As used in this part 2, unless the context otherwise
requires:
(1) Correspondence means a communication that is sent to or received by
one or more specifically identified individuals and that is or can be produced in
written form, including, without limitation:
(a) Communications sent via U.S. mail;
(b) Communications sent via private courier;
(c) Communications sent via electronic mail.
(1.1) Custodian means and includes the official custodian or any authorized
person having personal custody and control of the public records in question.
(1.2) Electronic mail means an electronic message that is transmitted
between two or more computers or electronic terminals, whether or not the
message is converted to hard copy format after receipt and whether or not the
message is viewed upon transmission or stored for later retrieval. Electronic mail
includes electronic messages that are transmitted through a local, regional, or
global computer network.
(1.3) Executive position means any nonelective employment position with a
state agency, institution, or political subdivision, except employment positions in
the state personnel system or employment positions in a classified system or civil
service system of an institution or political subdivision.
(1.5) Institution includes but is not limited to every state institution of
higher education, whether established by the state constitution or by law, and every
governing board thereof. In particular, the term includes the university of Colorado,
the regents thereof, and any other state institution of higher education or governing
board referred to by the provisions of section 5 of article VIII of the state
constitution.
(1.6) Institutionally related foundation means a nonprofit corporation,
foundation, institute, or similar entity that is organized for the benefit of one or
more institutions and that has as its principal purpose receiving or using private
donations to be held or used for the benefit of an institution. An institutionally
related foundation shall be deemed not to be a governmental body, agency, or
other public body for any purpose.
(1.7) Institutionally related health-care foundation means a nonprofit
corporation, foundation, institute, or similar entity that is organized for the benefit
of one or more institutions and that has as its principal purpose receiving or using
private donations to be held or used for medical or health-care-related programs or
services at an institution. An institutionally related health-care foundation shall be
deemed not to be a governmental body, agency, or other public body for any
purpose.
(1.8) Institutionally related real estate foundation means a nonprofit
corporation, foundation, institute, or similar entity that is organized for the benefit
of one or more institutions and that has as its principal purpose receiving or using
private donations to be held or used for the acquisition, development, financing,
leasing, or disposition of real property for the benefit of an institution. An
institutionally related real estate foundation shall be deemed not to be a
governmental body, agency, or other public body for any purpose.
(1.9) Local government-financed entity shall have the same meaning as
provided in section 29-1-901 (1), C.R.S.
(2) Official custodian means and includes any officer or employee of the
state, of any agency, institution, or political subdivision of the state, of any
institutionally related foundation, of any institutionally related health-care
foundation, of any institutionally related real estate foundation, or of any local
government-financed entity, who is responsible for the maintenance, care, and
keeping of public records, regardless of whether the records are in his or her actual
personal custody and control.
(3) Person means and includes any natural person, including any public
employee and any elected or appointed public official acting in an official or
personal capacity, and any corporation, limited liability company, partnership, firm,
or association.
(4) Person in interest means and includes the person who is the subject of
a record or any representative designated by said person; except that, if the subject
of the record is under legal disability, person in interest means and includes his
parent or duly appointed legal representative.
(4.5) Personnel files means and includes home addresses, telephone
numbers, financial information, a disclosure of an intimate relationship filed in
accordance with the policies of the general assembly, other information maintained
because of the employer-employee relationship, and other documents specifically
exempt from disclosure pursuant to this part 2 or any other provision of law.
Personnel files includes the specific date of an educator's absence from work.
Educator has the same meaning as set forth in section 18-9-313 (1)(b.5).
Personnel files does not include applications of past or current employees,
employment agreements, any amount paid or benefit provided incident to
termination of employment, performance ratings, final sabbatical reports required
pursuant to section 23-5-123, or any compensation, including expense allowances
and benefits, paid to employees by the state, its agencies, institutions, or political
subdivisions.
(5) Political subdivision means and includes every county, city and county,
city, town, school district, special district, public highway authority, regional
transportation authority, and housing authority within this state.
(6) (a) (I) Public records means and includes all writings made, maintained,
or kept by the state, any agency, institution, a nonprofit corporation incorporated
pursuant to section 23-5-121 (2), C.R.S., or political subdivision of the state, or that
are described in section 29-1-902, C.R.S., and held by any local-government-financed entity for use in the exercise of functions required or authorized by law or
administrative rule or involving the receipt or expenditure of public funds.
