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April 30, 2024 HB 24-1296
Legislative Council Staff
Nonpartisan Services for Colorado’s Legislature
Revised Fiscal Note
(replaces fiscal note dated March 18, 2024)
Drafting Number:
Prime Sponsors:
LLS 24-0110
Rep. Kipp; Soper
Sen. Marchman
Date:
Bill Status:
Fiscal Analyst:
April 30, 2024
Senate State Affairs
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. 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 revised fiscal note reflects the reengrossed bill.
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. If the custodian is unable to determine or
access public records that are in the sole custody of another employee who is on leave or
otherwise not available within the reasonable time frame, the custodian must provide available
responsive public records and notify the requestor regarding the date of the employee’s return
or other circumstances.
The bill requires that public entities post their rules or policies concerning CORA on their
website as well as post information on how to request inspection of public records. If no website
is available, this information must be posted at the public entity’s physical location.
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April 30, 2024 HB 24-1296
If a custodian determines a CORA request is for the direct solicitation 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 submit a signed statement affirming that the
requested records will not be used for monetary gain to be considered by the custodian, and
may appeal a custodian’s decision to the district court. The bill specifies that a request for
records related to collective bargaining or similar activity is not a request for the direct
solicitation of business for monetary gain.
A custodian may deny inspection of records containing information that, if disclosed, would
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.
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. Finally, the bill requires that members of the General Assembly retain certain public
records for a minimum of 60 days.
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.
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, extending the
timeline for certain business requests may reduce workload in some situations.
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April 30, 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 records 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.