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 Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition by Eric Wolaver, a 2022 graduate of the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law, focuses on four areas: police internal affairs files, incident reports and investigative records, fees for public records and agency time to respond to records requests.

News organizations often are frustrated by provisions in the Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act (CCJRA) that give police departments and sheriff’s offices quite a bit of discretion to withhold records, delay their responses to requests and charge whatever amounts they deem appropriate to fill records requests.

“Recent amendments to the CCJRA with respect to internal affairs files and police body-worn camera footage have improved the law and advanced the public interest of transparency into law enforcement operations,” Wolaver’s report concludes. “Still, in many respects, the law lags behind its peers in other states.”

Permitting records custodians to withhold most criminal justice records is one significant way CCJRA differs from some other states’ laws, particularly with respect to incident and offense reports, police blotters and investigative records.