A Denver Gazette reporter is not entitled to inspect the disciplinary records of Denver school administrators because a state statute protects the confidentiality of educator evaluations and all documents “used in preparing” those reports, the Colorado Court of Appeals decided.
The Colorado Supreme Court is examining whether a newspaper is considered a “citizen” and therefore entitled to attorney fees when prevailing in open meetings lawsuits.
In 2018, this blog reported on a then-two-year-old process in Ohio that gives requesters of public records a low-cost way to fight denials in court. A new research paper prepared for the National Freedom of Information Coalition looks at how well the process works.
Public bodies must not be permitted to “cure” infringements of the Colorado Open Meetings Law without being held accountable to the citizens who file lawsuits to enforce compliance, the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition argues in a brief submitted to the state’s highest court.
The Colorado Court of Appeals heard arguments about whether a state law that makes educator evaluation records confidential also shields the disciplinary records of Denver Public Schools administrators.
Comparing the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) board to the dental board and similar state licensing agencies, an attorney for two news organizations urged the Colorado Supreme Court to reverse an appellate ruling that keeps the state’s database of law enforcement officers confidential.
The Colorado Supreme Court will review whether appellate judges wrongly decided the Peace Officer Standards and Training Board (POST) is a criminal justice agency in a 2023 ruling that kept the state’s database of law enforcement officers confidential.
A judge will decide whether disciplinary records about the former police chief of Elizabeth are “personnel files” exempt from disclosure under the Colorado Open Records Act.
Lawmakers did not, however, tackle the No. 1 barrier to obtaining public records in Colorado — exorbitant fees. And that problem will only get worse on July 1, 2024, when inflation boosts the maximum-allowable hourly rate to process CORA requests from $33.58 to a whopping $40 or $41.
In a victory for the Aurora Sentinel, the Colorado Court of Appeals reversed a district court ruling and ordered Aurora to publicly release the recording of an executive session in which city council members ended censure proceedings against a fellow councilor.
