CFOIC asked the state’s highest court to affirm that when a public body fails to properly announce the “particular matter” to be discussed in an executive session, the recording of that closed-door meeting becomes a public record.

“It would greatly benefit the public, press, and all public bodies … to confirm that this is how the COML (Colorado Open Meetings Law) works,” says a friend-of-the-court brief submitted to the Colorado Supreme Court last week by the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition.

Since 2001, the open meetings law has required state and local boards, commissions and councils to announce the topic of each executive session — prior to taking a vote to convene the private meeting — “in as much detail as possible without compromising the purpose for which the executive session is authorized.”