any Coloradan is currently El Paso at $87 for non-residents — while the county most explicit that anyone may apply, Denver, is also the most expensive at $200.
Do not treat this as settled. Statutory silence is not the same as affirmative permission, no court has construed this provision, and the split above proves sheriffs read it differently — three counties already turn non-residents away as a matter of policy. Colorado Parks & Wildlife's own guidance tells applicants to check with their local sheriff before submitting, and the state application system routes your submission to a county queue you select. If you are considering applying outside your home county, call that sheriff's office first and confirm they will accept you. We will update this page if the state or a court clarifies it.
Why most counties still have not published a fee
The state's application system opened on July 20, 2026, and the purchase prohibition began August 1 — but sheriffs were never required to post a fee schedule by either date. Six weeks in, the pattern is clear: the large Front Range counties all run live processes, but several — Jefferson, Boulder, Larimer — operate application portals without posting an amount, so applicants only learn the cost inside the application. Most of Colorado's 64 counties have published nothing at all.
We re-check the county pages weekly and date every row above.
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Common questions
How much does the eligibility card cost in total?
Between $52 and $200 in the counties that have published a fee. That is a fixed $52 state course-record fee plus a sheriff processing fee running from $0 (Weld, and El Paso for its own residents) to $125 (Arapahoe, out-of-county applicants) — while Denver charges a flat $200 that already includes the state fee. Course tuition is charged separately by the instructor.
Why does the fee differ between counties?
Because each sheriff sets their own processing fee. The statute requires it to reflect the sheriff's actual direct and indirect costs (§ 18-12-116(5)(b)(V)), but there is no statewide schedule, so 64 sheriffs reach 64 independent numbers.
Can I apply in a different county to get a lower fee?
It depends on the county, not the statute. The act has no residency language, and Denver and El Paso state outright that you may apply anywhere — El Paso is the cheapest confirmed option for non-residents at $87 total. Arapahoe and Adams accept out-of-county applicants but charge them more. Douglas, Larimer and Pueblo accept only their own residents. Call the county before relying on this.
Do I get my money back if the sheriff denies my application?
No. The application fee is non-refundable if your application is denied. You can appeal a denial to court, and the sheriff bears the burden of proof.
Is the $52 state fee going to change?
It can, but not often. The Parks & Wildlife Commission sets it and the statute bars the Commission from adjusting it more than once per year.
My county has not published a fee. What do I do?
Call your county sheriff's office directly. As of September 11, 2026 only 7 of 64 counties had published a figure, so most people are still in this position. Budget the $52 state fee plus somewhere in the $0–$125 range for planning purposes — unless you apply in Denver, where the all-in charge is $200.