The radio scanners were vital tools of Robinson’s trade, tipping her off to police activities throughout the Denver metro area — information she corroborated by making those countless calls to her many, many sources. But they wouldn’t be so useful if Robinson were still reporting today.
State lawmakers want to adjust a 2023 juvenile privacy law that recently forced Colorado’s judicial branch to restrict attorneys’ access to criminal court records, also creating delays in processing document requests from journalists and the public.
Because of a 2023 law that protects the privacy of juveniles, the Colorado Judicial Department plans to limit attorneys’ access to criminal court records and clerks may take longer to process document requests from journalists and the public.
Despite a looming inflationary increase in fees, state lawmakers in the 2023 legislative session never addressed the often-high cost of obtaining public records in Colorado but did vote to eliminate some nagging obstacles for users of the Colorado Open Records Act.
Legislation requiring the deletion of all juvenile victim and witness names from police and court records before the records are released to the public won unanimous approval in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The names of child victims and witnesses would be removed from criminal justice records before the records are released to the public if legislation introduced by two state senators becomes law.
