Colorado Open Records Act: Requests, Response Times, and Denials

The Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) gives you the right to inspect records held by state and local government agencies, with narrow exceptions for sensitive material. The default is disclosure: unless a specific exemption applies, the records are yours to see.¹ Agencies must respond within three working days, you do not have to explain why you want the records, and you cannot be required to show identification.

What Records You Can Get

CORA covers any writing a state agency, local government, or political subdivision creates or keeps in connection with its official functions. Counties, cities, towns, school districts, and special districts all fall under it.²

“Writings” is defined broadly. Books, papers, maps, photographs, recordings, digitally stored data, and email messages are all included. The format does not matter; what matters is whether the content relates to government functions or the use of public funds. Computer software itself is not a public record.²

Correspondence from elected officials is covered too, with limited carve-outs for work product, communications unrelated to official duties, and clearly personal or confidential messages from constituents.⁴ You can find out what a government employee earns and what their contract says.

What Agencies Can Withhold

CORA splits exemptions into two groups, and the difference affects how hard you can push.

Mandatory Exemptions

A custodian must deny access to certain sensitive records unless you are the person the record is about. These include medical, mental health, and sociological data on individuals; personnel files (within the limits above); letters of reference; trade secrets and confidential commercial information submitted to the government; library and museum patron records; home addresses of public school students; and sexual harassment complaints still under investigation.⁵ Student records carry additional protection under state and federal law.

Discretionary Exemptions

For a second group, the custodian decides whether disclosure would be contrary to the public interest. This includes investigative files, test questions and answers for professional or academic exams, details of ongoing state research, real estate appraisals, specialized security information, and deliberative drafts and preliminary notes that have not reached a final decision.⁵ Because the call is discretionary, you have room to argue, and different custodians handling similar records sometimes reach different conclusions.

How to File a Request

Start by identifying the custodian, the official with personal custody and control of the records you want.⁶ That might be a department head, a records manager, or a designated CORA coordinator. Most agencies post CORA contact information and request forms on their websites.

The statute prohibits custodians from requiring any form of identification to request or inspect records.⁷ Still, giving your name and contact information helps in practice, because the agency may need to reach you with clarifying questions or a fee estimate. The Colorado Secretary of State’s office recommends including your name, mailing address, phone or email, and a detailed description of the records you want.⁸

Specificity speeds everything up. Include date ranges, names, and keywords that help the custodian find the right files. Vague requests covering broad categories give the agency grounds to extend its deadline or ask for clarification. If you want electronic delivery, say so. Agencies can email records to you and cannot charge a transmission fee for doing so.⁹

When the Agency Must Respond

Three working days is the presumed reasonable period for records to be made available.⁷ Working days means weekends and holidays do not count.

The custodian can extend that period by up to seven additional working days, but only under specific extenuating circumstances, and the extension must be in writing and delivered within the original three-day window. The statute recognizes three situations:⁷

The request covers all or most of a large category of records and is not specific enough for the custodian to gather in three days.
A broad request coincides with an impending deadline, a period of peak demand, or, for legislative staff, a legislative session.
The request covers so many records that fulfilling it in three days would substantially interfere with the custodian’s other duties.

If the custodian stays silent past three working days without issuing a written extension, that silence itself is grounds for court action.

What You’ll Pay

Inspecting records in person is free. Fees apply only when you want copies or when locating the records takes significant staff time.

For paper copies, the maximum charge is $0.25 per standard page. For records delivered in digital or electronic format, custodians cannot charge a per-page fee at all.¹⁰ Email transmission comes with no transmission fee.⁹ Asking for electronic delivery is the easiest way to keep costs down.

Staff time to locate and gather records is free for the first hour. After that, agencies can charge up to a statutory maximum that is adjusted for inflation every five years. As of July 1, 2024, the maximum hourly rate is $41.37.¹¹ Individual agencies often charge less.¹² You can ask for a cost estimate before any work begins.

If Your Request Is Denied

You have the right to a written statement explaining the denial. That statement must cite the specific law or regulation the custodian is relying on.⁵ Always ask for the denial in writing. A vague verbal refusal is not what the statute contemplates, and the written explanation is your roadmap for deciding whether to challenge it.

If you disagree, you can apply to the district court where the records are located for an order requiring the custodian to show cause for withholding them. CORA requires you to give the custodian at least 14 days’ written notice before filing. During those 14 days, the custodian must communicate with you in person or by phone to try to resolve the dispute without litigation.⁵ This cooling-off period resolves more disputes than you might expect.

If the matter does go to court, the custodian carries the burden of justifying the denial. If you need the records urgently, you can shorten the 14-day notice to three business days by explaining in your written notice why expedited access is necessary; in that case the custodian is not required to hold a pre-filing meeting.⁵ Colorado courts have consistently held that CORA’s exemptions should be read narrowly, with any doubt resolved in favor of disclosure.

Criminal Justice Records Follow a Different Law

If you want records from a police department, sheriff’s office, district attorney, or any agency whose primary function involves investigating or prosecuting crime, CORA is not the right statute. The Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act (CCJRA), at C.R.S. §§ 24-72-301 through 24-72-309, governs those requests instead.¹³

Records of “official action” (arrests, indictments, charging decisions, dispositions, parole or probation decisions, and formal disciplinary actions) are generally open.¹⁴ Investigative files, intelligence information, security procedures, and arrest affidavits fall into a discretionary category, where the custodian can deny access if disclosure would be “contrary to the public interest.”¹⁵ That standard is vaguer than CORA’s specific exemption list, which gives law enforcement more room to withhold.

If a criminal justice agency denies your request, you can demand a written explanation within 72 hours citing the legal basis or describing the public interest being protected. You can then challenge the denial in district court. If the court finds the denial arbitrary or capricious, it can order the agency to pay your court costs and attorney’s fees, and for official action records, the court can impose a penalty of up to $25 per day that access was improperly denied.¹⁵

1
Justia Law. Colorado Code 24-72-201 – Legislative Declaration
2
FindLaw. Colorado Code 24-72-202 – Definitions
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FindLaw. Colorado Code 24-72-202 – Definitions
One point worth knowing before you ask: personnel files are protected, but less than most people assume. Home addresses, phone numbers, financial information, and documents that exist only because of the employer-employee relationship are shielded. The statute specifically excludes from that protection the compensation paid to public employees (including expense allowances and benefits), employment agreements, performance ratings, and any payments made when employment ends.3FindLaw. Colorado Code 24-72-202 – Definitions
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Justia Law. Colorado Code 24-72-204 – Allowance or Denial of Inspection
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El Paso County. Colorado Code 24-72-201 to 24-72-309 – Colorado Open Records Act
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Justia Law. Colorado Code 24-72-203 – Public Records Open to Inspection
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Colorado Secretary of State. Colorado Open Records Act
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Justia Law. Colorado Code 24-72-205 – Copy, Printout, or Photograph of a Public Record
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Colorado General Assembly. Colorado Open Records Act
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Colorado General Assembly. Colorado Open Records Act Maximum Hourly Research and Retrieval Fee
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Office of Information Technology. CORA – Colorado Open Records Requests
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FindLaw. Colorado Code 24-72-302 – Definitions
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Justia Law. Colorado Code 24-72-301 – Legislative Declaration
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Justia Law. Colorado Code 24-72-305 – Grounds for Permitting or Denying Inspection