CORA fees bill introduced
Rep. Joe Salazar’s proposed legislation to regulate how much governments can charge for public records has been introduced in the Colorado House as HB 14-1193.
Public Records Laws
House committee votes to close 50-year-old marriage license applications
Seeking to protect senior citizens from identity theft, a Colorado House committee voted unanimously to close marriage and civil union license applications that now become public records after 50 years.
Bills to strengthen press shield and open association records fail in Senate committee
A bill to increase legal protections for Colorado journalists and their sources died in a state Senate committee. The Senate Judiciary Committee also killed another measure that would have opened records kept by private associations of elected officials that get some of their money from public sources.
Bill would open records kept by private associations of elected officials
Records kept by private associations of elected officials that get some of their money from public sources would be open to public scrutiny under legislation proposed by state Sen. Kevin Lundberg.
Victors in open-records lawsuits should get attorneys’ fees, appellate court decides
Winners of open-records lawsuits in Colorado are entitled to attorneys’ fees, even if they succeed in getting only one record released, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled last week.
CORA fees proposal among legislation to watch in 2014
A plan to regulate fees for public records statewide is expected to be one of at least three bills introduced during the 2014 legislative session that would affect the flow or availability of information in Colorado.
A big helping of open-government resources
Check out the CFOIC’s new Resource pages, which include guides to accessing public information and a categorized directory of public data available online.
Does court ruling on AG consumer complaints have broader implications?
A court decision last week that let the Colorado Attorney General turn over consumer complaints to the Better Business Bureau, but not to a Denver TV news organization, may have broader implications for the release of public records.
The true value of FOI
A Gazette investigation into a secret spy program at the Air Force Academy was one of three recent news stories that had nothing in common, except the vitally important fact that none could have been reported in such detail, or perhaps even reported at all, without the state and federal laws that ensure your rights of access to public information.
Journalist sues Archuleta County commissioner over secret meeting and loses, but would “gladly do the same thing again”
Bill Hudson, publisher of an online community magazine, is out nearly $1,500 after his lawsuit was dismissed. Did the county attorney mislead the court over the actual cost of his legal research in the case?