On June 1, Gov. John Hickenlooper signed Senate Bill 17-040, “Public Access to Government Files,” into law. This new law, that takes effect Aug. 9, demonstrates Colorado taking a meaningful step forward on behalf of the people. The legislation updates the Colorado Open Records Act in accordance with 21st century information technology, and makes government more transparent and accountable.
The bill was introduced in January on the second day of the 2017 legislative session and passed the Senate unanimously on the final day in May after a most arduous legislative journey. The success of this legislation is the result of a dedicated team effort. Here is the rest of the story:
We introduced S.B. 17-040 to make it easier for Coloradans to understand the actions and activities of their government by allowing more effective access to public records, which are funded by and belong to all Coloradans. Before the bill passed, amendments limited its provisions, and we passed a bill that was a little more modest but still meaningful.
CORA says that public records, with specific exemptions, that are created or maintained by government custodians, must be disclosed. As technology has modernized, most of these records are maintained digitally in various electronic databases and spreadsheets. When the people get records in searchable and sortable formats, it is easier for them to manipulate and analyze the records to better understand the actions and activities of government. While some custodians release records in these formats, others do not.
Our introduced bill was the result of an eight-month working group convened by the Colorado secretary of state and intended to address how records are provided to the public, not what records are subject to disclosure. However, upon introduction, numerous records custodians attempted to use the bill as a vehicle to withhold various public records from the public.
One contention, even though the plain language of CORA states otherwise, was that “data” is not a record and should not have to be disclosed. Those custodians wanted to use our bill to restrict access to data. While that specific issue was troubling, it signaled a bigger problem.
Government records belong to the people of Colorado and custodians maintain those records for the people. The underlying argument of many custodians was that records belong to them and the public may only access them on terms and conditions set by custodians.
Issues regarding privacy and security were raised, and through extensive discussions and compromise, we addressed those issues to help the bill pass.
Passage of SB17-40 is a meaningful step in the right direction for Colorado, wbut people who care about government transparency and access to government records must be vigilant. You need to let your legislators know that you expect utmost transparency and accountability in response to those who would argue that the legislature should reduce access to public records.
We will work hard with our legislative colleagues to ensure your access to government records. If proposals are made to limit access, it is only because there is a demonstrated threat to privacy and personal security. Coloradans who value government transparency can request that their legislators abide by this important principle.
Sen. John Kefalas, D-Fort Collins, Sen. Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Springs and Rep. Dan Pabon, D-Denver were the sponsors of S.B. 17-40.
