THE AURORA HIGHLANDS METROPOLITAN DISTRICT NO. 3
RESOLUTION DESIGNATING THE
OFFICIAL CUSTODIAN OF RECORDS AND ADOPTING AN AMENDED AND
RESTATED
POLICY ON RESPONDING TO OPEN RECORDS REQUESTS
November 2024
WHEREAS, pursuant to § 32-1-1001(1)(h), C.R.S., the Board of Directors (the “Board”)
of The Aurora Highlands Metropolitan District No. 3 (the “District”) is responsible for the
management, control and supervision of all of the business and affairs of the District; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to § 32-1-1001(1)(i), C.R.S., the Board has the authority to appoint
an agent; and
WHEREAS, the Board has determined that it is appropriate to designate an official
custodian of the District’s records for the protection of such records and in order to permit their
inspection by persons entitled to examine and copy such records in an orderly fashion; and
WHEREAS, the Board has determined that it is appropriate to adopt a policy on
responding to open records requests; and
WHEREAS, the Board fully supports, and complies with, all Federal and State of
Colorado (“State”) laws relating to the retention, protection and disclosure of District records
including, but not limited to, the Colorado Open Records Act, Title 24, Article 72, Part 2, C.R.S.
(“CORA”), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”), and
the Privacy Rule promulgated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services which
interprets and implements HIPAA; and
WHEREAS, it is the policy of the District that all public records shall be open for
inspection by any person at reasonable times, except as otherwise provided by law; and
WHEREAS, public records are defined by CORA as all writings made or maintained by
the District, regardless of the format or medium of the records, subject to certain exceptions and
public records expressly include e-mail communications; and
WHEREAS, the Board may have previously adopted a Public Records Request Policy
(the “Original Policy”) and the Board now desires to adopt this Resolution to amend and restate
the Original Policy in its entirety.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Directors of The Aurora
Highlands Metropolitan District No. 3:
1. Official Custodian.
(a) The District’s manager is hereby designated as the Official Custodian
responsible for the maintenance, care and keeping of all records of the District, except as
provided herein.
(b) The Official Custodian shall have the authority to designate such agents as
they shall determine appropriate to perform any and all acts necessary to enforce and execute the
provisions of this Resolution.
2. Policy on Responding to Open Records Request. The following are general
policies concerning the release of records:
(a) All public records of the District shall be open for inspection at the times
designated herein, unless prohibited by the provisions of CORA or policies adopted by the Board
in conformance with CORA.
(b) Every request to inspect and/or copy any District record (a “Records
Request”) shall be submitted to the Official Custodian in writing and be specific as to the
information desired. If not submitted to the Official Custodian, any District employee or Board
Member that receives the Records Request shall immediately send the Records Request to the
Official Custodian. To assist the Official Custodian in responding to requests in a timely and
complete manner, the Official Custodian may require records requests to be submitted on a form
developed by the Official Custodian.
(c) If any question arises as to the propriety of fully complying with a
Records Request, the Official Custodian shall immediately forward it to the District’s legal
counsel.
(d) The District’s legal counsel shall determine the District’s obligations
under the applicable Federal and/or State law(s). If the District is permitted to make records
available for inspection in whole or in part, the District’s legal counsel will so notify the Official
Custodian, who will assemble the disclosable requested documents for inspection and/or copying
in accordance with applicable Federal or State law.
(e) If the District’s legal counsel determines the District is not permitted by
Federal or State law to make records available for inspection in whole or in part, the District’s
legal counsel shall provide a written response to the party submitting the Records Request stating
the legal basis upon which the Records Request in whole or in part is being denied.
(f) Following the denial of a request for record, upon receipt of the required
written notice from the requesting individual that he or she will seek relief from the District
Court, the Official Custodian will attempt to meet in-person or speak by telephone with the
requesting individual. District personnel are encouraged to utilize all possible means to attempt
to resolve the dispute during this time period and will provide a written summary of the District’s
position at the end of that period to the requestor and to the Board.
(g) No phone or in-person conference is required if the written notice
indicates that the requestor needs access to the record on an expedited basis.
