Below are some ideas for additional changes that favor government transparency and the notion that governmental proceedings could be made more accessible to more people without imposing unreasonable burdens on public bodies. These proposed updates are gleaned from the nearly 7,600 inquiries to the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition’s FOI hotline over the past 13 years.
A lawsuit accuses the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission of violating the state’s open meetings and open records laws by denying public access to a commission-appointed advisory committee and by withholding the committee’s draft report.
Sponsors of a bill to reauthorize the Colorado Public Utilities Commission agreed to remove a provision that would have let the three commissioners engage in “nonpublic” discussions after hearing evidence on adjudicatory matters.
Fred Brown, who died this week at age 85, demonstrated his passion for both journalism ethics and access to government information long before he joined the board of the newly formed Colorado Freedom of Information Council in 1988.
Members of the Public Utilities Commission should be allowed to communicate with one another outside of public meetings because the Colorado Open Meetings Law “stymies brainstorming and discussion” and may also “inhibit the efficiency” of drafting decisions, a state agency says.
Citing the separation of powers as “a core tenet of our democracy,” Gov. Jared Polis signed into law a bill that narrows the definition of “public business” in the Colorado Open Meetings Law as it applies to the legislature and lets members of the General Assembly communicate by email and text message without it being a “meeting” under the law.
State lawmakers sent a bill to Gov. Jared Polis that narrows the definition of “public business’ in the Colorado Open Meetings Law as it applies to the legislature and lets members of the General Assembly communicate by email and text message without it being a “meeting” under the law.
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.
The town board of Del Norte violated the Colorado Open Meetings Law by censuring a fellow board member during a closed executive session, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled, reversing a judge’s decision and invalidating the censure.
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.
