Open records no longer target

Draft legislation that would have made it more difficult to get public records won’t be filed after all, the author said today following a Post article that detailed the proposal.

Records requestors would have had to prove Colorado citizenship, among other requirements, and the legislation would have make Colorado tougher on document seekers than neighboring states.

The bill was aimed at curbing abusive records request that would-be sponsor Rep. Alice Madden says waste staff time and taxpayer dollars.

But there was no way to check those requests without harming the ability of the general public to access government documents, which is more important, she said this afternoon.

The proposal would have also required requests be delivered by hand or certified mail, made it easier for state agencies to take additional time to respond and allowed entire documents to be withheld if they contained one piece of confidential information.

Good government advocates criticized the plan as erecting unnecessary barriers to public access.

Madden said she abandoned the idea a while ago after feedback from First Amendment lawyers and media outlets was unfavorable.

A staffer on Thursday told The Post that Madden intended to file the bill.

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