Lawmakers vote to align school board campaign disclosures with other races
Campaign finance disclosures in school board elections should be aligned with those of other races in Colorado, a panel of state lawmakers decided.
Public Records Laws
Retention of government emails in Colorado ‘an honor system thing’
Whether emails are retained by governments in Colorado is “really sort of an honor system thing,” State Archivist George Orlowski told us. “The senders and recipients of emails have to decide whether there’s something important that needs to be preserved.”
Cloudy conditions for Sunshine Week: A pile of paper instead of a spreadsheet
Aurora’s response to a reporter’s records request illustrates a common problem facing journalists and anyone else in Colorado who wishes to analyze public records kept in spreadsheets or databases. Too often, they get PDFs or stacks of paper instead. This makes analysis difficult or sometimes impossible.
Bill to close breathalyzer database won’t affect police DUI records
Legislation to close portions of the state database of breath-alcohol test results won’t affect information available in law enforcement reports on drunken driving arrests, the bill’s sponsor said.
Database of Colorado statutes will be free, state lawmakers decide
The state legislature no longer will charge thousands of dollars for copies of its annually updated database of the Colorado Revised Statutes and ancillary information such as source notes and editors’ notes, the Committee on Legal Services decided.
A mother’s quest for police records on the death of her son
Rochelle Reynolds’ pursuit of documents on the death of her son illustrates how the criminal justice records law in Colorado sometimes keeps people in the dark.
No public access recommendations in state study group report on police body cameras
The final report of a state task force on police body cameras does not recommend when or under what circumstances captured video should be released to the public.
Database records bill dies, but stakeholders hope to work on a compromise
Opposition from a state agency and several local governments doomed proposed legislation intended to modernize Colorado’s open-records law by requiring that public records kept in database formats be available to the public in similar formats.
Senator: It may be ‘impossible’ to open records of nonprofits serving people with disabilities
The bill is still alive, but it’s becoming clear that 20 nonprofits serving people with disabilities won’t be covered by the Colorado Open Records Act any time soon.
School board ethics commission bill dies
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.