A trio of bills introduced in both the House and Senate this past week would make changes to the Colorado Open Records Act and the Colorado Open Meetings Law.
Senate Bill 24-157 establishes written communication exchanged between members of the general assembly are not subject to the COML but any records of the communications are subject to disclosure to the extent required by CORA.
Two House bills, HB24-1296 and HB24-1303, make updates to both CORA and COML. HB24-1296 requires custodians to evaluate public records requests under CORA within two days and let requesters know if their request may incur fees. HB24-1303 establishes serial meetings between two or more members of a state public body that individually do not constitute a meeting of a quorum of the body but collectively constitute a meeting of a quorum of the body, are a violation of the COML.
Bill Number: HB24-1230
Title: Protections for Real Property Owners
Introduced: Feb. 12
Sponsors: J. Parenti, J. Bacon
Summary: The bill prevents agreements that limit rights under the Construction Defect Action Reform Act or the Colorado Consumer Protection Act. It also increases the time to file lawsuits from six to 10 years and voids a provision in a real estate contract that prohibits group lawsuits against a construction professional.
Bill Number: HB24-1259
Title: Price Gouging in Rent Declared Disaster
Introduced: Feb. 13
Sponsors: K. Brown, M. Weissman, L. Cutter
Summary: The bill prohibits price gouging in the provision of housing during a declared disaster.
Bill Number: HB24-1260
Title: Prohibition Against Employee Discipline
Introduced: Feb. 13
Sponsors: M. Duran, T. Hernandez, J. Danielson
Summary: The bill prohibits an employer from requiring an employee to attend meetings, listen to speech or view communications concerning religious or political matters. The bill also prohibits an employer from threatening an employee, subjecting an employee to discipline or discharging an employee on account of the employee’s refusal to attend or participate in an employer-sponsored meeting where the employer communicates religious or political matters or opinions. Certain employer communications are exempt from the prohibition.
Bill Number: HB24-1270
Title: Firearm Liability Insurance Requirement
Introduced: Feb. 13
Sponsors: S. Woodrow, I. Jodeh, C. Hansen
Summary: The bill requires firearm owners to maintain a liability insurance policy that covers losses or damages to a person, other than the policyholder, who is injured on the insured property as a result of any accidental or unintentional discharge of the firearm. Failure to maintain a firearm liability insurance policy is a civil infraction. A first offense is punishable by a minimum $500 fine, half of which may be suspended if the person has obtained firearm liability insurance.
Bill Number: HB24-1284
Title: Pretrial Release for Repeat Violent Offenses
Introduced: Feb. 13
Sponsors: G. Evans, S. Bird, B. Pelton, D. Roberts
Summary: The bill prohibits a court, without the consent of the district attorney, from releasing a person on any unsecured personal recognizance bond if the person is accused of committing a crime of violence and the court finds probable cause to believe that the person has committed the offense, among other provisions.
Bill Number: HB24-1289
Title: Workload Standards for Office of State Public Defender
Introduced: Feb. 13
Sponsors: S. Vigil, J. Joseph, D. Michaelson Jenet, D. Roberts
Summary: No later than July 1, 2025, the bill requires the office of state public defender to implement workload standards for determining when a deputy public defender’s workload is excessive pursuant to the federal and state constitutions and the Colorado rules of professional conduct. The bill requires the office of state public defender to consult with employees of the office of state public defender in creating the standards.
Bill Number: HB24-1291
Title: Licensed Legal Paraprofessionals
Introduced: Feb. 13
Sponsors: R. English, J. Joseph
Summary: The Colorado Supreme Court approved the licensure of legal paraprofessionals, which allows LLPs to represent clients and perform certain types of legal services related to certain domestic relations matters. The bill amends the relevant statutory provisions to align with the state Supreme Court rule authorizing the licensure of LLPs.
Bill Number: SB24-157
Title: Colorado Open Meetings Law for the General Assembly
Introduced: Feb. 13
Sponsors: S. Fenberg, J. McCluskie, C. deGruy Kennedy
Summary: The bill updates rules for the Colorado Open Meetings Law as it applies to the state’s general assembly. Specifically, the bill provides that for purposes of applying the notice and minutes provisions under the COML, a quorum of a state public body of the general assembly must be contemporaneous. Additionally, the bill establishes that written communication, electronic or otherwise, exchanged between members of the general assembly are not subject to the COML, but any records of the communications are subject to disclosure to the extent required by the Colorado Open Records Act.
Bill Number: SB24-158
Title: Social Media Protect Juveniles Disclosures Reports
Introduced: Feb. 13
Sponsors: C. Hansen, D. Michaelson Jenet, M. Lukens
Summary: The bill requires that on or before July 1, 2025, a social media company must post published policies for each of its social media platforms. After that, a social media company must post any updates to the policies within 14 days after the implementation of the updated policies. The bill also specifies what the published policies need to include.
Bill Number: HB24-1296
Title: Modifications to the Colorado Open Records Act
Introduced: Feb. 14
Sponsors: C. Kipp, M. Soper, J. Marchman
Summary: The bill makes changes to the Colorado Open Records Act. It requires a custodian to evaluate a request for public records promptly and for no longer than two days. Within the 2-day period the custodian is required to notify the requester whether or not any costs or fees may apply to the request and if extenuating circumstances exist that allow for an extension of the reasonable time to respond to a CORA request, among other provisions.
Bill Number: HB24-1303
Title: Colorado Open Meetings Law for the General Assembly
Introduced: Feb. 14
Sponsors: E. Epps
Summary: The bill makes several modifications and clarifications to the application of the Colorado Open Meetings Law to any state public body of the general assembly. The bill clarifies that a meeting of any political party caucus, which are the caucuses associated with each major political party in each chamber of the general assembly, is subject to the provisions of the COML if the meeting relates to the public business of the general assembly and excludes any other type of caucus made up of members of the general assembly from the provisions of the COML.The bill also establishes serial meetings, which are a series of meetings between two or more members of a state public body that individually do not constitute a meeting of a quorum of the body but collectively constitute a meeting of a quorum of the body, are a violation of the COML.