Public Records Request Policy, Process and Procedures

It shall be the policy of the City and County of Broomfield to make public records available for public inspection at reasonable times and in accordance with the provisions of the Colorado Open Records Act, as reflected in § 24-72-201, C.R.S., et seq. (“the Act” or “CORA”).  

Policy Scope

This policy is intended to apply to records kept by the City and County of Broomfield which are available for inspection under the Act.  Access to certain records or information may be denied as allowed under the Act. This policy excludes records covered under the Criminal Justice Records Act.  

Procedures

Requests for records should be made in writing via the Open Records Request Form on the Public Records Request web page. Once on the web page, we suggest you look through the buttons for frequently requested information that is already available on our website without having to file a CORA request. If you still need to file a CORA request, scroll down on the page to find the Open Records Request Form most applicable to the record you’re requesting.

The City and County Clerk is the official custodian of all records, which are centrally maintained by the City and County. City and County of Broomfield CORA requests are managed through JustFOIA. It is the responsibility of each department head to become familiar with, and to educate affected employees about the standards and requirements of this policy.

When a request for records is received, it shall be the responsibility of the custodian of records, in consultation with the City and County Attorney’s Office, to determine whether or not the records are subject to inspection and should be released.  Records may be withheld as allowed under the Act, including documents subject to the attorney-client privilege, the deliberative process privilege, and work product exemptions.

The City and County Clerk will review the request and immediately notify any department which may have records responsive to the request.   

The City and County Clerk, in coordination with the departments, will estimate the time needed to fulfill the request and notify the requester of the time needed and applicable deposit required. If the request will require more than one (1) hour to fulfill, the Clerk's Office will notify the requester, via the JustFOIA portal, of the estimated charges.  A 50% deposit must be paid prior to work commencing on the request. Upon written confirmation by the requester and receipt of the deposit, the City and County Clerk will begin processing the request.  Requests not confirmed within 14 days will be considered abandoned.  

Upon completion of the request, the requester will be notified, via the JustFOIA portal,  of the total time and materials required to complete the request and a final invoice will be issued.  Once the City and County of Broomfield has received the final payment in full, the requester will receive a communication that the records request has been fulfilled with additional information on accessing the requested records. 

Although the City and County of Broomfield estimates time and materials to the best of our ability, your final cost will be calculated based on the actual time and materials required to complete the request and may exceed the remaining 50% balance.

City and County staff will research and make every effort to collect responsive documents for the request, but and does not guarantee that responsive documents will be located.  Fees are associated with staff time required to research and materials, if any, required to complete your request. Refunds will not be provided.

The three day response period may be extended as permitted by law, in the event of extenuating circumstances, or as agreed to by the requestor.  Production of records within these time limits shall be excused if such production is a physical impossibility or when such production would significantly and adversely impact critically important or previously scheduled City and County work.

The City and County and its departments are not required to create documents or manipulate data in response to an open records request. Public records subject to the Act are records in the possession of the City and County at the time the request is made.  

Fees Associated with Public Record Requests

The Clerk and Recorder’s Office may charge fees for research, review, and copying documents, as allowed under C.R.S. § 24-72-205.  

The City and County may charge reasonable fees for research, search, retrieval, and necessary redaction in connection with producing public records. Such fees shall not be charged for the first hour of time expended, but may be charged at the rate of $41.37 per hour for each additional hour.  A charge of $41.37 per hour may also apply where manipulation of data is required in order to generate records in a form not ordinarily used by the City and County (including redaction of documents to excise privileged material) or when production requires use of technology other than word processing.  

If the request can be fulfilled in less than an hour, no research and retrieval charges shall apply.  When staff time in excess of one hour is required to respond to a records request, a time-log should be maintained describing the time spent in responding to the request.

If the City and County Clerk estimates that the request will take more than one hour to fulfill, a deposit of the estimated cost of work must be collected before work begins. If actual charges are less than the total cost reflected in the deposit invoice,  the balance due will be adjusted accordingly on the final invoice. 

The fee for a standard size paper copy shall be $0.25 per page.  

The City and County Clerk has the authority to waive fees for good cause.

Denial of Access

The Act provides that not all records in the possession of a government agency are available for inspection and copying. For example, many Public Health, Human Services, and Utility Billing records are required to be kept confidential as a matter of law. It is the intent of the City and County to comply with the Act in determining whether access to records is allowed.