Colorado § 24-80-101 - Definitions.

§ 24-80-101. Definitions.

As used in this part 1, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) "Governmental agency" means any state agency and any office, department, division, board, bureau, commission, institution, or agency of any county, city, city and county, special district or other district in the state, or any legal subdivision thereof.

(2) "Records" means all books, papers, maps, photographs, audio recordings, visual recordings, audio-visual recordings, or other documentary materials, regardless of format, made or received by any governmental agency in pursuance of law or in connection with the transaction of public business and preserved or appropriate for preservation by the agency or its legitimate successor as evidence of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities of the government or because of the value of the official governmental data contained therein. As used in this part 1, the following are excluded from the definition of records:

(a) Materials that are not made or received by any governmental agency in pursuance of law or in connection with the transaction of public business but that are preserved or appropriate for preservation because of the value of the data contained therein or because of the historical value of the materials themselves;

(b) Library books, pamphlets, newspapers, or museum material made, acquired, or preserved for reference, historical, or exhibition purposes;

(c) Private papers, manuscripts, letters, diaries, pictures, biographies, books, and maps, including materials and collections previously owned by persons who are not associated with a governmental agency and that are transferred by the previous owners to the state historical society;

(d) Extra copies of publications or duplicated documents preserved for convenience of reference;

(e) Stocks of publications; and

(f) Electronic mail messages, regardless of whether such messages are produced or stored using state-owned equipment or software, unless the recipient has previously segregated and stored such messages as evidence of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities of the government or because of the value of the official governmental data contained therein.

(3) "State agency" means any department, division, board, bureau, commission, institution, or agency of the state.

(4) "State archivist" means the head of state archives and records appointed by the executive director of the department of personnel.

Source: L. 51: p. 777, § 1. CSA: C. 154, § 18(10). CRS 53: § 131-3-1. L. 59: p. 742, § 3. C.R.S. 1963: § 131-3-1. L. 96: (1)(f) added, p. 1485, § 8, effective June 1. L. 2016: Entire section amended, (HB 16-1368), ch. 231, p. 924, § 1, effective August 10. L. 2023: IP(2) amended, (HB 23-1056), ch. 369, p. 2219, § 1, effective August 7.