From 7News (Denver): Colorado's open records laws are supposed to keep government officials accountable, but getting documents can mean paying huge fees or becoming tangled in expensive and lengthy legal battles. In some cases, the cost and difficulty of obtaining records is enough to drive citizens away. In other cases, officials use vague legal standards like "contrary to the public interest" to deny any access. Critics, meanwhile, note that the same officials who decline requests may also be embarrassed when certain documents become public. The CALL7 Investigators inspected scores of requests made under open records laws, confronted clerks with hidden ...

From NFOIC: A few state FOIA and local open government news items selected from many of interest that we might or might not have drawn attention to earlier in the week. While you're at it, be sure to check out State FOIA Friday Archives. read more ...

From the Boulder Weekly: The city of Boulder seems to have joined a growing number of government agencies in Colorado that have started charging more for — and taking more time to produce — public documents when faced with open records requests. Attorneys and activists alike are crying foul, suggesting that the disturbing new trend is not only legally questionable, but appears to be an attempt to discourage media outlets and citizens alike from peering too deeply into taxpayer-funded activities. In the case of the city of Boulder, Boulder Weekly has documented numerous cases in which open records requests — ...

From Pocono Record: The state's Freedom of Information Commission on Wednesday ordered the release of the 911 tapes from last year's shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, ruling in favor of an appeal by The Associated Press for access to records withheld by investigators. The recordings could shed light on the law enforcement response to one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history. read more ...

From Center for Effective Government: A recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) doesn't have a plan for conducting comprehensive reviews of federal agencies' Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) policies or their compliance with the law. read more ...

From Denver Westword: A new report on access to public records in Colorado scolds state agencies for excessive fees, failing to put records online so more citizens can make use of them, and for "pre-digital age thinking." On the same day, attorneys for James Holmes file a motion in the Aurora theater shootings case, asking the court to remove from its website all filings in the case and seal transcripts of hearings, contending that easy access to such information imperils their client's right to a fair trial. Nice timing, guys. The juxtaposition highlights the gulf between theory and practice in ...

From The Denver Post: Attorneys for the Aurora movie theater shooter are asking a judge to restrict the public's access to information about his case, according to a motion filed Wednesday. James Holmes' attorneys argue that the official court website that posts copies of case documents is hurting Holmes' right to a fair trial. The motion asks the judge to order the website be taken down and to seal transcripts of hearings and the case's register of actions, which is a running log of activity in the case. "The 'Cases of Interest' website has undoubtedly had a deleterious effect on ...

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From the Denver Business Journal: The Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) has not kept pace with the times and “suffers from pre-digital age thinking to the detriment of citizens and government officials alike,” according to Colorado Ethics Watch. Colorado Ethics Watch on Wednesday released the report “21st Century Sunshine: Modernizing CORA,” which identifies weaknesses in Colorado sunshine laws and recommends reforms that will modernize CORA and save taxpayers’ money. The report notes that most commonly sought public records could easily be put online by government agencies, but they haven’t been in some cases. “In the 21st century, sunshine means online ...

From Hudson Hub-Times: Columbus -- Not too long after I started covering the Statehouse six years ago, I began keeping tabs on Ohio's Tax Credit Authority. Each month, I look over the panel's agenda, searching for companies of local interest. Wherever one from Youngstown or Defiance or Cambridge or Wooster or other communities is up for a tax break, I try to attend. read more ...