The Durango Herald: A 6th Judicial District Court judge sided with Durango resident John Simpson in an open records lawsuit filed in September against the city and ordered the city to make the requested financial documents publicly available.

In a court order filed last week, District Judge Suzanne Carlson rebutted the city’s argument that draft financial statements sought by Simpson are “work products” not subject to open records requests under the Colorado Open Records Act.

In an analysis that describes the city’s reaction to Simpson’s records request as “chilling” and “overblown,” the order says the city failed to demonstrate how releasing draft financial statements would “cause significant public harm.”

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