On matters affecting public information, the General Assembly did little during this year’s session to improve access. The most significant legislative win for government transparency doesn’t actually affect governments.
Although nonprofits serving people with disabilities in Colorado won’t be subject to the state’s open-records law, it appears they will be required to provide the public with certain financial information and other documents.
A Jefferson County charter school violated Colorado’s Sunshine Law and retaliated against a family when the parents asked questions about their daughters’ education, a lawsuit claims.
The Society of Professional Journalists’ Colorado chapter honored Jeff Roberts, executive director of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, with its 2016 First Amendment award. Roberts also won a first-place award for blogging in SPJ’s four-state “Top of the Rockies” contest, which honors journalists in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
A Kiowa resident and Elbert County have settled a lawsuit alleging that county commissioners violated Colorado’s Sunshine Law last spring.
Colorado’s Sunshine Law is supposed to prevent more than two members of a local public body from exchanging thoughts outside of a public meeting on matters related to their jobs as policymakers. But Lakewood City Council members appear to be doing just that in a recent email provided to the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition.
A House committee approved a Sunshine Law exception for Colorado Mountain College so that its board of trustees can make decisions electronically under limited circumstances.
State senators rejected the proposed creation of a school board ethics commission to hear alleged violations of Colorado’s Open Meetings Law and the Colorado Open Records Act.
The governing boards of Colorado’s two local district community colleges want state lawmakers’ permission to make decisions via email.
A proposed new ethics commission would add some “teeth” to the Colorado Open Records Act and the Sunshine Law, at least for the governing boards of local school districts and charter schools.
