Governor signs bill opening state records on wage-law violations
With Gov. John Hickenlooper’s signature on House Bill 17-1021, Colorado no longer will treat wage-law violations as “trade secrets” that must be kept from the public.
Colorado Open Records Act
‘Cooling-down’ period for open-records disputes advances in Colorado legislature
A required “cooling-down period” aimed at resolving open-records disputes without litigation continued its easy journey in the Colorado legislature.
House committee OKs bill to let state auditor investigate tips about government fraud
Colorado’s state auditor would be authorized to investigate tips about kickbacks, bribes and other state government fraud under a bill unanimously approved by a House committee.
Modernizing Colorado’s open-records law: Where Senate Bill 40 stands as it goes to the House
Senate Bill 17-040 is about clarifying the public’s right to obtain digitized government records in useful file formats that make it easier to analyze the information contained in those records. But as passed by the Colorado Senate, the bill is now about other things as well.
Colorado Senate passes digital open-records bill, adds exemption for ‘critical infrastructure’
The Colorado Senate endorsed a heavily amended version of the open-records modernization bill, adding a broad exemption to bar the disclosure of records that “could endanger public safety or the operation of critical infrastructure.”
Wage-theft transparency bill clears another hurdle in Colorado legislature
State lawmakers moved a step closer to letting the Colorado Division of Labor publicly disclose whether a company has cheated it workers.
Lawmakers endorse optional ‘cooling-off period’ to resolve records disputes without litigation
A Colorado House committee endorsed a completely reworked proposal to encourage the resolution of open-records disputes without litigation. The new version of HB 17-1177 essentially makes mediation optional.
Digital public records bill heads to Senate floor with amendments intact and an appropriation
The open-records modernization bill survived the Senate Appropriations Committee, but lawmakers retained amendments that could let governments withhold some records now available for public inspection.
A $6,750 deposit to search the city clerk’s emails? Records retention an issue for small governments
Emails of public officials are open for inspection under the Colorado Open Records Act, depending on their content. Such messages can reveal important insights into how government decisions are made, but using CORA to obtain emails can be a frustrating and sometimes futile exercise because records-retention policies tend to be vague and discretionary.
CORA modernization bill clears first legislative hurdle – with amendments
A bill to modernize Colorado’s open-records law cleared its first legislative hurdle, but lawmakers added amendments that could be broadly interpreted to allow the withholding of some records currently available for public inspection.