The Gazette (Colorado Springs): Not surprisingly, there has always been tension between people wanting to see what lurks in government files and government agencies wanting to keep such information to themselves.

In an effort to bring modest organization to what had become legal chaos, Congress enacted the Freedom of Information Act in 1966. The Colorado General Assembly came along shortly thereafter, in 1968, with a state law known as the Colorado Open Records Act. CORA has been amended dozens of times since its creation and is now a highly technical statute laden with exceptions and exceptions to exceptions.

CORA starts out simple enough: “All public records shall be open for inspection by any person at reasonable times….”

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