Purpose:
The Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder’s Office seeks to ensure transparency, provide respectful and equitable constituent services, and remain in compliance with state laws. This policy is designed to provide clear and consistent guidelines with how Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) requests are managed in the Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder’s Office so that constituents can easily understand what records are available to them and how to request them.
Background:
CORA (C.R.S. § 24-72-201 to 206) is a series of laws designed to provide public access to government records at all levels in Colorado. The law was first enacted in 1969 and provides members of the public with the ability to gain access to public records with exceptions.
Public records include all writings (including stored data and recordings) that are made, maintained, kept or held by entities that are subject to the CORA for use in the exercise of functions required or authorized by law or administrative rule or involving the receipt or expenditure of public funds.
Most public records are available through CORA, though exceptions exist. Any person can request records and are not required to state a reason or purpose.
Request Process:
All records requests must be submitted in writing. For the most direct processing, please submit CORA requests using the Clerk and Recorder Request for Public Records form (link). The Clerk’s Office will also review and respond to CORA requests sent by email, however additional delay may occur before processing and response if requests are sent to individual email addresses within the Clerk’s office. The Clerk’s office will respond by email to acknowledge receipt of request and seek clarification if necessary. Requestors may seek documents in electronic or paper format and will be subject to the fees detailed in CORA (partially summarized below) according to the delivery method chosen by the requestor. All CORA requests should include the requestor’s name, email address and phone number and a specific description of the record(s) being sought, including a date range and the names of individuals for requested correspondence, where applicable.
Response Time:
The Clerk’s office will generally respond to each CORA request within three business days. Jefferson County’s business hours are Monday through Thursday; 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Requests sent outside of business hours will be received as of the next business day.
Under CORA, other response times may apply, such as a seven business day extension for broad requests for large categories of records and/or impending office deadlines, as described in C.R.S. § 24-72-203(3)(b). In addition, CORA prohibits responding to record requests for ballots and related materials (including digital images, electronic representations of votes cast, and internal batch audit reports) during the period starting 45 days before election day and concluding with the certification deadline or recount for that election. For more details regarding these types of requests, review C.R.S. § 24-72-205.5(3).
Please note that broad, general requests are likely to take longer to compile and be more costly to the requestor than requests that a contain specific or narrow time periods, search terms, or email inboxes to be searched, based the staff time required to fulfill these requests. Requestors are encouraged to narrow their request in order to make their request as affordable and efficient as possible. The Clerk’s office may contact the requestor in order to clarify the request; however, the office does not suggest search terms or parameters and does not create new records in response to requests. If the requestor decided to narrow their request, the office will ask the requestor to confirm their narrowed request in writing and the statutory timeframe to produce records will begin anew. If the Clerk’s office is not the custodian of the requested records, the requestor will be informed and told where to obtain those records (if known).
Fees:
There are several categories of fees that may apply to a CORA request depending upon the type of records, breadth of request, and format requested. The Clerk’s office will provide a cost estimate in response to a CORA request and is happy to work with a requestor to narrow a request to focus on documents of most interest and minimize time and cost to all parties. Requestors will be required to pay a deposit equal to 50% of the cost estimate prior to retrieval and processing of the requested records, with the remaining amount due when the records are provided.