Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Open Records topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Executive Committee adopts updated open‑records and email policies, requires search fee
Summary
The Executive Committee of the Colorado General Assembly voted unanimously to adopt updated policies on email and public‑records requests and to require an hourly search and retrieval fee set to the inflation‑adjusted statutory maximum of $41.37 per hour.
The Executive Committee of the Colorado General Assembly voted unanimously to adopt updated policies governing email use and open‑records requests and to require an hourly search and retrieval fee of $41.37, the inflation‑adjusted statutory maximum.
The updated policies, presented by Ed DeCicco of the Office of Legislative Legal Services and technical expert Anastasia Del Carpio, incorporate changes tied to the General Assembly's planned Google Workplace rollout and a routine review of document retention policies. "We prepared the policy to include the inflationary 5 year adjustment ... which is now $41.37 per hour," DeCicco said during the committee meeting.
The committee debated whether the custodian should be required to collect the fee or have discretion to waive it. "We have traditionally interpreted that ‘shall’ to mean there are no waivers permitted," DeCicco said; members argued for consistency and administrative simplicity. The committee's presiding officer moved to require the fee; the motion passed unanimously on roll call.
Members also reviewed language in the email section regarding acceptable content and whether a paragraph on professional standards was necessary. Some members supported retaining the language as a harmless clarification of standards; others said it was optional. The committee retained the provision as amended along with the other policy updates and adopted the legislative policies related to open‑records requests and email as amended.
Committee staff said they will circulate the final, incorporated policy to members and staff and update the Colorado General Assembly website and footer to reflect the new version.
The committee did not change the committee's interpretation of waiver authority beyond adopting the wording that requires the fee; committee members discussed, but did not adopt at this meeting, separate standards for when waivers could be allowed.
Votes at a glance: The motion to require the inflation‑adjusted search and retrieval fee and the motion to adopt the legislative policies related to open records requests and email both passed unanimously on roll call.
