CFOIC’s 2020 year in review: coronavirus records, CORA costs, body cam footage, judicial secrecy
COVID-19 touched nearly every aspect of our lives in 2020 so of course it affected government transparency and public access to courts in Colorado.
coronavirus
Wrap-up: Police transparency and accountability bill highlights 2020 Colorado legislative session
The passage of an historic, comprehensive police reform bill transformed a relatively quiet 2020 Colorado legislative session for freedom-of-information issues into one of major importance.
Transparency, media literacy measures axed in purge of pre-pandemic state legislation
Two transparency bills died during a purge of proposals left over from before the coronavirus pandemic forced a suspension of the 2020 Colorado legislative session.
CFOIC: Proposed judicial branch rule on sealing and suppressing criminal court records ‘undervalues’ presumption of public access
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Colorado Supreme Court will wait until September to convene a public hearing on a long-awaited standard for guiding judges’ decisions to seal or suppress judicial records in criminal cases. In the meantime, the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition and other groups have submitted written comments on the proposal.
Lawsuit: Colorado health department missed CORA deadline to provide requested coronavirus records
Dan Caplis, an attorney and radio talk show host, is suing the state health department for failing to provide requested documents related to the coronavirus pandemic within the time frame specified in the Colorado Open Records Act.
More than 60 journalism organizations sign letter to Gov. Polis regarding COVID-19 information and transparency
We write today to request that you take a few additional actions that we feel would greatly help to ensure journalists throughout the state are best equipped to tell the stories that must be told. Our primary objectives are to keep the public informed, to accurately chronicle the events of this unprecedented period – to write the “first rough draft of history” – and to report on how government officials, local business and civic leaders, and communities are responding.
Some Colorado governments put public records requests on the back burner during the pandemic
Some government entities in Colorado are delaying responses to public records requests because of the coronavirus pandemic, but the disruption of day-to-day transparency obligations so far doesn’t seem as severe here as in other parts of the country.
Coronavirus and Colorado’s Sunshine Law
As the COVID-19 pandemic forces everybody to consider limiting their exposure to other people, local elected officials are starting to think about how they can do the public’s business virtually without violating the Colorado Open Meetings Law.