(h) Pursuant to CORA, all records must be made available for inspection
within 3 working days from the Official Custodian’s receipt of the request, unless extenuating
circumstances exist. The deadline may be extended by 7 working days if extenuating
circumstances exist and the requesting party is notified of the delay within 3 working days of the
Official Custodian’s receipt of the request. The Official Custodian may set the time during
normal office hours and the place for records to be inspected, and require that the Official
Custodian or a delegated employee be present while the records are examined.
(i) A public record stored in a digital format that is neither searchable nor
sortable will be provided in a digital format. A public record stored in a digital format that is
searchable and/or sortable will be provided in such digital format, unless (1) the public record is
in a searchable or sortable format and producing the record in the requested format would violate
the terms of any copyright or licensing agreement between the District and a third party;
(2) producing the record would result in the release of a third party’s proprietary information;
(3) after making reasonable inquiries, it is not technologically or practically feasible to provide a
copy of the record in a searchable or sortable format; or (4) if the Official Custodian would be
required to purchase software or create additional programming functionality in its existing
software to remove the information. Altering an existing digital public record, or excising fields
of information that the Official Custodian is either required or permitted to withhold under this
subsection, does not constitute the creation of a new public record under Section (2)(i)(4) of this
Resolution.
(j) The Custodian may charge the following fees (collectively, the “Fees”) for
responding to a Records Request:
(i) Printouts, photographs, and copies, when requested, will be
provided at a cost of $0.25 per standard page, and at the actual costs of production for any nonstandard
page (the “Copying Fee”). A standard page shall mean an 8.5-inch by 11-inch black
and white copy.
(ii) When it is impractical to make the copy, printout, or photograph of
the requested record at the place where the record is kept, the Official Custodian may allow
arrangements to be made for the copy, printout, or photograph to be made at other facilities and
the cost of providing the requested records will be paid by the person making the request (the
“Outside Copying Fee”).
(iii) If a copy, printout or photograph of a public record is necessary or
requested to be provided in a format other than a standard page, the costs will be assessed at the
actual cost of production (the “Production Fee”).
(iv) If data must be manipulated in order to generate a record in a form
not otherwise used by the District, such data manipulation will be assessed at the actual costs to
the District (the “Manipulation Fee”); however, the District is in no way obligated to generate a
record that is not otherwise kept, made, or maintained by the District.
(v) The cost for transmitting the requested records will be charged at
the actual cost of such delivery (the “Transmission Fee”). Transmission Fees will not be
charged for transmitting any record via electronic mail, when requested.
(vi) When the location or existence of specific documents must be
researched and the documents must be retrieved, sorted or reviewed for applicability to the
request, and such process requires more than 1 hour of staff and/or consultants’ time, the
Custodian may charge a research and retrieval fee not to exceed $41.37 per hour, or the
maximum amount allowed by the Executive Committee of the State Legislative Council at the
time of the request, whichever is greater (the “Research and Retrieval Fee”).
(vii) If any requested records are protected by a privilege (for example,
but not limited to, the work product or attorney-client privileges) the District may charge the
actual costs of creating a privilege log identifying the privileged records (the “Privilege Fee”).
If legal assistance or review is necessary to create the privilege log, the Privilege Fee may
include the actual costs for such legal assistance.
(k) If the estimated Fees to produce the records exceeds $100, the District
may require a 50% deposit of the estimated Fees prior to commencing work to produce the
records. Regardless of whether a deposit is required, payment (by check made payable to the
District) of all Fees, including all actual costs exceeding the estimated amount, must be made
prior to the time of inspection or release of the final work product or copies.
(l) No person shall be permitted to inspect or copy any records of the District
if, in the opinion of the Official Custodian after consultation with the District’s legal counsel,
such inspection or copying would come within the prohibition of one or more exemptions set
forth in CORA.
(m) Any increases in the Fees set forth above, including without limitation the
Research and Retrieval Fee, shall be effective immediately upon posting on the District’s
website.
3. Severability. If any part, section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this
Resolution is for any reason held to be invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the validity of the
remaining provisions.
4. Effective Date. This Resolution shall take effect and be enforced immediately
upon its approval by the Board.
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The foregoing Resolution was approved and adopted this 21st day of November, 2024.
THE AURORA HIGHLANDS METROPOLITAN
DISTRICT NO. 3
By:
Chair
Attest:
Secretary