Judge: School bus driver disciplinary records are public
Complaints and disciplinary actions against public school bus drivers are not “personnel” records that must be kept confidential, an Arapahoe County District Court judge ruled.
CORA
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.
How to resolve open-government disputes without suing the government
Litigate or give up. Those are your legal options in Colorado if a government entity improperly withholds public records, charges you out-of-line fees for inspection or drags its feet on a records request. The same is true if you suspect that a public body violated the Open Meetings Law. In many other states, however, litigation is not the only way to challenge FOI denials.
Colorado Supreme Court won’t hear appeal by teachers’ union in sick-leave records case
The Colorado Supreme Court declined to review a state appeals court decision holding that sick-leave records are not part of a public school teacher’s confidential personnel file.
Is the public entitled to know how school bus drivers are disciplined?
News organizations and government-employee unions clashed in an Arapahoe County courtroom over whether the public is entitled to inspect complaints and disciplinary actions against school bus drivers.
Judge: Reporter’s CORA requests for health care exchange emails were ‘valid and appropriate’
A Denver judge ruled that Colorado’s health care exchange improperly denied “valid and appropriate” open-records requests made in early 2015 by Independence Institute reporter Todd Shepherd.
District bills parent $438 to see her son’s school records, $129 for copies
Connie Sack was stunned when she received two invoices from the Kennesburg school district after asking to inspect records regarding her 16-year-old son, Logan. The fee for research and retrieval: $438. The fee for copies: $129. Total charges: $567.
Government employee records in Colorado: What’s confidential, what’s not?
Colorado’s open-records law is clear: A government employee’s personnel file is off limits to the public. But which records, exactly, are part of that confidential file?
Elbert Co. still hasn’t released minutes of ‘Jerry Springer-like’ commission meeting from 2015
Six months after a controversial, contentious meeting of the Elbert County Commission, county residents are still waiting to read the meeting minutes.
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.