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Court of Appeals Orders Hearing in Case of ‘Penniless’ Activist Who Refused To Pay State Agency $600 for Ketamine Records

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  • Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition

    The Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition is a nonpartisan alliance of groups, news organizations and individuals dedicated to ensuring the transparency of state and local governments in Colorado by promoting freedom of the press, open courts and open access to government records and meetings.

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Colorado’s second-highest court Thursday ordered a judge to hold a hearing in the case of a “homeless and penniless” activist who sued a state agency that wanted to charge him $600 for copies of ketamine waivers.

Denver District Court Judge Kandace Gerdes last year dismissed Frank Sturgell’s Colorado Open Records Act lawsuit against the Department of Public Health and Environment without convening a hearing, ruling he did not have legal standing to bring his claims because he hadn’t “alleged personal injury.”

But the Court of Appeals disagreed, writing in an opinion that the district court “did not explain the rationale for its conclusion.”