| Summary |
The bill makes the following changes to the Colorado Open
Records Act (CORA):
•
Excludes from the definition of a public record a written
document or electronic record that is produced by a device
or application that is used to assist an individual with a
disability or individuals with a language barrier to facilitate
communication if the written document or electronic record
has been produced to facilitate communication in lieu of
verbal communication;
•
Changes the reasonable time to respond to a CORA
request, except for requests from a mass medium or a
newsperson, from 3 working days to 5 working days and
changes the extension of time for the response period if
extenuating circumstances exist from not exceeding 7
additional days to not exceeding 10 additional days;
•
Adds an extenuating circumstance that allows for an
extension of the response period when the custodian is not
scheduled to work within the response period;
•
Requires public entities to post any rules or policies
adopted pursuant to CORA, including, if the public entity
has one, the public entity's records retention policy, and to
post information for members of the public regarding how
to make a public records request;
•
If public records are in the sole and exclusive custody and
control of someone who is not scheduled to work within
the response period, requires a custodian to provide all
other available responsive public records within the
response period and notify the requester of the earliest date
on which the person is expected to be available or that the
person is not expected to return to work. The requester may
make a subsequent request for additional responsive
records, if any, on or after the date the custodian provides.
•
Allows a custodian, subject to certain exceptions, to
determine that a request is made for the direct solicitation
of business for pecuniary gain, requires the custodian to
provide written notice of the determination to the requester,
allows the custodian a 30-day response period for such a
request, permits the requester to submit a signed statement
affirming that the request is not for the direct solicitation of
business for pecuniary gain which the custodian must
consider in making their determination, permits the
requester to appeal the determination that the request is
made for the direct solicitation of business for pecuniary
gain to the district court, and allows a custodian to charge
the requester for the reasonable cost of directly responding
to the request notwithstanding the allowance for the first
hour of research and retrieval to otherwise be free of
charge and notwithstanding the statutory cap on fees, which
otherwise would apply;
•
In addition to the prohibition on disclosing public
elementary or secondary school students' addresses and
telephone numbers, prohibits disclosure of any other
information of such a student that could be used by a
person to directly contact, address, or send a message to the
student through any means or method;
•
Clarifies that if a custodian imposes any requirements
concerning the prepayment of fees or the payment of fees
in connection with a request for inspection of public
records, the requirements must be in accordance with the
custodian's adopted rules or written policies and must not
be inconsistent with the provisions of CORA;
•
Allows a requester to ask a custodian for a reasonable
break-down of costs that comprises the fee charged for the
research and retrieval of the requested public records;
•
Modifies the requirement that, if a custodian of records for
a public entity allows members of the public to pay for any
other service or product provided by the custodian with a
credit card or electronic payment, then the custodian must
allow a requester of a public record to pay any fee or
deposit associated with the request with a credit card or
electronic payment, to instead require that the custodian
allow for payment in this manner if the public entity allows
members of the public to pay for any other service or
product provided by the public entity; and
•
Allows a custodian to treat a CORA request made within
14 calendar days of another CORA request for information
pertaining to facially similar content made by the same
person as one request for purposes of calculating the fee
that the custodian may charge the requester for research
and retrieval of responsive public records.
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