Judicial Branch’s Rob McCallum wins open government award

Robert (Rob) McCallum, public information officer for the Colorado Judicial Branch, has been awarded the Sue O’Brien Award for Public Service by the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition (CFOIC). The award was presented in the atrium of the new Ralph L. Carr Judicial Center in downtown Denver.

Chief Justice Michael Bender of the Colorado Supreme Court, spoke, along with Denver attorney Tom Kelley, president of the CFOIC. Two news media figures whose organizations have worked with McCallum on access to judicial records – Nicole Vap, executive producer for the investigative team at 9News KUSA-TV, and Jim Clarke, Denver region bureau chief for The Associated Press – also addressed the gathering.

The award recognizes McCallum for “his devotion and commitment to making the day-to-day operations of the State Courts and the Judicial Branch of government accessible to citizens throughout our state.” The Judicial Branch, where McCallum has been PIO since 2007, is part of the state FOI alliance.

The award is presented to a person in government who displays consistent understanding of the importance of public access to official records and meetings – qualities demonstrated by its namesake. The CFOIC created the award in 2007 in memory of Sue O’Brien, who was editorial page editor of The Denver Post  when she died in 2003. She also had been Gov. Dick Lamm’s press secretary, campaign manager for Lamm’s successor, Gov. Roy Romer, a tenured professor at the University of Colorado and a television and radio journalist in Denver and nationally.

Previous winners of the award were state Rep. Morgan Carroll, Democrat of Aurora, in 2007, and former House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, Democrat of Denver, in 2009.

Visit the Awards page for more.

Follow the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition on Twitter @CoFOIC. Like CFOIC’s Facebook page. Do you appreciate the information and resources provided by CFOIC? Please consider making a tax-deductible donation.

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