Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition

A multi-faceted CORA bill draft circulating at the Colorado Capitol would give news organizations a break on research-and-retrieval fees, let government entities take more time to respond to many records

In a new filing, the Aurora Sentinel lays out multiple reasons why it believes the Colorado Court of Appeals should reverse a judge’s ruling and order the city of Aurora

A 2021 Colorado Court of Appeals opinion on what lawyers can tell the press about pending class-action lawsuits will chill “legitimate speech that allows the media to keep the public

Colorado’s judicial branch proposed two new chief justice directives on virtual court proceedings Wednesday and asked the public to comment on them by mid-March. “It is a forgone conclusion that

Archuleta County and Colorado Counties Inc. have asked the Colorado Supreme Court to review a 2022 appellate court ruling that lets a person involved in litigation with a public entity

A bill that restricts governments’ use of nondisclosure agreements to silence public employees in Colorado earned bipartisan support in a Senate committee Thursday. “This is just a fundamental principle that

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

Nearly three years after the COVID-19 pandemic forced Colorado courts to fundamentally change how they operate, the judicial branch is developing a policy that could make the livestreaming of court

A state lawmaker is trying again to bar the use of nondisclosure agreements to silence public employees in Colorado, this time applying the prohibition to local governments as well as

The Gunnison County Library District has joined the Crested Butte News and the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition in asking the Colorado Court of Appeals to overturn a judge’s ruling

Draft rules implementing a new Colorado consumer privacy law have been revised to address news organizations’ concerns about how the law could affect journalism activities. A new version, released by the

Like last year, court rulings dominate the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition’s 2022 list of transparency highs and lows, with perhaps the most closely watched decision coming nearly three weeks

Three Lakewood City Council members are raising free-speech concerns after Mayor Adam Paul muted two of their microphones while they spoke during a Monday meeting on Zoom convened to consider

A person involved in litigation with a public entity has the right to use the Colorado Open Records Act to obtain documents from that public entity, the Colorado Court of

The Colorado Supreme Court this week declined to review issues in a Court of Appeals opinion that could impact the First Amendment rights of lawyers to make statements about public-interest

News organizations in Colorado are urging state Attorney General Phil Weiser to exempt journalism activities in draft rules implementing a 2021 consumer privacy law. “The lack of an exemption for newsgathering …

In Colorado Court of Appeals briefs filed Monday, the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition and the editor of the Crested Butte News spell out reasons why a judge erred in

Lawyers clashed in the Colorado Court of Appeals on Tuesday over whether the state’s Children’s Code prohibits the Colorado Department of Human Services (DHS) from publicly releasing aggregate statistics about

Colorado’s Sunshine Law does not require members of an elected public board to discuss the censure of a fellow board member in an open meeting, a judge has ruled. The

In a recent opinion, the Colorado Court of Appeals established a high standard of proof for a plaintiff to withstand a special motion to dismiss a defamation claim involving a

The Colorado Court of Appeals last week reversed a judge’s findings that emails protected from disclosure by the attorney-client and deliberative process privileges are nonetheless available to a “person in

One day in October 1985, the late Neil Westergaard, then The Denver Post’s state Capitol bureau chief, introduced me to the ancient rolltop desk I would use for the next

Over the past two decades, the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition and its member organizations and board members have achieved numerous successes both in amending the Colorado Open Meetings Law

Rejecting the argument of a trauma surgeon’s lawyers, a judge ruled last week that a 2018 state law limits the scope of Denver Health and Hospital Authority records subject to

The public release Friday of the amended autopsy report on the 2019 death of Elijah McClain ended a legal fight that didn’t need to happen, said Steve Zansberg, president of

A judge Friday declined to hold members of the Woodland Park school board in contempt for allegedly violating his April order to list meeting agenda items “clearly, honestly and forthrightly.”

A trauma surgeon’s lawsuit is testing the scope of a 2018 statute that concerns the public disclosure of Denver Health and Hospital Authority records. Before the enactment of Senate Bill 18-149,

A judge Tuesday ordered Larimer County to publicly disclose the narrative portions of performance evaluations for two former employees of The Ranch, the county’s fairgrounds complex and events center. In

Following three years of failed bills, state lawmakers in 2021 finally agreed on statutory language to address the trend among Colorado law enforcement agencies to fully encrypt their radio communications. A provision inserted into

A judge has ordered the release of Denver police body-worn camera footage related to the case of a man accused of shooting and killing 52-year-old Emmanuel Amani in April. An

A Colorado statute that criminalizes the public disclosure of all child abuse and neglect records violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals held Tuesday.

