RTD stops charging ‘a measly quarter’ per page for electronic copies of public records
The Regional Transportation District no longer charges the public 25 cents per page for electronic copies of public records.
CORA
Lawsuit: Autopsy report on decomposed body wrongfully withheld from requester
A Trinidad resident who runs a Facebook-based community news site is suing the Las Animas County coroner for wrongly denying his request for the autopsy report on a man whose decomposed body was found in an apartment in 2018.
Eight things to know about Colorado’s new law requiring disclosure of police internal affairs records
Gov. Jared Polis’ signature on House Bill 19-1119 unclogged a major blockage in the flow of public information in Colorado by establishing a statewide presumption of openness for records about the job performance of law enforcement officers. Here are some things to know about the bill, which went into effect immediately.
How to get a copy of CFOIC’s new guide to Colorado sunshine laws
Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition’s new 30-page “Guide to Colorado’s Open Records and Open Meetings Laws” covers what you need to know about access to information from state agencies and local governments.
Elbert County fights lawsuit challenging ID requirement for records requesters
Elbert County officials are fighting a pro se lawsuit that challenges the county’s policy of requiring records requesters to show identification.
Lawsuit: UNC violated open records law by not disclosing ‘official business’ text messages
The operator of a college basketball tournament alleges in a lawsuit that the University of Northern Colorado and an athletic department official violated the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) by denying access to text messages from the official’s personal cellphone.
Court secrecy, a handcuffed journalist, ‘Access Denied’: CFOIC’s year-in-review 2018
Two words come to mind when looking back at 2018’s government transparency highlights and lowlights in Colorado. Judicial secrecy.
Colorado securities commissioner did not withhold records from consultant, judge says
A judge ruled against a Texas-based consultant who alleged that Colorado’s recently retired securities commissioner violated the Colorado Open Records Act by refusing to fulfill a records request “unless and until” the consultant identified his client.
A ‘reverse’ CORA lawsuit backfires on the town of Paonia
A district court judge in Delta County ruled that the town of Paonia improperly invoked CORA’s safe harbor clause in a lawsuit against Bill Brunner, a former town trustee who had requested numerous records in 2017. Not only should the town have turned the records over to Brunner, Judge Steven Schultz wrote, he is entitled to be reimbursed for his legal costs and attorney fees because Paonia officials “failed to exercise reasonable diligence or reasonable inquiry” before going ahead with the suit.
Court in Watts case is wrong venue to decide access to autopsies, media groups and CFOIC say
A judge should deny the prosecutors’ motion to keep autopsy reports from the public in the Frederick triple homicide case because the criminal court lacks jurisdiction to decide that question, a media coalition and the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition argued.