(II) Public records includes the correspondence of elected officials, except
to the extent that such correspondence is:
(A) Work product;
(B) Without a demonstrable connection to the exercise of functions required
or authorized by law or administrative rule and does not involve the receipt or
expenditure of public funds;
(C) A communication from a constituent to an elected official that clearly
implies by its nature or content that the constituent expects that it is confidential or
that is communicated for the purpose of requesting that the elected official render
assistance or information relating to a personal and private matter that is not
publicly known affecting the constituent or a communication from the elected
official in response to such a communication from a constituent; or
(D) Subject to nondisclosure as required in section 24-72-204 (1).
(III) The acceptance by a public official or employee of compensation for
services rendered, or the use by such official or employee of publicly owned
equipment or supplies, shall not be construed to convert a writing that is not
otherwise a public record into a public record.
(IV) Public records means, except as provided in subparagraphs (VIII) and
(IX) of paragraph (b) of this subsection (6), for an institutionally related foundation,
an institutionally related health-care foundation, or an institutionally related real
estate foundation, all writings relating to the requests for disbursement or
expenditure of funds, the approval or denial of requests for disbursement or
expenditure of funds, or the disbursement or expenditure of funds, by the
institutionally related foundation, the institutionally related health-care foundation,
or the institutionally related real estate foundation, to, on behalf of, or for the
benefit of the institution or any employee of the institution. For purposes of this
subparagraph (IV), expenditure shall be defined in accordance with generally
accepted accounting principles.
(b) Public records does not include:
(I) Criminal justice records that are subject to the provisions of part 3 of this
article;
(II) Work product prepared for elected officials. However, elected officials
may release, or authorize the release of, all or any part of work product prepared
for them.
(III) Data, information, and records relating to collegeinvest programs
pursuant to sections 23-3.1-225 and 23-3.1-307.5, C.R.S., as follows:
(A) Data, information, and records relating to individual purchasers and
qualified beneficiaries of advance payment contracts under the prepaid expense
trust fund and the prepaid expense program, including any records that reveal
personally identifiable information about such individuals;
(B) Data, information, and records, including medical records, relating to
designated beneficiaries of and individual contributors to an individual trust
account or savings account under the savings programs established pursuant to
part 3 of article 3.1 of title 23, C.R.S., including any records that reveal personally
identifiable information about such individuals;
(C) Trade secrets and proprietary information regarding software, including
programs and source codes, utilized or owned by collegeinvest; and
(D) Marketing plans and the results of market surveys conducted by
collegeinvest.
(IV) Materials received, made, or kept by a crime victim compensation board
or a district attorney that are confidential pursuant to the provisions of section 24-4.1-107.5.
(V) Notification of a possible nonaccidental fire loss or fraudulent insurance
act given to an authorized agency pursuant to section 10-4-1003 (1), C.R.S.
(VI) For purposes of an institutionally related foundation, any documents,
agreements, or other records or information other than the writings relating to the
financial expenditure records specified in subparagraph (IV) of paragraph (a) of this
subsection (6).
(VII) For purposes of an institution or an institutionally related foundation:
(A) The identity of, or records or information identifying or leading to the
identification of, any donor or prospective donor to an institution or an
institutionally related foundation;
(B) The amount of any actual or prospective gift or donation from a donor or
prospective donor to an institutionally related foundation;
(C) Proprietary fundraising information of an institution or an institutionally
related foundation; or
(D) Agreements or other documents relating to gifts or donations or
prospective gifts or donations to an institution or an institutionally related
foundation from a donor or prospective donor.
(VIII) For purposes of an institutionally related health-care foundation,
expenditures by an institutionally related health-care foundation to an institution
for medical or health-care-related programs or services;
(IX) For purposes of an institutionally related real estate foundation, prior to
the completion of any transaction for the acquisition, development, financing,
leasing, or disposition of real property, all writings relating to such transaction;
(X) The information security plan of a public agency developed pursuant to
section 24-37.5-404 or of an institution of higher education developed pursuant to
section 24-37.5-404.5;
(XI) Information security incident reports prepared pursuant to section 24-37.5-404 (2)(e) or 24-37.5-404.5 (2)(e);
(XII) Information security audit and assessment reports prepared pursuant to
section 24-37.5-403 (2)(d) or 24-37.5-404.5 (2)(d);
(XIII) The information provided to the state medical marijuana licensing
authority pursuant to section 25-1.5-106 (7)(e), C.R.S.;
(XIV) Pursuant to the Colorado Partnership for Quality Jobs and Services
Act, part 11 of article 50 of this title 24, records created in compliance with the
requirements of a state employee partnership agreement as specified in section
24-50-1111 (3)(d) and documents created in connection with the dispute resolution
process for an employee partnership agreement as specified in section 24-50-1113
(2)(e);
(XV) Repealed.
