A committee of state senators endorsed major changes to the way the open meetings law affects the Colorado General Assembly, approving a bill that narrows the definition of “public business” and lets lawmakers communicate by email and text message without it being a “meeting” under the law.
State lawmakers could voluntarily post drafts of proposed legislation — before legislative sessions begin — on a “clearinghouse” website of the Colorado General Assembly under a measure endorsed by a House committee.
A Pagosa Springs lawyer who routinely sues school boards around the state for violations of the open meetings law is defending his role as a “private attorney general” in a case now before Colorado’s second-highest court.
Are people who want books banned or reclassified library “users” whose identities are protected by Colorado law? The Colorado Court of Appeals said yes in an opinion issued last month, but now the editor of the Crested Butte News wants the state Supreme Court to review and reverse that ruling.
In a new court brief, leaders of the Colorado General Assembly defend their use during recent legislative sessions of an anonymous online survey to help prioritize bills that impact the state budget.
A judge ordered Denver to disclose city officials’ text messages about last June’s severe hailstorm at Red Rocks Amphitheater, ruling the communications were improperly withheld from 9NEWS reporter Steve Staeger.
Colorado’s library-user privacy statute shields the identities of people who want public library books banned or reclassified, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled, upholding a 2022 Gunnison County District Court decision.
A year from now, on July 1, 2024, inflation will likely boost the maximum hourly rate governments are allowed to charge for processing Colorado Open Records Act requests from $33.58 to around $41.34 — an alarming 23 percent increase.
A Court of Appeals opinion keeping Colorado’s database of law enforcement officers confidential “creates a gaping hole” in the Colorado Open Records Act and broadens the scope of the criminal justice records law “beyond recognition,” two news organizations contend in a certiorari petition submitted to the Colorado Supreme Court.
Like last year, court rulings dominate CFOIC’s 2022 list of transparency highs and lows, with perhaps the most closely watched decision coming nearly three weeks after a shooter killed five people and wounded more than a dozen others at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs on Nov. 19.