Local governments in Colorado are fighting two CORA-related court rulings they fear “will have far-reaching detrimental effects on nearly all aspects of government operations” if upheld. In a brief filed recently with

Some wildlife advocates are unhappy with a new policy that bars them from audio and video recording, as well as livestreaming, meetings held by a group advising the Colorado Parks

A public entity with a contractual right to access documents from a private third party, such as a developer, must disclose those records to a requester if they are used

The philanthropic Colorado Media Project is starting a fund to help Colorado journalists pay for public records that enhance reporting on social, economic, racial and other inequities. Seeded by The

If you think the cost of obtaining public records in Colorado is too high now, you’re not going to like what will happen in 2024. The maximum hourly rate state

A new analysis of open records laws in all 50 states highlights several ways Colorado legislators could make criminal justice records more accessible to journalists and the public. The report for the

People who ask Gunnison County librarians to remove or reclassify books they find objectionable or controversial can remain anonymous, a judge decided. In a civil case brought against Mark Reaman,

Two agencies of Colorado’s judicial branch object to a proposed new rule that would make records of many completed personnel investigations accessible to the public. During a meeting of the

For those concerned about access to government records in Colorado, the 2022 legislative session was notable for what didn’t happen — the introduction of a bill addressing frustrating issues such

The Douglas County School District must let 9NEWS anchor Kyle Clark see a Colorado Open Records Act request that sought the names of teachers who called in sick Feb. 3

Remote testimony on bills, a positive outgrowth of the COVID-19 pandemic, likely will remain an option for the public during future sessions of the Colorado General Assembly. House Bill 22-1413,

A Teller County District Court judge Friday ordered the Woodland Park school board to comply with the Colorado Open Meetings Law “by clearly, honestly and forthrightly” listing future agenda items

An anti-doxxing bill advanced by a state legislative committee Thursday would amend the Colorado Open Records Act to bar the disclosure of the specific date of a teacher’s absence from

Anchor Kyle Clark and the company that owns 9NEWS are suing the Douglas County School District’s records custodian for refusing to disclose a Colorado Open Records Act request that sought

Restricting access to certain public records in Colorado will protect the state’s wildlife and sensitive plant species, some state lawmakers say. That’s the aim of Senate Bill 22-169, which cleared the

A case before the Colorado Court of Appeals will determine whether a state agency wrongfully denied two news organizations’ requests for aggregate statistics about child-abuse hotline calls made from licensed

A committee of state lawmakers Thursday endorsed a tax credit for small businesses that spend money to advertise in Colorado news outlets. House Bill 22-1121, introduced by Democratic Rep. Lisa

Lawmakers Monday advanced a bipartisan bill that requires Colorado’s online checkbook system to display the names of vendors who do business with the state government. The Transparency Online Project, also known

Update: The Colorado House passed HB 22-1110 on a 50-11 vote on Thursday, Feb. 24. Responding in part to a recent court ruling in Larimer County, state lawmakers want to

Redacted portions of an investigator’s report on sexual misconduct allegations against Denver school board member Tay Anderson cannot be publicly disclosed because of a specific exemption in the Colorado Open

The Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition and other organizations are asking the state’s highest court to review an appellate court ruling that, if allowed to stand, will impact the First

A state House committee Thursday killed legislation to require the online publication of bill drafts more than a month before the start of each session of the Colorado General Assembly.

With civil court records now free to access online in Colorado, the state may soon also post the text of high-court opinions — going back to statehood — in a

Revising rules for the legislature’s Committee on Legal Services for the first time since 1981, Colorado lawmakers proposed an open-ended exception to the Sunshine Law that would let the committee

Amid multiple probes into allegations of employee misconduct, the Colorado Judicial Department is considering a new rule that would make records of many completed personnel investigations accessible to the public.

The constitutionally created state commission that investigates allegations of ethical misconduct by public officials should align proposed new procedural and records rules more closely with Colorado’s open-government laws. That’s what

Court rulings top CFOIC’s 2021 list of Colorado transparency highlights and lowlights, with the most impactful paving the way for a state law change that lets governments publicly name just

An attorney for The Denver Post and The Denver North Star explained in a new court filing why the news organizations believe Denver Public Schools must unredact hidden portions of

Bookmark it. Use it. Share it. For the first time, the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition’s sunshine laws guide is online — searchable and indexed by topic — with links to pertinent