Black Forest Fire Board pays law firm $16,000 to handle CORA requests

From KRDO.com (Colorado Springs):  The Black Forest Fire Board says it spent a substantial portion of $117,000 on an outside investigation, public relations and attorneys after El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa raised questions about Chief Bob Harvey’s response during the Black Forest Fire.

A Target 13 investigation into those questions prompted the board to take action.

The board says it spent $50,000 on an independent investigator and public relations firm and a substantial portion of $47,000 in legal fees on the investigator and Colorado Open Records requests.

Documents released by the board also say that copies of the final report cost an additional $2,000.

The board now says it has paid $16,000 to a law firm for Colorado Open Records Act requests filed by the media. In a release last month, the board said it had spent $3,000 on 10 record requests.

David McDivitt with McDivitt Law Firm weighed in on the legal fees. He said while they are high, they are not unreasonable.

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