Sheriff and lawmakers urge faster social‑platform responses to search warrants after Evergreen shooting

Sheriff Marinelli and local lawmakers urged changes to how quickly social‑media platforms must respond to search warrants, framing the effort as a public‑safety reform in the wake of the Evergreen High School shooting.

Marinelli said search‑warrant responses from platforms took weeks under current practice, hampering investigators: "Now Colorado has 35 day limit... 3 search warrants, 35 days each. That's over 100 days," she said, recounting that investigators obtained identifying information only after the shooting. She described working with Boulder District Attorney Michael Doherty and local legislators to seek state and federal changes.

State Representative Tammy Story (House District 25) urged local residents to support the bills and, if willing, testify at committee hearings. "We could dramatically shorten the turnaround time, the response time on search warrants that are submitted to social media companies," Story said, adding that platforms should also have a duty to report concerning posts to local law enforcement when they are flagged.

Officials emphasized a two‑track strategy: state legislation to shorten statutory response time and parallel federal advocacy to ensure platforms operating nationally meet the same deadlines, because a change in only one state would have limited effectiveness, Marinelli said.

The sheriff and lawmakers tied the proposal to recent incidents beyond Evergreen and to a broader need for laws that keep pace with technology. They asked residents to attend and testify at upcoming committee hearings; Representative Story said she would be available after the town‑hall for contact information and organizing testimony.

No specific bill numbers were provided at the meeting. Officials said they expect hearings in the coming weeks and invited community members with relevant experiences to participate.