Once labeled vexatious, the citizen could — at their own expense — appeal the decision in court, where a judge could remove the label and restore access to public records.
Since 1968, the Colorado Open Records Act, commonly referred to as CORA, allows members of the public to request almost any government record. There are exemptions to protect private information from release, like someone’s address or trade secrets, for instance. And governments can charge an hourly fee before producing the records.
“I’ve been hearing a lot of stories from our local governments particularly as things have become increasingly politically heated over the last several years, that there’s been a lot what I would call abuse of the Colorado Open Records Act,” said Kipp, a Democrat from Fort Collins and former Poudre School Board member. “There have been cases where people have filed…
