A bill that will open police internal affairs files of completed investigations in Colorado to the public is headed to the governor’s desk, and it could mean some policy changes for local police departments.

Current state law allows police agencies to release the documents only if they believe they are in the public interest, but most agencies in Colorado rule that the release of those records are “contrary to the public interest.”

While researching a 2018 story for Boulder County officers on the Brady list for findings of untruthfulness, three departments — Boulder, Longmont and Louisville — declined to release internal investigation findings to the Daily Camera while the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office only released a summary after the paper challenged the department’s decision not to release the report.

Visit Daily Camera for more.