Complete Colorado Journalist Files Court Petition Against Department of Health Care Policy and Financing for Withholding Open Records Request Documents

HCPF Failed to Produce Hundreds of Relevant Documents, Petition Claims

DENVER, June 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sherrie Peif, an award winning investigative journalist with Complete Colorado, today asked the Denver District Court to order the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing ("HCPF") to show cause for the department's failure to comply with her public records request.

The Colorado Open Records Act ("CORA") requires most public records – including writings made, maintained, or kept by government agencies – be available to the public. While there are some exceptions, Ms. Peif's petition alleges that HCPF's response was insufficient.

Despite repeated efforts to obtain the requested documents, Complete Colorado believes HCPF wrongfully withheld documents responsive to the request and failed to comply with certain provisions of the act.

"We hope this case shines a light on the need for more transparency at all levels of the Colorado state government and provides the citizens of Colorado better access to public information," said Complete Colorado editor Mike Krause.

Ms. Peif's petition highlights the following:

• Reporter Sherrie Peif sent a request for information pursuant to CORA to HCPF on March 7, 2023, seeking specific documents related to various terms and employees at the department.
• HCPF's CORA officer, Kathy Snow, initially estimated there were nearly 2,000 records within the search parameters, but later revised the estimate to 1,550 records potentially responsive to the request.
• On April 13, 2023, HCPF produced only 318 documents. An affidavit that Peif received from Snow cited attorney-client privilege and/or deliberative process privilege for the numerous documents withheld, leaving a significant gap between the quantity of documents HCPF estimated it would produce and those it actually produced.
• On May 15, 2023, counsels for both parties conferred via video conference.
• On June 9, 2023, the Colorado State Attorney's General office provided a subsequent, amended response to the request, producing just six additional documents, bringing the total produced documents to 324.

276 of the documents listed in the amended Vaughn Index were claimed under deliberative process privilege, which Complete Colorado states in its petition is "overbroad."

The final total of documents accounted for was 596, falling well short of HCPF's original estimates of 1,550+.

Ms. Peif's petition comes after paying $2500 to fulfill its initial CORA request to HCPF.

"Public records requests under CORA are already often unaffordable for news organizations and the general public, and it is unfortunate that Complete Colorado has been forced to turn to the courts in order to pursue transparency at HCPF," Krause said.

The petition was filed in the Denver District Court under case number 2023-CV-031854. Complete Colorado is represented by John S. Zakhem and Andrew C. Nickel of Jackson Kelly, PLLC.

About Complete Colorado

Complete Colorado is a digital journalism site focused on investigative reporting and regularly covers matters of public concern across the state. To view the full petition filed and learn more about the details of this case, please read Sherrie Peif's reporting on the matter here.

Media Contact
Complete Colorado
Mike Krause
Email: [email protected]

Jackson Kelly, PLLC
Andrew C. Nickel
Phone: 303.390.0003

SOURCE Complete Colorado LLC