Lawmaker offers proposal for resolving open-records disputes through mediation
A Colorado House bill is intended to encourage records requesters and government entities to resolve disputes through mediation rather than in the court system.
Colorado legislature
Commentary: It’s time to bring Colorado’s open-records act into the 21st century
For half a century, public records laws have been indispensable tools for disproving “alternative facts” and getting to the truth about government spending, activities and decision making. But in our state, the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) is showing its age, especially regarding access to the myriad records maintained in spreadsheets and databases by state agencies, cities, counties and other taxpayer-funded entities covered by the law.
House committee again rejects bill to make judicial branch records subject to CORA
It happened to be Groundhog Day when a House committee killed Rep. Polly Lawrence’s latest effort to make administrative records of Colorado’s judicial branch subject to the state’s open records law.
What is the public entitled to know when a government board closes a meeting?
How much specificity is required under the law when a government body votes to go into executive session? In two recent court decisions, judges in Jefferson and Eagle counties offered starkly different viewpoints.
Legislative preview: 2017 could bring big changes to Colorado’s open-records law
State lawmakers could substantially reform the Colorado Open Records Act during the 2017 legislative session.
Legislative committee votes to shred old General Assembly files dating to the 1930s
A committee of state lawmakers recommended the destruction of old files on bills and amendments prepared for members of the General Assembly.
Legislator plans another try at making Colorado judicial branch subject to CORA
A Republican state lawmaker said she will try again during the 2017 legislative session to make Colorado’s judicial branch subject to the state’s open-records law.
Proposal calls for the destruction of old General Assembly files dating to the 1930s
The Colorado legislature’s legal staff will shred old files on each bill and amendment prepared for members of the General Assembly – some going back to the 1930s – if lawmakers approve a proposed new records retention policy.
CORA Working Group focuses on database records, open data, alternatives to litigation
Immediately after a bill to modernize the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) died in a Senate committee last session, the Secretary of State’s office offered to bring stakeholders together to work on a 2017 proposal agreeable to both government entities and records requesters. That effort is well underway this summer and has focused on three main topics.
Open-government wins and losses in the 2016 Colorado legislative session
On matters affecting public information, the General Assembly did little during this year’s session to improve access. The most significant legislative win for government transparency doesn’t actually affect governments.