Read the latest from the Newsletter of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to helping Coloradans understand and use their rights of access to the records and proceedings of government and the judiciary. Continue… […]
Tag: Colorado Open Records Act (CORA)
From CFOIC: Colorado legislature approves open-records modernization, sends bill to governor’s desk
An 18-month push to update Colorado’s open-records law for the digital age culminated Wednesday in the final passage of a bill that clarifies the public’s right to copies of electronic government records in useful file formats that permit analysis of information in those records.
Senate Bill 17-040 heads to Gov. John Hickenlooper’s desk after passing the House on a 39-26 vote and then repassing the Senate unanimously, all on the last day of the 2017 legislative session.
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CFOIC: ‘Modest approach’ to CORA modernization wins House approval
Legislation to modernize Colorado’s open-records law underwent a significant makeover Tuesday night with a little more than a day left in the 2017 session.
The Colorado House gave preliminary approval to a completely reworked, shorter version of Senate Bill 17-040 designed to satisfy both records requesters and the government entities that have opposed the measure.
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Read More… from CFOIC: ‘Modest approach’ to CORA modernization wins House approval
Colorado Governor signs bill requiring ‘cooling-off period’ for CORA disputes
Gov. John Hickenlooper signed legislation Thursday that requires a “cooling-off period” when open-records disputes reach the point where litigation is being considered.
With House Bill 17-1177, someone who is denied records under the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) must wait 14 days to challenge the denial in court. During that time, the records custodian for a government entity must speak with the requester in person or by phone in an attempt to resolve the matter.
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Read More… from Colorado Governor signs bill requiring ‘cooling-off period’ for CORA disputes
How One Colorado Reporter’s Struggle Led To New Open Records Legislation
Earlier this month, Fort Collins Coloradoan reporter Nick Coltrain won the First Amendment Award at the Society for Professional Journalists’ Top of the Rockies for a battle with Colorado State University. He wanted to know if there were inequities in pay between men and women — and discovered there were, but only after a lot of work. The school provided him with a printout of all the information — 150 pages of an Excel spreadsheet — rather than the files themselves.
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Read More… from How One Colorado Reporter’s Struggle Led To New Open Records Legislation
From CFOIC: House committee removes some Senate amendments from CORA modernization bill
A bill to modernize Colorado’s public records law survived a state House panel Monday night in a form closer to the way it was introduced earlier in the legislative session.
After a hearing that lasted more than five hours, the House Finance Committee removed a Senate amendment to Senate Bill 17-040 that was intended to make Colorado’s judicial branch subject to the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA).
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Wage theft to be included in Colorado Open Records Act
Gov. John Hickenlooper has signed into law a bill that allows the public to know if an employer steals wages from his or her workers.
Democratic Rep. Jessie Danielson's measure includes these wage violations under Colorado's Open Records Act.
The law, signed Thursday, allows citizens to find out if they're doing business with, or considering a job with, an offender.
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Read More… from Wage theft to be included in Colorado Open Records Act
‘Philosophical disagreement’ on open records pits CU against CORA supporters
Proponents of a bill intended to make Colorado public records easier to analyze fear the University of Colorado is manipulating the bill to make records more difficult to obtain.
Senate Bill 40 concerns public access to government files, or the Colorado Open Records Act. The bill's original intent is to ensure digital records requested are provided in a searchable format.
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Read More… from ‘Philosophical disagreement’ on open records pits CU against CORA supporters
CoFOIC: ‘Cooling-down’ period for open-records disputes advances in Colorado legislature
A required “cooling-down period” aimed at resolving open-records disputes without litigation continued its easy journey in the Colorado legislature on Wednesday.
HB 17-1177, approved by the House 65-0 last month after being completely rewritten in committee, passed unanimously in the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee.
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CFOIC: Colorado Senate passes digital open-records bill, adds exemption for ‘critical infrastructure’
The Colorado Senate endorsed a heavily amended version of the open-records modernization bill Tuesday evening, adding a broad exemption to bar the disclosure of records that “could endanger public safety or the operation of critical infrastructure.”
The new provision in SB 17-040, requested by Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg, would exclude such data from the definition of public records in the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA).
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