Colorado PERA logo
Member Login/Registration

Colorado Open Records Act Policy

1. Authority

Pursuant to C.R.S. § 24-72-203(1)(a), all public records shall be open for inspection by any person at reasonable times, except as otherwise provided by law. Colorado PERA sets forth the following policy as reasonably necessary for the protection of public records and the prevention of unnecessary interference with the regular discharge of the duties of PERA. This policy is not intended to be duplicative of the Colorado Open Records Act, C.R.S. § 24-72-201 et. seq., or to supersede state law.

2. Records Request Submission

PERA will accept only records requests made in writing or electronically via email and sent to the following email address or mailing address:

CORA Requests
Colorado PERA
PO Box 5800
Denver, CO 80217-5800

Requests submitted to other PERA email addresses or individual staff members are not deemed received for statutory purposes.

Requesters are not required to cite a law within their request. Records requests or requesters that cite the federal Freedom of Information Act will be treated as though they were made pursuant to the Colorado Open Records Act.

Requests shall describe the records sought with reasonable specificity, narrowed, as applicable, by date and subject, such that PERA is able to identify specific responsive records.

3. Public Record Exemptions and Redaction Practices

Records that are exempt from disclosure under the law will be withheld from inspection. No public record shall be made available for inspection if such inspection is contrary to
law. Where possible, PERA shall make good-faith efforts to redact confidential information from responsive public records.

Below is PERA’s policy on common scenarios. Pursuant to C.R.S. § 24-72-204, PERA may withhold or redact records in scenarios that are not described below.

a. Clarifying or Narrowing Requests

Requests for information must identify the records requested as specifically as possible. Requesters are encouraged to narrow their requests by date and subject to allow PERA to respond to the request efficiently and in a timely manner. Records requests may be denied if they are not reasonably specific.

b. No Creation of New Records

CORA requires that PERA provide requesters with existing public records which are responsive to their requests. PERA shall not create new public records solely for the purpose of responding to requests.

c. Legal Research and Legal Advice Limitations

PERA may need to research CORA and confidentiality laws to respond to a request appropriately. However, PERA shall not conduct legal research on behalf of requesters or provide legal advice to requesters.

d. Confidentiality of Member Information

Pursuant to C.R.S. § 24-51-213(1), PERA shall not release information about members, former members, DPS members, DPS retirees, benefit recipients and their dependents, participants in the voluntary investment program, participants in the defined contribution plan, or participants in the deferred compensation plan. Responsive records which contain such information may be withheld or redacted.

e. Confidentiality of Investment Information

Responsive investment information may be withheld or redacted pursuant to C.R.S. § 24-51-213(3) or contractual confidentiality requirements.

4. Serial Requests and Duplicative Requests

Serial requests are requests made by a requester while PERA is still preparing a response to a previous request by the same requester, regardless of the subject matter of the requests.

Duplicative requests are requests submitted by the same requester within 30 days of PERA’s receipt of a prior request from the same requester that pertain to facially similar content, meaning they substantially overlap in subject matter, search terms, authoring department, or date ranges such that responding would require duplicative record retrieval or review.

PERA shall consider serial requests and duplicative requests to be one request for the purpose of fee assessment. PERA shall extend response deadlines as necessary for serial requests and duplicative requests. Deadline extensions applied under this provision constitute extenuating circumstances under C.R.S. § 24-72-203(3)(b). PERA will notify requesters of extensions and provide an estimated completion date.

This provision does not restrict a requester’s ability to submit multiple requests; it defines how PERA will process and schedule requests to prevent undue interference with operations pursuant to C.R.S. § 24-72-203(1)(a).

5. Response Deadlines

PERA is permitted three working days to respond to a request, pursuant to C.R.S. § 24-72-203(3)(b). PERA may add up to a seven-working-day extension if extenuating circumstances apply, as described in C.R.S. § 24-72-203(3)(b). If PERA determines that a request does not describe the records sought with reasonable specificity, is excessively broad, or is excessively burdensome, PERA may require additional time to respond. In such cases, PERA shall provide the requester with an estimate for how long it will take PERA to fully respond to the request.

Deadlines are calculated under the following guidelines:

  • Requests received after 4:30 PM, or on a day that PERA is closed, are considered received on the next business day.
  • The date that the request is received is not included in the time to respond to the request.
  • If PERA assesses a fee in connection with a CORA request, the timeframe for PERA to complete its response to a request will not begin until the requester approves PERA’s fee estimate, and, if required, pays a deposit.

6. Fee Assessment

a. Staff Time Fees

As allowed under C.R.S. § 24-72-205(6), PERA assesses a fee of $41.37 per hour after the first hour for the staff time required to complete all tasks necessary to respond to the request. These tasks may include, but are not limited to legal research, archival research, record retrieval, record review, record redaction, supervision of in-person inspections, and staff time as required.

In extraordinary circumstances, the use of a third-party contractor may be necessary and will be discussed with the requester in advance. If a third-party contractor is required, the requester will be required to pay the contractor’s hourly rate, up to $41.37 per hour.

Note that fees for staff time and third-party contractors must be paid even if research reveals that there are no responsive records, or that responsive records are confidential or must be heavily redacted.

b. Copying and Production Fees

In accordance with C.R.S. § 24-72-205(5)(a), additional fees for copying and production are as follows:

  • Copies – $.25 per page
  • Certified copies – $2.00 per page
  • Video DVD, Audio CD, or Thumb Drive – $30.00 each
    • Note that devices will be provided by PERA. No outside media collection devices will be introduced into PERA’s computer system.
  • Postage & Packaging for Mailing – Actual Cost
  • Fees for other types of information requests will be assessed based on PERA’s cost to copy or reproduce the requested item.

c. Deposits and Payment Procedures

PERA will provide a requester with advance notice and an estimate of fees. PERA will not begin searching for responsive records until the requester approves the estimate. Further, PERA may require a deposit of 50% of the estimated fees as an affirmation of the requester’s willingness to proceed with the request and cover the associated fees. PERA will not begin searching for responsive records until it receives a deposit from the requester.

The remaining balance of all fees associated with a request must be paid in full before PERA provides responsive records to the requester. Requesters may not submit new requests until all amounts due have been paid or the requester cancels requests associated with outstanding charges.

If PERA overestimates or underestimates the fee for fulfilling a request, PERA will issue a partial refund or issue a new invoice, as necessary.

PERA does not accept credit cards. Payment may be made by e-check or check. E-check instructions are available upon written request. Checks must made out to the Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association and delivered to PERA’s office at the following address:

Colorado PERA
ATTN: Legal Department- CORA PAYMENT
PO Box 5800
Denver, CO 80217-5800

7. Manner of Record Inspection

Depending on the nature of the request and the responsive records, PERA may transmit responsive records to the requester via United States mail, other delivery service, facsimile, or electronic mail. C.R.S. §§ 24-72-203(3.5), -205(1)(b). PERA will not provide records in formats requiring proprietary software, or in formats that violate copyright, licensing, or contractual restrictions.

The requester will be notified when the responsive records are compiled and available. PERA will hold such responsive records for the requester for 10 working days. After 10 working days pass, the compiled responsive records may be destroyed. If the requester wants to access the compilation of responsive records that have been destroyed, the requester must submit a new records request and pay any associated fees again.

When responsive records cannot be easily or cost-effectively provided electronically to a requester, PERA will work with the requester to schedule a time to inspect the records in person during PERA’s regular business hours at the PERA location that houses the responsive records. PERA is open from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (Mountain time) Monday through Friday, except holidays.