October 8, 2008

Today, Colorado Ethics Watch, a nonpartisan, nonprofit legal watchdog group, filed a complaint in Denver District Court against the Independent Ethics Commission (“IEC”) for failure to disclose public records requested pursuant to the Colorado Open Records Act (“CORA”).

On August 27, Colorado Ethics Watch filed an open records request to the IEC seeking to inspect documents regarding complaints, advisory opinion and letter ruling requests submitted to the commission.  To date, the IEC has refused to make these documents publicly available.

In fact, rather than discuss a potential resolution with Ethics Watch regarding its CORA request, the IEC elected to take its position straight to court. On September 10, 2008, the IEC filed an application with the district court for an order permitting them to keep all the documents confidential. Ethics Watch has now filed this countersuit because the IEC’s blanket refusal to allow public access to these documents is contrary to state law.  The Colorado Constitution requires the IEC to preserve the confidentiality of complaints that are deemed frivolous; however, this requirement does not extend to non-frivolous complaints or to correspondence and other related documents.  In addition, the Colorado Constitution provides that the IEC shall redact the identity of persons who requested letter rulings but does not require the IEC to redact the identity of persons who request advisory opinions.  Thus, persons seeking requests for advisory opinions have no reasonable expectation of confidentiality as a matter of law. 

“Nothing in the Colorado Constitution or statute allows the commission to deny public access to any and all documents submitted to the IEC,” said Chantell Taylor, director of Colorado Ethics Watch.  Taylor continued: “The IEC was created by Colorado voters in 2006 to raise the bar for government ethics.  In order to do so the IEC must serve as a model for honest and open government.  Instead, the commissioners are acting more like crusaders for secrecy.  Through this law suit Ethics Watch intends to hold the IEC accountable to the spirit and letter of the law by demanding transparency in IEC actions.”