(XVI) Records related to complaints received by the office of the judicial
discipline ombudsman pursuant to section 13-3-120, including any record that
names or otherwise identifies a specific complainant or other person involved in the
complaint;
(XVII) A complaint of harassment or discrimination, as described in section
22-1-143, that is unsubstantiated and all records related to the unsubstantiated
complaint, including records of an investigation into the complaint; or
(XVIII) Jail assessments conducted pursuant to section 30-10-530 (5)(d) or
24-31-118.
(6.5) (a) Work product means and includes all intra- or inter-agency
advisory or deliberative materials assembled for the benefit of elected officials,
which materials express an opinion or are deliberative in nature and are
communicated for the purpose of assisting such elected officials in reaching a
decision within the scope of their authority. Such materials include, but are not
limited to:
(I) Notes and memoranda that relate to or serve as background information
for such decisions;
(II) Preliminary drafts and discussion copies of documents that express a
decision by an elected official.
(b) Work product also includes:
(I) All documents relating to the drafting of bills or amendments, pursuant to
section 2-3-304 (1) or 2-3-505 (2)(b), C.R.S., but it does not include the final version
of documents prepared or assembled pursuant to section 2-3-505 (2)(c), C.R.S.;
(II) All documents prepared or assembled by a member of the general
assembly relating to the drafting of bills or amendments;
(III) All documents prepared by or submitted to any legislative staff in
connection with assisting a member of the general assembly in responding to the
correspondence from a constituent when such correspondence is not a public
record of an elected official as provided for in subsection (6) of this section;
(IV) All documents and all research projects conducted by staff of legislative
council pursuant to section 2-3-304 (1), C.R.S., if the research is requested by a
member of the general assembly and identified by the member as being in
connection with pending or proposed legislation or amendments thereto. However,
the final product of any such research project shall become a public record unless
the member specifically requests that it remain work product. In addition, if such a
research project is requested by a member of the general assembly and the project
is not identified as being in connection with pending or proposed legislation or
amendments thereto, the final product shall become a public record.
(c) Work product does not include:
(I) Any final version of a document that expresses a final decision by an
elected official;
(II) Any final version of a fiscal or performance audit report or similar
document the purpose of which is to investigate, track, or account for the operation
or management of a public entity or the expenditure of public money, together with
the final version of any supporting material attached to such final report or
document;
(III) Any final accounting or final financial record or report;
(IV) Any materials that would otherwise constitute work product if such
materials are produced and distributed to the members of a public body for their
use or consideration in a public meeting or cited and identified in the text of the
final version of a document that expresses a decision by an elected official.
(d) (I) In addition, work product does not include any final version of a
document prepared or assembled for an elected official that consists solely of
factual information compiled from public sources. The final version of such a
document shall be a public record. These documents include, but are not limited to:
(A) Comparisons of existing laws, ordinances, rules, or regulations with the
provisions of any bill, amendment, or proposed law, ordinance, rule, or regulation;
comparisons of any bills, amendments, or proposed laws, ordinances, rules, or
regulations with other bills, amendments, or proposed laws, ordinances, rules, or
regulations; comparisons of different versions of bills, amendments, or proposed
laws, ordinances, rules, or regulations; and comparisons of the laws, ordinances,
rules, or regulations of the jurisdiction of the elected official with the laws,
ordinances, rules, or regulations of other jurisdictions;
(B) Compilations of existing public information, statistics, or data;
(C) Compilations or explanations of general areas or bodies of law,
ordinances, rules, or regulations, legislative history, or legislative policy.
(II) This paragraph (d) shall not apply to documents prepared or assembled
for members of the general assembly pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subsection
(6.5).
(7) Writings means and includes all books, papers, maps, photographs,
cards, tapes, recordings, or other documentary materials, regardless of physical
form or characteristics. Writings includes digitally stored data, including without
limitation electronic mail messages, but does not include computer software.
(8) For purposes of subsections (6) and (6.5) of this section and sections 24-72-203 (2)(b) and 24-6-402 (2)(d)(III), the members of the independent
congressional redistricting commission and the independent legislative
redistricting commission are considered elected officials.