Lawyers argued in the Colorado Court of Appeals this week over whether Colorado’s Peace Officer Standards and Training board is a criminal justice agency or an agency subject to the Colorado Open Records Act.

That legal distinction matters in a lawsuit brought by The Gazette, Gazette reporter Chris Osher and the Chicago-based Invisible Institute that seeks public disclosure of the state’s database of certified and decertified law enforcement officers.

A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals will decide whether Denver District Court Judge J. Eric Elliff in 2021 properly ruled that POST is a criminal justice agency subject to the Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act, rather than CORA. Elliff then determined the Colorado Attorney General’s office, where POST is housed, did not abuse its discretion under CCJRA to keep the database confidential.