Several key rulings in 2023 showed why courts matter so much for enforcing and interpreting Colorado’s open government laws.

Unlike some other states, Colorado has no avenue to administratively challenge wrongful denials of access to public records and illegal meetings of public bodies. Filing a lawsuit — with the promise you’ll recover attorney fees if you prevail — is the only way to compel compliance with the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) and the Colorado Open Meetings Law (COML).

In this year’s major cases, judges mostly sided with the public’s right to know.

The most anticipated ruling may have been the June 23 decision by Denver District Court Judge Andrew Luxen against the Denver school board for engaging in “a substantial discussion of matters” not authorized by the executive sessions provision in the open meetings law.

In a lawsuit brought by six news organizations, Luxen ordered Denver Public Schools to publicly release the recording of a nearly five-hour closed-door meeting held the day after a student shot two administrators at East High School in March. The board came out of the executive session with a revised policy on school resource officers — even though the law prohibits secret decision-making by public bodies — and had no discussion in public.