Glossary

Some basic familiarity with the following terms will be helpful as you use this guide.

CCJRA: The Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act.

CORA: The Colorado Open Records Act. Criminal justice records: Records held by law enforcement agencies like the state patrol, county sheriffs, police departments, and criminal courts.

Custodian: The person at a government agency who is responsible for reviewing and responding to records requests.

Disclose: When a government agency allows a person to inspect or copy or record, or is required to do so by law or court order. The opposite of withhold.

Discretion: In the context of Colorado open records laws, the term “discretion” is used to refer to a situation where the law permits the government agency to decide whether or not to disclose a particular type of record.

Exempt: A term used in Colorado open records laws to refer to a type of record that does not have to be disclosed to the public.

Inspect: Used in Colorado open records laws as another way of saying that a member of the public has the right to go to the government office and review public records as an alternative to, or in addition to, obtaining copies of those records.

Government agency: In this guide, the phrase “government agency” is used to refer to any government unit, agency or department in Colorado at the state, county, or municipal level.

Privilege: A type of legal right permitting the government to withhold certain types of records as confidential, even if that record would otherwise have to be disclosed.

Redact: To white‐out or black‐out certain words, sentences, paragraphs, or other information on a public record.

Withhold: Refers to a situation where the government acknowledges that a document exists, but refuses to allow the person to inspect or copy the record. The opposite of disclose.