DENVER — A bill intended to give a boost to government transparency is expected to be introduced in the Senate later this month, with the most significant part being a repeal of Senate Bill 157, passed in last year’s legislative session, which exempted legislators from parts of Colorado’s open meetings law.
Sponsored by Sen. Byron Pelton (R-Sterling) and Rep. Lori Garcia-Sander (R-Eaton), the bill also changes the deadlines for custodians to respond to Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) requests, the amount that can be charged to the requestor, the number of “free” hours that are granted, and caps the amount a custodian can charge for attorney review of the information at $50 per hour.
The draft bill, which does not have an assigned number yet, is in response to an ongoing stakeholder’s meeting involving several dozen entities that wish to change the way public records are treated in Colorado. Those stakeholders include everyone from traditional news media outlets, to the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, to both print and broadcast news associations, the League of Women Voters, Independence Institute and the Rocky Mountain Voice, along with several citizen journalists who publish consistently and frequently on their own social media pages and websites.
The ‘people’s records’
The bill as written does not include any special considerations or waivers for “credentialed” media, nor does it attempt to define “news media,” something that has been a bone of contention in prior attempts at CORA and open meetings reforms, and something both Pelton and Garcia-Sander have said they will not support. Pelton refers to public records as the “people’s records,” not the news media’s records.
“Transparency is key,” Pelton said. “If the government isn’t transparent, the people lose faith that the government isn’t corrupt. It’s government’s responsibility to stay open and transparent so the people can participate in the people’s business.”
The biggest change would be in the repeal of Senate Bill 157, passed by majority Democrats and signed into law by Gov. Polis in 2024. That law, among other things, exempts state legislators from the part of open meetings law that says no more than two elected officials can be in the same location at the same time unless by chance or at a function where public business is not being discussed.
The bill also makes changes to Colorado’s Criminal Justice Records Act (CCJRA) by adding definitions and also changing timelines for response and fees.
Some of the highlighted changes include:
- Requires the requestor to submit an affidavit of service with all requests in order to make official the date the request was submitted.
- Clarifies that the custodian cannot increase costs charged or expand date and time for inspection.
- Does not include the day that the service is fulfilled in the time computation.
- Requires that the computation of time begins on the third day after a request is postmarked if mailed.
- Changes reasonable time from three to five working days.
- Requires a custodian to provide evidence of proof that a document requested would violate copyright or licensing agreement.
- Caps hourly fees for public records at $25 per hour.
- Adds to the definition of “official record” any incident report or other record of an interaction between any on-duty peace officer and any member of the public.
- Changes the response time for CCJRA records to three days after the request is received with up to 10 days for extenuating circumstances.
- Records from a completed internal investigation be available within 21 days of the request being submitted, whether or not the investigation involved a member of the public.
- Applies all the same parameters as those under CORA for search and retrieval and attorney fees to CCJRA.
The bill is not expected to get past majority Democrats who have consistently passed laws to make their work less transparent, including the carve-out for themselves from open meetings. However, the stakeholder’s group is preparing to take their request to voters as one or more ballot initiatives in the November 2026 election if this bill fails.
Complete Colorado, which is a part of the transparency stakeholder’s group, will follow this bill through the process.
