Colorado Open Records Act (CORA): Deadlines, Fees, and Denials

The Colorado Open Records Act opens public records to inspection by any person. C.R.S. section 24-72-203(3) sets the timing: records that are not readily available must be made available within a reasonable time, and a reasonable time is presumed to be three working days, extendable by seven more for defined extenuating circumstances.

Information last verified on 2026-08-04. This article presents general legal information and has not been reviewed by a licensed Colorado attorney. A few details below could not be read against the official statutory text and are labeled as such rather than filled in from memory.

This page covers Colorado state and local records. Federal agencies are governed by the separate federal Freedom of Information Act; see how to file a FOIA request. For a fifty-state view, see the public records laws by state hub.

What CORA covers

The Colorado Open Records Act sits at C.R.S. section 24-72-200.1 and following. Its definition of public records is deliberately broad, reaching writings, books, papers, photographs, tape recordings, and electronic mail made, maintained, or kept by the state, any state agency, institution, or political subdivision, and any elected or appointed public official, where the record is used in the exercise of functions required or authorized by law or involves the receipt or expenditure of public funds.

The Colorado General Assembly's Office of Legislative Legal Services summarizes the reach plainly: the definition "applies to virtually all levels and types of governments in Colorado, except for the federal government and tribal governments," and includes records kept on a personally owned, private device where they meet the definition.

That last point matters. A county commissioner's text message about county business is not automatically outside CORA because it sits on a personal phone.

Who can request Colorado public records

Any person. Section 24-72-203(1)(a) provides:

"All public records shall be open for inspection by any person at reasonable times, except as provided in this part 2 or as otherwise provided by law, but the official custodian of any public records may make such rules with reference to the inspection of such records as are reasonably necessary for the protection of such records and the prevention of unnecessary interference with the regular discharge of the duties of the custodian or the custodian's office."

"Person" is not limited to individuals. It includes corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, and associations. There is no residency requirement, so an out-of-state requester has the same right as a Coloradan, and there is no requirement to state a purpose.

The custodian's rulemaking authority in that same sentence is real but bounded. It authorizes rules protecting records and preventing unnecessary interference with the office's work. It does not authorize rules that defeat access.

The three-working-day rule

Colorado's timing rule is short, and reading it precisely avoids a common misunderstanding.

Section 24-72-203(3) provides that inspection of records not readily available at the time of the request "shall be within a reasonable time after the request," and then supplies the benchmark:

"As used in this subsection (3), a 'reasonable time' shall be presumed to be three working days. A finding that extenuating circumstances exist shall be made in writing by the custodian and shall be provided to the person making the request."

Three points follow:

• Three working days is a presumption, not an absolute cap. It is rebuttable, but the burden of rebutting it sits with the custodian, and the rebuttal has to be written down and handed to you.
• The extension is seven days, and the grounds are defined. Section 24-72-203(3)(b) lists the extenuating circumstances: a broadly stated request encompassing all or substantially all of a large category of records without enough specificity for the custodian to gather them in three days; a broadly stated request of that kind where the agency cannot comply because it must devote its resources to an impending deadline or an unusual period of peak demand, or, for the General Assembly and its staff, because the General Assembly is in session; or a request involving such a large volume of records that the custodian cannot reasonably provide them in three days without substantially interfering with other public service responsibilities.
• Ordinary busyness is not on that list. A custodian who invokes extenuating circumstances should be able to point to one of the enumerated grounds, in writing.

If a record is readily available, the statute contemplates prompt inspection rather than a three-day wait. The three-day presumption exists for records that need to be located or retrieved.

Fees under CORA

Colorado's fee structure is unusually well defined, and knowing the numbers is the difference between a reasonable invoice and an unreasonable one.

Copies. A custodian may charge no more than 25 cents per standard page for a printed copy, or no more than the actual cost of providing a copy, printout, or photograph in a format other than a standard page. Where a specific statutory fee exists for a certified copy or another type of copy, that specific fee applies.

Electronic records are different. A custodian may not charge a per-page fee for providing records in a digital or electronic format, and no transmission fee may be charged for sending records by email. Asking for electronic delivery is therefore the single most effective way to cut a Colorado records bill.

Research and retrieval. A custodian may charge an hourly fee for research and retrieval time only after the first hour, and only if the custodian has posted on its website or otherwise published a written policy specifying the conditions and the amount of any fees. No published policy means no research and retrieval charge.

The hourly cap. C.R.S. section 24-72-205(6)(b) sets a statewide maximum. As of August 2026 that maximum is $41.37 per hour, effective July 1, 2024. The Director of Research of the Legislative Council Staff adjusts it for inflation every five years; the current figure was calculated by inflating the prior $33.58 rate by the change in the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood consumer price index between the first half of 2019 and the first half of 2024.

Deposits. Before completing a request that will take more than one hour of research and retrieval time, the custodian may require a deposit equal to the estimated staff time. If the actual time is more or less than estimated, the custodian may require an additional payment or issue a partial refund.

Payment method. If the custodian lets the public pay for any other service or product by credit card or electronic payment, it must allow a records requester to pay a CORA fee or deposit the same way, though it may pass along the processor's service charge.

Colorado has no general public-interest fee waiver. Readers coming from the federal FOIA often expect one, and it does not exist here. The levers that do exist are asking for electronic delivery, narrowing the request so it stays inside the free first hour, and checking whether the custodian actually has a published research and retrieval policy.

Exemptions, and the three kinds

CORA sorts its exemptions into categories that behave differently, and knowing which one an agency is invoking tells you how much room there is to argue.

