Access to Public Records: Public records shall be defined as non-confidential, organizational, documents that the District is legally required to create, maintain and retain. Open records shall be open to the public as provided by law C.R.S. 24-72-201-205. Any matters not covered by this policy shall be subject to the provisions of this Act.
The District defines the method by which the legal obligation of the District to provide public access to its public records will be met as follows:
(a) Requests for information must be in writing and must be specific as to the information desired.
(b) All requests for information must be directed to the Records Custodian of the District. Unless otherwise designated by the Board, the Records Custodian shall be the District General Manager.
(c) Records are available for public inspection during normal working hours (8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), provided that an appointment has been made with the Records Custodian at least three (3) working days in advance.
(d) Within three (3) working days of the date of the written request, the Records Custodian shall make the documents available for inspection. If, due to extenuating circumstances, as defined by §24-72-203, the records are not readily available for inspection within three (3) working days, and if asked to do so, the Records Custodian shall make reasonable efforts to make the records available within seven (7) working days from the date of the written request.
(e) Original records must be viewed at the District Office and records may not be removed from the District office. All inspections shall be under the supervision of the Records Custodian or his/her appointed designee.
(f) Records will be retrieved and re-filed by the Records Custodian or his/her appointed designee.
(g) Records will be removed from file folders or places of storage for photocopying only by the Records Custodian or his/her appointed designee.
(h) The District will charge a fee of twenty-five cents per standard page for a copy of a public record or a fee not to exceed the actual cost of providing a copy, printout or photograph of a public record that is in a format other than a standard page.
(i) Information requests will not take priority over previously scheduled work activities of the District.
(j) The District may not assess a fee to cover the administrative costs of researching and retrieving the documents requested for the first hour of administrative work. The District may assess a fee to cover administrative costs for each subsequent hour spent researching and retrieving the requested documentation of no more than $30.00 per hour.
(k) The District may withhold records which contain privileged information or that are protected from disclosure by any statute or rule of any court.
(l) This policy shall be published in accordance with CRS §24-72-295(6)(a) on the District website.