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March 18, 2024 HB 24-1296
Legislative Council Staff
Nonpartisan Services for Colorado’s Legislature
Revised Fiscal Note
(replaces fiscal note dated February 27, 2024)
Drafting Number:
Prime Sponsors:
LLS 24-0110
Rep. Kipp; Soper
Sen. Marchman
Date:
Bill Status:
Fiscal Analyst:
March 18, 2024
House Appropriations
Josh Abram | 303-866-3561
josh.abram@coleg.gov
Bill Topic: MODIFICATIONS TO THE COLORADO OPEN RECORDS ACT
Summary of
Fiscal Impact:
☒ State Revenue
☒ State Expenditure
☐ State Transfer
☐ TABOR Refund
☒ Local Government
☐ Statutory Public Entity
The bill modifies the procedures for responding to record requests under the
Colorado Open Records Act (CORA). The bill may increase state revenue and will
increase state and local workload beginning FY 2024-25.
Appropriation
Summary:
No appropriation is required.
Fiscal Note
Status:
The fiscal note reflects the introduced bill, as amended by the House State, Civic,
Military, and Veterans Affairs Committee.
Summary of Legislation
Under current law, when a public entity receives a request under the Colorado Open Records
Act (CORA), the custodian of the records must respond within a reasonable time frame,
presumed to be three days. This period may be extended for extenuating circumstances, but
must not exceed seven days. Except for requests made by the news media, this bill presumes
that a reasonable time frame is five days, and any extension must not exceed ten days. The bill
expands the existing circumstances that allow a public entity to have a longer response period
for CORA requests to account for the work schedule of the custodian and when records are
currently in the custody of another authorized person.
The bill requires that public entities post rules or policies concerning CORA that inform the
public how to request inspection of public records. The notification must be placed on the
entity’s website, or if no website is available, posted at the public entity’s physical location.
A custodian of a public entity may apply to the district court for a determination that an
individual or entity is a “vexatious requester,” which means an individual or entity that requests
records with the intent to annoy or harass the custodian, the public entity, or its employees or
constituents. The custodian may rely on the court's order in responding to subsequent records
requests submitted by a vexatious requester and may take up to 30 working days from the date
of the request to respond. If a custodian determines a CORA request is for the direct solicitation Page 2
March 18, 2024 HB 24-1296
of business for monetary gain, the custodian may take up to 30 days to respond, and is entitled
to recover the full cost associated with responding. A requester may apply to the district court
for a determination that the request is not for direct solicitation or monetary gain
A custodian may deny inspection of records containing information that, if disclosed, would
invade another individual’s personal privacy, reveal contact information of public school
students, or release an employee’s work calendar. The calendar of an elected official or an
employee in a leadership position remains subject to public request.
Finally, the bill allows a custodian to treat a CORA request made within 14 days of another
request by the same person as one request, for the purposes of determining costs and fees for
research and retrieval.
State Revenue
To the extent that CORA requests are determined to be for certain business purposes, agencies
may recover the full cost of responding to the request, which would increase state cash fund
revenue relative to the cost recovery currently allowed under CORA. The potential revenue from
these types of requests has not been estimated.
State Expenditures
The bill may minimally increase workloads for state agencies to adjust internal policies and
practices to allow for the bill’s changes to procedures and deadlines. Extended deadlines to
respond to requests may also shift workload for staff responsible for gather and reviewing
records. Agencies must assemble and post instructions for the public request of records. Some
state agencies using an online CORA portal will have additional costs for information technology
upgrades to incorporate new response deadlines. The fiscal note assumes these costs are
absorbable.
In limited cases, an agency or local government may have increased workload and legal
expenses to file an action with the district court seeking to identify a requester as a vexatious
requester, which will also increase workload and filing fees in the courts. This fiscal note assumes
such actions will be infrequent and no change in appropriations is required.
Local Government
Similar to state agencies, any local public entity subject to CORA will have an increase in
workload to update information and procedures for record requests. Also, classifying a
requester as a vexatious requestor and extending the timeline for certain business requests may
reduce workload in some situations.
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March 18, 2024 HB 24-1296
Effective Date
The bill takes effect 90 days following adjournment of the General Assembly sine die, assuming
no referendum petition is filed, and applies to requests made after this date.
State and Local Government Contacts
All State and Local Agencies
The revenue and expenditure impacts in this fiscal note represent changes from current law under the bill for each
fiscal year. For additional information about fiscal notes, please visit the General Assembly website.