Exclusions from the definition. Some things are simply not public records under section 24-72-202(6)(b), including criminal justice records covered by section 24-72-301 et seq., work product prepared for elected officials except where released, records relating to CollegeInvest programs, certain crime victim compensation materials, certain institutional foundation records, and an agency's information security plan, incident reports, and security audit and assessment reports. Correspondence of elected officials is also excluded to the extent it is work product, has no demonstrable connection to official functions and no public funds involved, or is a constituent communication that clearly implies an expectation of confidentiality.

Discretionary denials. Under section 24-72-204(2)(a) a custodian may deny inspection on the ground that disclosure would be contrary to the public interest. That list covers law enforcement investigations, intelligence information and security procedures, licensing and employment examination materials, details of bona fide research projects, real estate appraisals before title passes, the Department of Transportation's bid analysis and management system, Department of Revenue records identifying persons, email addresses, telephone numbers, and home addresses provided for future communications, certain security arrangement records, and records of civil or administrative investigations.

Mandatory denials. Section 24-72-204(3)(a) requires the custodian to withhold certain records from anyone other than the person in interest, including personnel files other than applications and performance ratings, letters of reference, trade secrets and privileged or confidential commercial or financial data including attorney-client and work product material, sexual harassment complaint and investigation records with exceptions, records covered by the deliberative process privilege where disclosure would stifle frank internal discussion unless the privilege is waived, and the addresses and telephone numbers of public elementary and secondary school students.

When a Colorado custodian denies a request, ask which of these three buckets applies. A discretionary denial invites an argument about the public interest. A mandatory denial does not, but it may still permit a redacted release or access by the person in interest.

Police reports and body camera footage in Colorado

This is where Colorado's structure surprises people. Criminal justice records are excluded from the definition of public records under section 24-72-202(6)(b). They are governed instead by the Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act at C.R.S. section 24-72-301 et seq., a separate statute with its own definitions, its own custodians, and its own standards for release.

The practical consequences:

• Send a police report or body camera request under the Criminal Justice Records Act, not CORA. Requests routed to the wrong statute get bounced or delayed, and a denial letter citing CORA exemptions on a police record is answering the wrong question.
• The decision-maker is different. Under the criminal justice records framework, release of records of official action and other criminal justice records turns on standards set in that act rather than on CORA's public interest test.
• Fees and timing may differ from the CORA figures above, so ask the law enforcement agency for its own schedule.

The specific provisions governing body camera footage in Colorado could not be read against the official statutory text for this page, because the state's designated Colorado Revised Statutes database is CAPTCHA-gated on full document views. Rather than asserting a deadline or a release standard from memory, this page says plainly: ask the law enforcement agency which statute and subsection it is applying, ask about its retention schedule before footage is overwritten, and confirm the current rule with the agency or the Colorado Attorney General's office.

For the general framework on emergency call recordings, see our explainer on whether 911 calls are public records.

How to file a Colorado Open Records Act request

There is no statewide portal. Requests go to the custodian, and most state agencies, counties, and municipalities publish a CORA page with a form or an email address.

1. Find the custodian's written policy first. It tells you where to send the request, what the copy charges are, and whether a research and retrieval fee applies. If there is no published research and retrieval policy, that fee cannot be charged.
2. Address it to the official custodian. For the General Assembly, note that each legislator is the custodian of their own records, and each legislative staff member is the custodian of their own, except for the nonpartisan staff of the Joint Budget Committee, Legislative Council, Office of Legislative Legal Services, Office of the State Auditor, and the House and Senate.
3. Cite CORA by name and section, the Colorado Open Records Act, C.R.S. section 24-72-200.1 et seq., and cite section 24-72-203(3) when you reference the three-working-day presumption.
4. Ask for records in electronic format. No per-page fee applies to digital delivery and no transmission fee may be charged for email.
5. Scope the request to stay inside the free first hour where you can, by naming custodians and narrow date ranges.
6. Ask for a written fee estimate and a deposit figure before any work above one hour begins.
7. If a delay is claimed, ask for the written extenuating circumstances finding. The statute requires it in writing and requires it to be given to you.

Our public records request generator will assemble a CORA letter with the correct citations and an electronic-format request. It runs in your browser and saves nothing.

When Colorado denies a request

Colorado has no records ombudsman and no binding administrative appeal body. There is no Colorado equivalent of Connecticut's Freedom of Information Commission.

What is verified about the consequences of an improper denial: if a court determines that a custodian has improperly denied the right of inspection under CORA, the court must award court costs and reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party. That fee-shifting rule is the practical lever, and it is why a well-supported written challenge often produces records without a filing. Note that the former misdemeanor penalty in section 24-72-206 was repealed in 2017, so criminal exposure is not part of the picture.

What could not be verified for this page: the exact mechanics of the judicial application process under section 24-72-204(5)(a), including any required advance notice to the custodian, the form of the application, and the timing. The official Colorado Revised Statutes database blocked full document access. Do not rely on a general description of that procedure. Confirm it with the custodian, the Colorado Attorney General's office, or a Colorado attorney before you act on it.

Steps that resolve many denials first:

• Ask the custodian to state in writing which statutory subsection it relies on and whether the denial is discretionary or mandatory.
• Ask whether a redacted version can be produced.
• Ask whether you are the "person in interest" for a record subject to a mandatory denial.
• Narrow the request and resubmit.

Vital records follow a different path

Colorado birth, death, and marriage certificates are not CORA requests. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's Vital Records office applies its own eligibility rules, which restrict certified copies to people with a direct and tangible interest.

If a death certificate or autopsy report is what you need, start with our guide to Colorado death records.

A note on scope

This page describes the Colorado Open Records Act as of August 2026. It is general legal information, not legal advice. Colorado's official statutory database restricts full-text access, so items that could not be read against primary text are labeled above rather than asserted. Confirm those with the custodian agency, the Colorado Attorney General's office, or an attorney licensed in Colorado.