A multi-faceted CORA bill draft circulating at the Colorado Capitol would give news organizations a break on research-and-retrieval fees, let government entities take more time to respond to many records requests and impose stricter rules for the retention of certain email records of state agencies.

The not-yet-introduced legislation, prepared for Democratic Sen. Chris Hansen of Denver, also requires records custodians to accept credit cards or electronic payments for records provided under the Colorado Open Records Act if they already take them for other products or services, and it prohibits the charging of per-page fees for records provided in digital formats such as PDFs.  

Additionally, the proposal would ensure the public disclosure of the final report of any government-authorized investigation into alleged workplace sexual harassment by an elected official.

Drawn up with input from the Colorado Press Association and the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, the measure partially addresses issues raised by CFOIC in reports and articles such as the often-high cost of obtaining public records in Colorado and the state’s weak law on email records retention.