It’s almost 2025. Why are we still writing checks to pay for public records?
A quarter of the way into the 21st century, should Coloradans still have to write paper checks to pay for public records?
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State Supreme Court to review child abuse statistics case won on appeal by Colorado Sun and 9NEWS
The Colorado Supreme Court will review an appellate court opinion that the Colorado Children’s Code doesn’t necessarily prohibit the state Department of Human Services from publicly releasing aggregate statistics about child-abuse hotline calls made from licensed residential care facilities.
Amended Colorado autopsy bill requires release of deceased minor’s name in summary report
State lawmakers made significant adjustments to a bill that closes autopsy reports on minors, adding a deceased child’s name to the summary of information that must be released to the public following a death.
Amended bill allows disclosure of autopsy reports on minors who die in care or custody of government
County coroners could publicly release an autopsy report concerning a minor’s death while in the care or custody of a government agency under a revised bill passed by the Colorado House.
Bill to close autopsy reports on minors advances in Colorado legislature
State lawmakers moved to make autopsy reports on minors confidential in Colorado despite extensive testimony from journalists and a child-protection advocate who explained the public-interest benefits of keeping those records open.
Six years after governor’s veto, another Colorado bill seeks to seal autopsy reports on minors
Nearly six years after then-Gov. John Hickenlooper vetoed a bill to seal autopsy reports on minors, Colorado’s county coroners are again trying to restrict public access to those records.
Competing court cases focus on disciplinary records of Elizabeth police chief who resigned
A judge will decide whether disciplinary records about the former police chief of Elizabeth are “personnel files” exempt from disclosure under the Colorado Open Records Act.
Human services asks Colorado Supreme Court to review appellate ruling on disclosure of child abuse statistics
The Colorado Department of Human Services wants the state’s highest court to review a recent appellate court opinion that could force the disclosure of aggregate statistics about child-abuse hotline calls made from licensed residential care facilities.
CFOIC’s 2023 year in review: Denver school board, Red Rocks, disappearing messages, CORA changes, livestreamed courts and a theater surveillance video
Several key rulings in 2023 showed why courts matter so much for enforcing and interpreting Colorado’s open government laws.
12 ways to improve Colorado’s open government laws
Lawmakers did not, however, tackle the No. 1 barrier to obtaining public records in Colorado — exorbitant fees. And that problem will only get worse on July 1, 2024, when inflation boosts the maximum-allowable hourly rate to process CORA requests from $33.58 to a whopping $40 or $41.