Unlike a draft circulating at the state Capitol since mid-March, the introduced version of a bill amending the Colorado Open Records Act would not affect public records fees, which are set to rise with inflation in 2024.
As amended by the Colorado House, an open meetings bill still significantly weakens Coloradans’ ability to enforce a 22-year-old provision in the Sunshine Law requiring school boards and other local public bodies to announce the topics of closed-door meetings with some specificity.
There will be no “presumptive” livestreaming of criminal trials and evidentiary hearings in state courts, but judges may allow those proceedings to be broadcast on Webex or another videoconferencing platform after considering several factors, a directive issued by Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Brian Boatright says.
State lawmakers endorsed a bill that makes it harder for Coloradans to challenge inadequately announced closed-door meetings of school boards, city councils, county commissions and special district boards.
A bill requiring Colorado courts to livestream open criminal court proceedings on Webex or another videoconferencing platform won unanimous approval in the House Judiciary Committee.
A judge ordered the Woodland Park School District to disclose video surveillance footage showing three school board members talking with a candidate for superintendent after a public meeting last December.
Recently retired Denver attorney Marc Flink spent decades fighting alongside news organizations for public access to the records and workings of government — and played a leading role in some of the most consequential First Amendment cases in recent Colorado history.
For Sunshine Week 2023, the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition hosted an insightful discussion about recent attempts to remove or relocate books in public libraries and school districts in Colorado and around the country.
A proposed chief justice directive should be revised to allow the livestreaming of criminal trials and evidentiary hearings in Colorado courtrooms and permit virtual access to civil proceedings, the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition and the state’s news associations urged the Colorado Supreme Court.
A multi-faceted CORA bill draft circulating at the Colorado Capitol would give news organizations a break on research-and-retrieval fees, let government entities take more time to respond to many records requests and impose stricter rules for the retention of certain email records of state agencies.
