The Denver Post: When Denver District Attorney Beth McCann on Thursday declined to prosecute the Denver Police Department’s chief and a deputy chief for violating state open records laws it was the second time since October that a city official escaped criminal prosecution under the Colorado Open Records Act.

In fact, prosecutors in the district attorney’s office and open records experts along the Front Range cannot recall anyone ever facing a misdemeanor criminal charge for failing to provide public documents upon request.

And if Gov. John Hickenlooper signs a modernized open records bill passed this legislative session, no one will ever be fined or sent to jail for refusing to cough up documents. The governor is expected to sign the bill, which would become law on Aug. 9, said Jeff Roberts, executive director of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition.

“I wish it wasn’t going away, but it’s never been used,” Roberts said of the criminal element in existing law.

The Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act, which governs how law enforcement agencies release documents, also includes a criminal component for lawbreakers. But experts don’t recall a single prosecution related to it, either.

Visit The Denver Post for more.