Colorado Open Records Act Amendments Take Effect This Month

David R Fine is a Partner in our Denver office

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper signed Senate Bill 17-040 into law on June 1, 2017, marking the first major update to the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) in more than 20 years. The amendments to CORA are effective on Aug. 9, 2017.

The most significant change brought on by the legislation is that records regularly kept in a sortable or searchable format (e.g., an Excel spreadsheet) must be made available to the public in that format. Before the change, records could be produced in any format determined by the custodian and otherwise-searchable records could be produced in a non-searchable/sortable format.

If it is not "technologically or practically feasible" to provide the documents in a searchable or sortable format, the custodian may provide the records in an alternate format after making "reasonable inquiries" (e.g., with a consultant or IT department) to determine feasibility. The custodian must