Rejecting the argument of a trauma surgeon’s lawyers, a judge ruled last week that a 2018 state law limits the scope of Denver Health and Hospital Authority records subject to disclosure under the Colorado Open Records Act.

“Based on the plain language of the statute, the Court concludes that not all records of DHHA are public records,” wrote Denver District Court Judge Stephanie Scoville in an order. “DHHA records are only subject to CORA if they fall within the enumerated list in § 25-29-109.”

Before the enactment of Senate Bill 18-149, the statute cited by Scoville declared that CORA governs the release of Denver Health records. But the bill deleted that sentence, replacing it with a list of records — including resolutions, minutes, annual reports, financial statements, and employee salaries — that are deemed “public” under CORA.

A lawsuit filed in July by Dr. Clay Burlew, a former Denver Health employee who teaches surgery at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, argued that the amended law, while listing records that are definitively public, “does not otherwise limit DHHA’s obligations under CORA.”