Political dark money bills approved by Colorado House
A House committee approved two bills aimed at shining light on political dark money in Colorado.
Blog
‘Cooling-down’ period for open-records disputes advances in Colorado legislature
A required “cooling-down period” aimed at resolving open-records disputes without litigation continued its easy journey in the Colorado legislature.
House committee OKs bill to let state auditor investigate tips about government fraud
Colorado’s state auditor would be authorized to investigate tips about kickbacks, bribes and other state government fraud under a bill unanimously approved by a House committee.
Modernizing Colorado’s open-records law: Where Senate Bill 40 stands as it goes to the House
Senate Bill 17-040 is about clarifying the public’s right to obtain digitized government records in useful file formats that make it easier to analyze the information contained in those records. But as passed by the Colorado Senate, the bill is now about other things as well.
Colorado Senate passes digital open-records bill, adds exemption for ‘critical infrastructure’
The Colorado Senate endorsed a heavily amended version of the open-records modernization bill, adding a broad exemption to bar the disclosure of records that “could endanger public safety or the operation of critical infrastructure.”
Wage-theft transparency bill clears another hurdle in Colorado legislature
State lawmakers moved a step closer to letting the Colorado Division of Labor publicly disclose whether a company has cheated it workers.
Video: CFOIC Sunshine Week panel on ‘fake news’ and media literacy
What’s “fake news” and what’s not? You might forgive the public for not knowing the difference these days, given how often that term is tossed about. Because media literacy is an issue both nationally and locally, it was the ideal topic for a Sunshine Week panel called “Getting to the truth in an age of alternative facts.”
Lawmakers endorse optional ‘cooling-off period’ to resolve records disputes without litigation
A Colorado House committee endorsed a completely reworked proposal to encourage the resolution of open-records disputes without litigation. The new version of HB 17-1177 essentially makes mediation optional.
Digital public records bill heads to Senate floor with amendments intact and an appropriation
The open-records modernization bill survived the Senate Appropriations Committee, but lawmakers retained amendments that could let governments withhold some records now available for public inspection.
A $6,750 deposit to search the city clerk’s emails? Records retention an issue for small governments
Emails of public officials are open for inspection under the Colorado Open Records Act, depending on their content. Such messages can reveal important insights into how government decisions are made, but using CORA to obtain emails can be a frustrating and sometimes futile exercise because records-retention policies tend to be vague and discretionary.